Questions and Replies

Reply:

1. (a) The South African delegation comprised of representatives of all key national departments, local and provincial government, Members of Parliament and other key stakeholder groupings – such as business, civil society, and youth. In total, there were 134 South African delegates, including the Presidency team which only attended the Head of State High Level Session, held on 30 November 2015.

(b) (i) and (ii)

The list of names and official designation is attached as Annexure A.

(iii) South Africa negotiated in the UNFCCC COP21 meeting in its national capacity, played a role in the Africa Group and was the Chair of the Group of 77 and China. The formal negotiations had more than 76 agenda items, excluding those on the sub-agenda, which required South Africa’s engagement. African countries with smaller delegations cannot attend all the meetings, meaning that their needs and national interests are not adequately addressed. South Africa, as a member of the Africa Group, is therefore playing a larger role of also supporting the negotiation capacity of the Sothern African Developing Communities region and the broader Africa Group. In addition, South Africa was leading Africa in the negotiations under the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) and numerous other issues. South Africa was also the chair of the Group of 77 and China, the negotiating group for 134 developing countries.

Dealing with the global challenge of climate change and securing a binding multilateral agreement that is ambitious, fair and effective in keeping global temperature increase to a maximum of 2 degrees Celsius; that balances development and environmental imperatives; and that enables developing countries to transition to lower carbon and climate resilient economies and societies is extremely complex. Each and every delegate that attended the COP 21 meeting played their part in ensuring an outcome of a universal agreement that is ambitious, fair and effective legally binding outcome.

2. (a) As the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) it would be difficult to give an exact figure of how much the total cost for South African delegation’s attendance.

(i), (ii) and (iii)

COST ESTIMATES FOR COP21: DEA DELEGATION

ITEM	COST
Accommodation for DEA Officials	R2 578 935.00
Rental for SA Delegation Operational Room and Meeting Rooms	R992 642.00
Furniture and Equipment Rental	R359 186.40
Flights (R21 139.72 approx. per person)	R697 610.76
Ground Transport in SA (R1 000.00 approx. per person)	R33 000.00
Ground Transport in Paris	R32 756.81
TOTAL: R4 694 131.00

(b) The Department of Environmental Affairs paid only for its officials as it was not responsible for the cost of travel for the whole South African delegation. Each Department, Province, Local Government and other organisations were responsible for their travel cost, accommodation and other expenses.

---ooOoo---

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works

(1) The amount spent by each of the Metropolitan Municipalities in the (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15 financial years on wages is shown in the table below:

Name of Metropolitan Municipality	Financial Year 2012-13	Financial Year 2013-14	Financial Year 2014-15
City of Johannesburg	182 045 060	196 318 269	188 678 230
City of Tshwane	116 678 960	157 825 210	169 630 527
Ekurhuleni	15 477 568	46 397 769	99 040 036
Mangaung	5 523 853	6 923 626	11 946 018
Buffalo City	4 902 035	1 934 783	3 261 455
Nelson Mandela	40 823 993	25 800 017	25 507 476
City of Cape Town	115 292 062	102 028 567	176 081 155
eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality	122 926 690	135 032 036	144 005 314
Total	603 670 221	672 260 277	818 150 211

(2) The table below reflects those Metropolitan Municipalities that provided accredited training to EPWP participants.

Through the National Skills Fund (NSF) training was provide to a total of 763 EPWP participants within the specified time period of 2012-13 to 2014-15. The participants were trained in three EPWP Programmes, namely: Skills Programmes; Learnership Programmes and Artisan Development Programmes. From the trained participants 577 were trained on Skills Programmes, 130 on Learnership Programmes and 56 went through the Artisan Development Programme. Below is a breakdown of the training Programmes offered:

Table 1

PROVINCE	NAME OF MUNICIPALITY	NO. OF PARTICIPANTS
Eastern Cape	Buffalo City	10
Gauteng	Ekurhuleni	77
KwaZulu-Natal	eThekwini	106
Gauteng	City of Johannesburg	122
Gauteng	City of Tshwane	130
Western Cape	City of Cape Town	132
Total		577

Table 2

PROVINCE	NAME OF MUNICIPALITY	NO. OF PARTICIPANTS
Eastern Cape	Buffalo City	60
KwaZulu-Natal	eThekwini	50
Free State	Mangaung	20
Total		130

Table 3

PROVINCE	NAME OF MUNICIPALITY	NO. OF PARTICIPANTS
Eastern Cape	Buffalo City	9
Gauteng	City of Tshwane	3
Gauteng	City of Johannesburg	3
Gauteng	Ekurhuleni	13
Western Cape	City of Cape Town	12
KwaZulu-Natal	eThekwini	8
Free State	Mangaung	8
Total		56

(3) The City of Cape Town is the only Metropolitan Municipality that uses a database to source EPWP participants. The database is open to the City of Cape Town residents looking for work. In the other Metropolitan Municipalities EPWP participants are sourced from communities through Project Steering Committees that involve relevant stakeholders, such as community leaders, municipal officials and projects managers. The Project Steering Committees assist in ensuring that recruitment of participants is done in a fair and transparent manner.

____________________________________________________________________

Reply:

(a) (b) (c)(i) (ii)

The department awarded one contract to The New Age (TNA) Media in the 2012-13 financial year. The contract amount was R486, 255.60.The department did not award any contract to companies indirectly or directory owned by Atul, Ajay and Rajesh Gupta in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 financial years.

Reply:

Yes, all Ministers are subject to Performance Agreements with the President.

(a) The Performance Management Framework (MTSF) fpr 2014-2019, which is the first 5-year implementation plan of the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030. The performance targets and indicators are derived from 14 outcomes which government seeks to achieve.

These outcomes and targets constitute government’s Programme of Actio (POA), against which performance is tracked and reported at least on a quartely basis. POA reports are publicly available on the govenments web site.

(b) to (e) Cabinet closely monitors the implementation of the NDP 2030/MTSF 2014-2019 through POA reports. The reports are tabled before an Implementation Forum of a Cluster of Ministers collectively responsible for MTSF outcomes, and then submitted to Cabinet, where progress is noted, bottlenecks to implementation are discussed, and recommendations to address bottlenecks are considered and approved.

SUBMITTED ON: 15 MARCH 2016

Reply:

(a) The Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) is./ legislation that falls within the mandate of the National Treasury. It is applicable to national and provincial spheres of government; therefore, the Act does not apply to local government. The applicable legislation is the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) which has similar provisions on wasteful and irregular expenditure as in in the PFMA. Furthermore, it must be noted that the implementation of the MFMA also falls within the mandate of the National Treasury.

(b), (c) and (d)

A number of interventions are being put in place to address challenges pertaining to wasteful expenditure, irregular expenditure, fraud and corruption. Currently, we have the following measures in place:

• The Department is finalising the review of the 2006 Local Government Anti-Corruption Strategy.

• Draft Local Government Integrity Management Framework which sets out the responsibility of municipalities when implementing Local Government Anti-Corruption Strategy.

• We have a draft Implementation plan which provides for practical actions that will be undertaken to implement the strategy.

The additional measures that we have put in place are the following :

• The Department requested Provinces and municipalities to submit copies of forensic reports commissioned between April 2009 and October 2014.

• Of the 115 copies of forensic reports received , 106 have been assessed.

• We are collaborating with law enforcement agencies like the Special Investigating Unit (SIU), Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU), Hawks, and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to accelerate investigations and prosecution.

• Most of the forensic reports commissioned by Provinces and municipalities made recommendations that certain remedial or other corrective measures should be taken

Reply:

The order of the Constitutional Court directs the Electoral Commission to provide a voters’ roll with addresses to political parties contesting elections where such addresses are available. This order affirms a standing statutory provision in section 16 (3) of the Electoral Act (27 of 1998) which provides as follows:

“…………………., the chief electoral officer must, on payment of the prescribed fee, provide copies of the voters’ roll or a segment thereof, which includes the addresses of voters, where such addresses are available, to all registered parties contesting the elections.”

Therefore the judicial and statutory dependency to the provision of a voters’ roll with addresses to contesting parties is where such addresses are available.

The Electoral Commission has nonetheless, taken a decision to proactively procure addresses of voters where such are not on their records. In this regard, a number of initiatives are either underway or about to be implemented. I presented below some of these initiatives:

• A communication campaign was initiated in the period leading up to the voter registration weekend of 5-6 March 2016, for all voters to inspect the voters’ roll with a particular focus on the address details and providing same necessary;
• Re-focusing the communication campaign for the second registration weekend on the 9-10 April to highlight the need for voters to furnish addresses at the registration stations;
• Procuring address data from a variety of data sources such as municipalities, other state agencies and commercial providers;
• Changing the response message on the Short Message System (SMS - 32810) to indicate to voters to furnish address details where such are not on the records of the Electoral Commission; and
• Conducting a voting district based field work to visit persons whose addresses details are not on record.

Reply:

1. Below is a list of municipalities that have conducted Customer Satisfaction Surveys in the (a) 2012-2013 and (b) 2013-2014 financial years.

(a) Municipalities that have conducted Customer Satisfaction Surveys in 2012-2013 financial year are as follows:
i. City of Cape Town Metro
ii. Nelson Mandela Metro
iii. City of T shwane Metro
iv. EThekwini Metro
v. Maluti a Phofung local municipality in Free State
vi. Ekurhuleni Metro
vii. Baviaans Local Municipality in Eastern Cape
vii i. Swartland Local Municipality in Western Cape

(b) Municipalities that have conducted Customer Satisfaction Surveys in 201 3-2014 financial year are as follows:

i. Mangaung Metro
ii. Joburg Metro
iii. City of Tshwane Metro
iv. EThekwini Metro

2. Attached at (Tag A) is a database of municipalities that have conducted Customer Satisfaction Surveys in the (a) 2012-13 and (b) 2013-2014 financial years.

Notably, some of the local and district municipalities did not conduct the customer satisfaction survey in the period indicated based on capacity constraints in terms of personnel and budget. Most local and district municipalities rely on the surveys conducted by the Metros and provincial departments in their respective provinces

Attached please find here: Status of Citizens Satisfaction Surveys Conducted Currently

Reply:

(i) The department reporting to the Minister bought the advertising space in The New Age in the (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15 for the following number of times:

2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015

 

None 3times None

(Ii) The department reporting to the Minister bought the advertising space in The New Age in the (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15 for the following amounts in each specified financial year:


2012-2013 2013-2014 2014-2015

R0.00 R1 498 567.38 R0.00

Reply:

Refer to the response to PQ293

Reply:

The responses below were received from the metropolitan municipalities:

( a ) 6 out of the 8 metropolitan municipalities operates independent fraud / corruption hotlines. The table below illustrates the response per municipality:

Metropolitan Municipality	Details regarding fraud / corruption hotline
Buffalo City	The municipality operates an independent fraud hotline.
City of Cape Town	The municipality operates an independent fraud hotline.
City of Johannesburg	The municipality operates an independent fraud hotline.
City of Tshwane	The municipality operates an independent fraud hotline.
Ekurhuleni	The municipality operates an independent fraud hotline.
eThekwini	The municipality operates an independent anti-corruption hotline.
Mangaung	The municipality does not operate an independent fraud hotline.
Nelson Mandela Bay	The municipality is finalising the Service Level Agreement (SLA) with the service provider with regard to the fraud hotline. As soon as the SLA agreed and signed by relevant parties, the hotline will be operational.

( b ) All the 6 independent fraud hotlines are not connected to the National Anti-Corruption Hotline (NACH). There is no requirement for the independent fraud / corruption hotlines to be connected to the NACH.

Reply:

The following are the members of the Advisory Council Members and their capacity:

Mr T. Magingxa (Chairperson)

Members

Dr P.P Dyantyi

Mr A. Apleni

Mr K. Bokala

Col (ret) P.M Kubu

Brig Gen (Ret) M. Fihla

Mr O. Mabena

Ms D. Phama

Mr M. Vena

Ms N. Khwezi

Dr S. Zikalala

Mr Mika Xayiya

Dr T. Ndlovu-Molokwane

Ms Vuyiswa Lieta

Dr A. Mahapa

Reply:

Yes, all Metropolitan Municipalities have programmes to assist unemployed matriculants or young people to gain employment. The details are as follows:

Attached please find here: All Metropolitan Municipalities

Reply:

(1) The following Cities have approved informal trading policies: Cape Town; EThekwini; Johannesburg; Ekurhuleni and Tshwane. Nelson Mandela Metro has a final draft policy for informal trading which is currently under review. Buffalo City and Mangaung do not have informal trading policies but have By-laws on Street Trading.

(2) Yes, all Metropolitan Municipalities licenses informal traders operating in public spaces. The details are as follows:

Metropolitan Municipality	Number of licenses	Whether Municipality receives license fees	Cost of informal trading license
Cape Town	3701	Yes	R70 up to R465
EThekwini	10 000	Yes	R40.00 up to R1200.00
Johannesburg	9740	Yes	R80 - R 500
Ekurhuleni	3,000	No	No fee charged
Tshwane	1 500	Yes	R138,40
Nelson Mandela Bay	72	Yes	R90,00
Buffalo City	179	Yes	R513.00
Mangaung	178	Yes	R30.00

(3) Yes, all Metropolitan Municipalities provide services to informal traders as follows:
 

Metropolitan Municipality	Services provided
Cape Town	Hard surfacing of trading bays; provision of roof structures; Kiosks; training and development opportunities; access to markets through events; Area cleansing; Environmental Health and developing trading plans; education; training and trading permits.
EThekwini	Water; ablution facilities; storage facilities; trading shelters, 24 hour security and capacity building I training programmes.
Johannesburg	Maintenance and cleaning of the markets and streets, training and By-law education, workshops on business management and By-law enforcement to illegal traders who violate informal trading By-laws.
Ekurhuleni	Space and facilities including traders' market stalls and operational support such as compliance procedures and training.
Tshwane	Training and mentorship; personal and life-skills; business growth and success factors and appropriate business development support including training; and instruments to facilitate co-operatives' bulk buying.
Nelson Mandela Bay	Litter bins; refuse removal bags; storage facilities; ablutions; electricity and water/sinks.
Buffalo City	Umbrellas & training opportunities.
Mangaung	Training and skills development programmes focusing on Customer Care; Financial skills; Environmental Health - Food Preparation, Fire Dept. - Training to Informal Traders, Waste management and Street Traders By-law

 

Reply:

(1) I have now been made aware of this matter.

(2) The department has not as yet conducted any investigation.

(3) The department will conduct an investigation into the circumstances surrounding this matter and will inform the client of the outcome.

Reply:

(a) 2% of the Department of Basic Education's procurement budget went to Small Medium and Micro-sized Enterprises (SMMEs) and co-operatives during the period in question.
 

(b) ENTITIES	PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL PROCUREMENT FROM SMME’S AND CO-OPERATIVES FORM 1 APRIL 2015 TO LATEST SPECIFIED DATE
	SMME’S	(ii) CO-OPERATIVES
SOUTH AFRICAN COUNCIL OF EDUCATORS (SACE)	56.61%	0%
UMALUSI	18%	0%

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works

(a), (b) and (c):-

It must be noted that the stated R800 million lease worth reported by the Auditor – General is a figure which was calculated for outstanding documents over a period of more than one financial year and goes back to about 5 years.

In 2013, the Department of Public Works launched a special lease review intervention aimed at identifying all active private leases and verifying lease validity for leases registered on the Department’s property management information system (PMIS).

In 2014, a second special lease review intervention was launched with the aim of consolidating information and matching documentation (lease agreements).

As a result of the above-mentioned lease interventions, all 2619 active leases have valid lease documents and are on a master database.

Reply:

Section 41 of the Municipal Structures Act, 1998 (Act No. 117 of 1998) ("the Structures Act') provides that if the speaker of a municipal council is absent or not available to perform the functions of speaker, the municipal council must elect another councillor to act as speaker. If the position of mayor is vacant, the deputy mayor exercises the powers and performs the duties of the mayor. If the mayor is absent or not available and the municipality does not have deputy mayor or the deputy mayor is absent or not available, a councillor elected by the members of the executive committee acts as mayor, if the mayor has not designated a member or if the designated member is absent or not available. Section 48(2) of the Structures Act provides that the election of a mayor or deputy mayor takes place when it is necessary to fill a vacancy.

Therefore, the necessity to fill the vacant position of mayor is the prerogative of council, unless there is evidence to prove that the municipality does not fulfil the statutory obligations binding on it

Reply:

(a) I will ensure the department looks into this matter.

(b)(i) The status of undesirability can be reversed by appealing against the decision.

(b)(ii) The appeal can be sent to [email protected].

Reply:

None. See reply to Parliamentary Question 263 in respect of media adverts.

-END-

Reply:

1.Yes, the Department has bought advertising space in The New Age in the 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15 financial years;

i) Number of times; and

ii) The amount in each specified financial years.

DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND CULTURE

Advertisements	Date	Cost
Heritage Month	September 2012	R75 360.00
Freedom Month	April 2012	R56 520.00
Africa Month	May 2012	R42 955.20
Nelson Mandela Day	July 2012	R28 636.80
Nelson Mandela Day	July 2012	R28 636.80
Visual Arts Indaba	October 2012	R66 572 00
Advertisement	April 2013	R40 929.42
Advertisement	June 2014	R35 803.98
Advertisement	November 2014	R8 997.61
Advertisement	March 2015	R6 791.30

2. The advertisements that were placed through GCIS are as follows:

Adverts placed through GCIS:

DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND CULTURE THROUGH GCIS

Reconciliation Month	December 2014	R31 710.00

Reply:

(1)(a-b) For 2013-2014 financial year 52 officials were placed on precautionary suspension whilst allegations of fraud and corruption were investigated. The table below indicates the offices and the rank (positions) held.

Office	Rank (Position)
BRAKPAN	2
Front Office Clerk	2
BVR	1
Senior Admin Clerk	1
CALEDONSPOORT	6
Control Immigration Officer	1
Immigration Officer	5
CARLETONVILLE	1
Local Office Manager	1
JEPPE'S REEF	2
Control Immigration Officer	1
Immigration Officer	1
KING WILLIAMS TOWN	1
Front Office Clerk	1
MARABASTAD REFUGEE RECEPTION CENTRE	4
Immigration Officer	1
Refugee Status Determination Officer	3
O R TAMBO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT	12
Control Immigration Officer	1
Immigration Officer	11
OSHOEK	2
Immigration Officer	2
PHALABRWA	1
Senior Admin Clerk	1
POLOKWANE REGIONAL OFFICE	1
Immigration Officer	1
PORT ELIZABETH REGIONAL OFFICE	1
Control Immigration Officer	1
PORT ELIZABETH REFUGEE RECEPTION CENTRE	10
Refugee Reception Officer	5
Refugee Status Determination Officer	2
Refugee Status Determination Manager	1
Senior Admin Clerk	1
SECURITY OFFICER	1
PRETORIA: LARGE OFFICE	1
MOBILE TRUCK DRIVER	1
PROSPECTON	1
Front Office Clerk	1
TIRRO REFUGEE RECEPTION CENTRE	1
Refugee Reception Officer	1
VANDERBIJLPARK	1
Immigration Officer	1
WITBANK	3
Immigration Officer	3
ZULULAND LOCAL OFFICE	1
Front Office Clerk	1
Grand Total	52

For 2014-2015 financial year 22 officials were placed on precautionary suspension whilst allegations of fraud and corruption were investigated. The table below indicates the offices and the rank (positions) held.

Office	Rank (Position)
BRAKPAN	2
Front Office Clerk	2
CHIEF DIRECTORATE: EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT	1
Director	1
KING WILLIAMS TOWN	1
Front Office Clerk	1
KOKSTAD	2
Immigration Officer	2
MARABASTAD REFUGEE RECEPTION CENTRE	1
Immigration Officer	1
O R TAMBO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT	5
Immigration Officer	5
OSHOEK	2
Immigration Officer	2
PRETORIA: LARGE OFFICE	1
Mobile Truck Driver	1
PRETORIA:LARGE OFFICE	2
Immigration Officer	2
SASOLBURG	1
Chief Admin Clerk	1
WITBANK	3
Immigration Officer	3
ZULULAND LARGE OFFICE	1
Front Office Clerk	1
Grand Total	22

(2) For the 2013-2014 financial year, 57 employees were dismissed for fraud and corruption related misconduct. For the 2014-2015 financial year, 45 employees were dismissed for fraud and corruption related misconduct.

Reply:

Benchmarking is regarded as integral part of standard setting and standard maintenance in the National Senior Certificate examinations. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has benchmarked the seven key subjects with three of the most highly acclaimed examination bodies internationally and these include: the Cambridge International Examination (CIE), the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) and the Board of Studies. New South Wales (BSNSW). The subjects that were benchmarked include: Accounting, English (FAL), Geography, History, Life Science, Mathematics and Physical Science. The benchmarking was done in 2007, 2011 and 2013 and will be repeated with the 2015 question papers. The question papers were evaluated by the University South Africa (formerly HESA). The comments from all these institutions are taken very seriously and considered in the review process, which is done by the examining panel at the commencement of the setting process.

Reply:

During 2012-13, adverts were placed in New Age by recruitment companies totalling R102 146 for staff posts advertised by the department. This constituted 0,65% of the total advertising costs of the department for the year. Other media outlets used in this period included the Star, Mail & Guardian, City Press, Business Day and Sunday Times.

During 2013-14, infrastructure marketing was placed by Brand SA on behalf of EDD in various media outlets, which included newspapers, radio and television. Adverts and marketing were placed in Sowetan, the Star, Cape Times, Pretoria News, Mercury, Mail & Guardian, Business Day, City Press and the Sunday Times. No advertisements or marketing was placed with the New Age in this period and the amount was accordingly nil.

During 2014-15, infrastructure marketing was placed by Brand SA on behalf of EDD in various media outlets. Adverts for this as well as normal departmental advertising were placed in City Press, The Star, Pretoria News, Cape Times, Mercury, the New Age and Sunday Times. A separate partnership between KPMG and EDD was done, involving the M&G, at no cost to EDD. A sum of R100 000 was paid by EDD to Brand SA for advertisements in the New Age, which was equivalent to 1,6% of EDD’s total advertising spend for the financial year.

-END-

Reply:

(a) Department

(i) 44.1% from 1 April 2015 to 30 November 2015

(ii) None

(b) South Africa Tourism

(i) 6% of total procurement spend is spent on SMMEs in South Africa. This excludes foreign spend.

(ii) None. There is no procurement expenditure in the co-operatives category of suppliers.

Reply:

a) I continuously engage stakeholders on various issues affecting the Post-School Education and Training sector, e.g. taking forward the many progressive resolutions from the Higher Education Summit in order to accelerate the much-needed transformation in our higher education system. The Department recognises the urgency of addressing the big and enduring questions of transformation raised at this summit and the importance of new and different ways of engaging on university campuses so that transformation debates are characterised by dignity and recognition of diverse perspectives. The Department will in due course be announcing processes to take these matters forward.

Since the #FeesMustFall campaign, engagements with stakeholders have been intensified on the role that they each could play. I have further met with, amongst others, the following organisations:

• African National Congress (ANC);
• African Nation Congress Youth League (ANCYL);
• Congress of South African Students (COSAS);
• Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU);
• Democratic Alliance Student Organisation (DASO);
• Economic Freedom Fighters Student Command (EFFSC);
• National Health Education and Allied Workers Union (NEHAWU);
• Pan Africanist Student Movement of Azania (PASMA);
• South African Communist Party (SACP);
• South African Democratic Students Movement (SADESMO);
• South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU);
• South African Further Education and Training Student Association (SAFETSA);
• South African National Civic Organisation (SANCO);
• South African Students Congress (SASCO);
• South African Union of Students (SAUS);
• United Democratic Students Movement (UDESMO);
• Universities South Africa (USAf); and
• Young Communist League of South Africa (YCLSA).

Further meetings are being planned with Inter alia the Faith Communities and Chapter 9 institutions.

b) The student leadership and Vice-Chancellors have agreed to form a task team to deal with all outstanding matters, which includes insourcing and the “missing middle”.

c) I regard all these engagement as having yielded a huge success as many of our institutions have headed the call to return to classes at the beginning of this academic year.

 

Compiler/Contact Persons:

Ext:

DIRECTOR – GENERAL

STATUS:

DATE:

REPLY TO QUESTION 446 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED

Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

STATUS:

DATE:

Reply:

The following is the total breakdown of employees per nature of appointment:

(i) Contract posts

The department has appointed 73 Contract workers, these contract workers are placed within the three branches at Head Office and Provinces for Health Care services, Education Support and database (National Military Veterans Database), Call Centre, Auxiliary component for cleaning services after the cancellation of the contract of the outsourced cleaning services , other contract workers are placed at Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the ICT environment is made up of 3 permanent posts on the approved establishment, this has created a daunting situation as a newly established department that needs to implement an ICT infrastructure. Contract posts are funded in the short term through virements from other funded but vacant posts in the Department.

(ii) Secondments

The department has 6 seconded staff members from State Information Technology (SITA). They are remunerated by SITA as per the signed SLA.

(iii) Internship

The department has appointed 24 interns that are placed at Education Support Section, Legal and Compliances, Health Care Services and Policy environment. These interns are remunerated from annual skills levy of 1% of the compensation of employees for skills development.

Reply:

1. (a) (i-ii) The motivation is to honour our soldiers and to encourage the citizens on what the SANDF is made of and to promote patriotism.

(b,c and d) The budget cannot be compared but can be justified on economic benefits of the businesses around Port Elizabeth. The business community can indicate economic benefit out of Armed Forces Day.

(2) This is one greater priority that makes public awareness about the SANDF capability. The South African citizens deserve to know how their money is utilised.

Reply:

(1) The salaries, allowances and benefits of all Public Office Bearers, thus including Kings, are determined by the President based on recommendations made by the Independent Commission on the Remuneration of Public Office Bearers. This Commission also makes recommendations in respect of resources which are necessary to enable a Public Office Bearer to perform his or her functions effectively. Further to this determination, the Department has developed minimum norms and standards for the provision of resources to recognised traditional leaders which have been endorsed at MINMEC on 26 September 2013. Thus, King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo annual remuneration is R 1 137 922 as per the determination.

(2) Yes, the remuneration, allowances, benefits and tools of trade have been suspended. The King's car that was allocated by the State was withdrawn soon after the Kings incarceration on 30 December 2015. As for the remuneration of the King, the Province has reported that his salary would be suspended with effect from March 2016. It should be noted that there are no provisions in legislation governing Public Office Bearers to stop the payment of his salary. However, the Minister intervened as follows:

• Sent the DG to engage the Provincial Accounting Officer to use the provisions of Section 38 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), Act 1 of 1999.

• To explain the national process to unite the different factions of the royal family delaying the implementation of section 10 of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act, Act 41 of 2003.

• Furthermore, the Minister wrote to the MEC advising him to stop the salary in accordance with section 38 of the PFMA, Act 1 of 1999.

(3) No, the King is in prison and can no longer perform his duties-continuing to pay him will constitute irregular, wasteful and fruitless expenditure and the Eastern Cape Accounting Officer is expected to prevent it.(b) The issue of the acting King has not been finalised. The Royal family is still consulting on this matter. As soon as an acting King has been nominated, the Royal family is expected to make a submission to the Premier in accordance with section 14 of the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act, Act 41 2003.

Reply:

a) For the period 1 April 2015 to date, 26.8% of the department’s total procurement spent was allocated to SMME’s including Co-operatives. This amounts to R5 926 304.97.

b) The entities total procurement spent allocated to SMME’s is as follows:

IDC

The IDC has awarded procurement contracts to the value of R78 951 498.00 during 1 April 2015 to 29 February 2016 of which 57% of the total contract value was awarded to SMME’s.

ITAC

ITAC total spent on SMMEs is 31%, at a total value of R5 227 410.49

Competition Commission

Due to the nature of the Commission’s business being an investigative and prosecutorial agency, the majority of its procurement is on legal counsel, economists and experts. The total spent from 1 April 2015 until 30 September 2015 is at 4% at a total value of R63,7 million.

Competition Tribunal

The Competition tribunal does not currently keep statistics with regard to procurement from SMME’s or co-operatives. EDD has now requested that such data be collected in future.

-END-

Reply:

(a) (b) (i)(ii)

The Department:
The percentage of the department's procurement from SMME's for the period 1 April 2015 to 26 February 2016 equals 88%. This percentage includes procurement from township enterprises. The department did not procure any goods or services from co-operatives.

Entities:
South African Local Government Association (SALGA)
The percentage of SALGA's procurement from SMME's (Levels 1 to 4) for the period April 2015 to February 2016 equals 35%. This percentage includes procurement from township and rural enterprises. The SALGA did not procure any goods or services from co-operatives.

South African Cities Network (SACN)
The percentage of the SACN procurement from SMMEs for the period April 2015 to February 2016 equals 46%.The SACN did not procure any goods or services from co-operatives.

Municipal Demarcation Board (MOB)
The percentage of the MDB procurement from SMME's (Levels 1 to 4) for the period April 2015 to February 2016 equals 29.64%.The MDB did not procure any goods or services from co-operatives.

 

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

QUESTIONS FOR WRITTEN REPLY

QUESTION NUMBER: PQ2016/362

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 19 FEBRUARY 2016

Herewith a reply drafted by:

MS D SNYMAN
Acting Deputy Director-General: Financial Services
Date: 2016/03/26

RECOMMENDED/...............

MR V MADONSELA
DIRECTOR-GENERAL
DATE: 02.03/2016

SUPPORTED/.................

ANRIES NEL, MP
DEPUTY MINISTER
DATE: 03/03/2016

APPROVED/...................

DES VAN ROOYEN, MP
MINISTER
DATE: 10/03/2016
 

Reply:

(a) (i) 2012/13 - 260

(ii) 2013/14 – 252

(iii) 2014/15 – 224

(b) Garden tools, weed eater & extension cord, Water pump, Laptop, desktop, printer & TV, Electric cables, fencing poles, Sound system, cd case, till drawer, beers & shooters, Camouflage uniform and civilian clothes, Liquor, PlayStations, Mini HIFI system, home theatre system, Copper, Handbags, ID books, bankcards & cell phones, Bicycle/Golf Equip, Bicycles, Paint and thinners, Washing machine

(c) (i) (ii) and (iii) The monetary worth of such losses have not yet been determined by the SA National Defence Force

Reply:

I have been advised by the Department and Entities as follows:-

(a)(i) The Department has spent 28% on SMMEs from April 2015 to January 2016.

(a)(ii)The Department does not have a specific classification for Co-operatives.

(b) Entities:

Sentech SOC Ltd

(b) (i)The percentage spend on SMMEs for period 1 April 2015 to January 2016 was 15% of the total procurement expenditure.

(b)(ii) Sentech does not have a specific classification for Co-operatives.

SITA SOC Ltd

(b) (i)The percentage spend on SMMEs for period 01 April 2015 to 31 December 2015 was 10%.

(b)(ii) SITA does not have a specific classification for Co-operatives.

Broadband Infraco SOC Ltd

(b)(i) The percentage spend on SMMEs for a period 01 April 2015 to date is 34.56%.

(b)(ii) Broadband does not have a specific classification for Co-operatives

ZA Domain Name Authority

(b)(i) The zaDNA has spent 100% of its procurement budget on SMMEs from 1 April 2015 to date.

(b)(ii) zaDNA does not have a specific classification for Co-operatives.

Universal Service and Access and Agency of South Africa (USAASA)

(b)(i) USAASA does not have a system to track procurement by SMMEs but this will be a requirement of their new electronic system. The current system does however track spending on BBEEs. The BBEE target is set at 80%. The overall budget of USAASA during the current financial year is R24, 591 million. Of this amount, about R19, 672 million have been spent on BBEEs.

(b)(ii) USAASA does not have a specific classification for Co-operatives.

National Electronic Media Institute of South Africa

(b)(i) NEMISA has spent 0.9% on SMMEs for a period 01 April 2015 to February 2016.

(b)(ii) None

South African Post Office

(b)(i). SMMEs spending from 01 April to date is 6.60% of the total procurement spend.

(b)(ii) 14.41%

 

Reply:

1. All metropolitan municipalities have indicated that they have call centres or toll free numbers to deal with customer queries related to service delivery issues which include issues related to customer accounts queries.

(a) The number of calls received are between 200 - 4000 calls per day and all queries are resolved successfully.

(b) About 85% of queries and complaints are resolved on first contact. The remaining 15% is referred to relevant departments.

(c) Information on the number of staff employed by municipalities is still being sourced from municipalities.

2. All metropolitan municipalities present their call centre reports to provincial service delivery forums i.e. war room, operation Sukuma Sakhe (KwaZulu Natal) and Ntirisano (Gauteng).

(a) No failures on the call centres have been reported on.

(b) All municipalities have reported that the call centres are fully operational and most of the queries are being responded to effectively and efficiently.

Reply:

Please find here: Reply

Reply:

1. (a) & (b) & (c) & (d): Yes

(aa) Mr. Lungisa Fuzile is an ANC Member and he attended in his personal capacity.

(bb) Mr. Michael Sachs, Deputy Director General: Budget Office also attended in his personal capacity.

All officials who attended; attended in their personal capacity as Members of the ANC.

2. No expenditure was incurred by the National Treasury in terms of the Lekgotla.

Reply:

The Department of Basic Education ([)BE) has not excluded from its considerations for the future the testing of matric markers. The DBE is commit1ed to ensuring that the most competent educators are appointed for the marking process and. therefore. this option will be pursued based on more extensive consultation with the teacher formation s. that are vital to the success of this initiative. In view of the concern expressed by one of the major Unions in the country, it was therefore considered necessary to consult more widely with all the national teacher Unions on this very important measure that will be used to evaluate the competency level of the educators appointed.

However. it also needs to be noted that the implementation or the competency test will not resolve all the quality issues relating to marking. The competency test is only but one measure to improve the quality of marking. The Department is embarking on a whole range of initiatives to improve the accuracy and reliability of marking for which Umalusi has commended the Department.

These quality assurance measures include the following:

(a) Markers are appointed based on stringent criteria relating to teaching experience and qualification. and this is accompanied by a report on the Grade 12 performance of the prospective marker and his/her performance in the previous marking session/s.

(b) The DBE has conducted and ''ill continue to conduct an audit of al l marker appointments across all Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) to ensure that all PEDs comply strictly with the criteria for appointing markers.

(c) During the training of markers, markers are presented with the actual learner scripts and markers are authorised to mark only if they demonstrate they are capable of complying with the tolerance range allowed for specific paper.

(d) The tolerance Range is also used during the moderation process whereby the mark awarded by the moderator and the marker should not vary beyond an agreed range.

(c) Marking is followed b) an intensive moderation process which ensures that script are moderated by a senior marker who is in turn, overseen by the Deputy Chief Marker and the final quality control is the responsibility of the Chief Marker.
 

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works:

Yes, all Ministers are subject to Performance Agreements with the President of the Republic.

(a) The Performance Management Framework for Ministers is the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) 2014-2019, which is the first 5-year implementation plan of National Development Plan (NDP) 2030. The performance targets and indicators are derived from the 14 Outcomes, which Government seeks to achieve.

These Outcomes and targets constitute Government’s Programme of Action (POA), against which performance is tracked and reported at least on a quarterly basis. POA reports are available to the public on the Government website.

(b), (c), (d) and (e) Cabinet closely monitors the implementation of the NDP 2030/MTSF 2014-2019 through POA reports. These reports are tabled before an implementation forum of a Cluster of Ministers collectively responsible for MTSF Outcomes and then submitted to Cabinet on a quarterly basis, where progress is noted, challenges to implementation are discussed and recommendations are considered and approved.

Reply:

(1) The South African National Military Veterans Association (SANMVA) has been established to function as an entity that will assist the Department to reach its goals in servicing military veterans. Its core function is to mobilise military veterans across all individual associations and to ensure that all military veterans are aware of all of the benefits that are provided by the Department of Military Veterans and other government Departments.

(2) The Department has not aborted the special purpose vehicle (SPV). At present, a process is underway to probe the best possible solution towards establishing an SPV that would function efffectively and make sure that it does provide the intended benefit to all military veterans. Explorations include probing whether or not the provision of funding to military veterans will be in the form of a grant or loan and what the criteria would be in each instance. The Minister of Defence and Military Veterans is in full support of an SPV and has recommended that the Department continues to establish the SPV to give effect to a process that will be of benefit to military veterans to the extent that they necome self sufficient and are able to become less relaint on funding from the Department.

SANMVA has not assumed the role of an SPV. On the contrary, the Department is beginning to benefit from interventions wherein SANMVA engages with the private sector to open up business and employment opportunities for military veterans. Such opportunities are fed back to the Department for implementation. One such engagement has resulted in the Department beginning to pilot the training of military veterans in the installations of Set Top Boxes in conjunction with Ellies, one of the companies that has been awarded a contract to implement the Government’s Digital Migration programme under the Department of Communications. The roles are more complimentary rather than SANMVA assuming a role of the Department.

(3

(a) To give effect to its functions, SANMVA requests assistance in the form of transport and accommodation, where required.

(b) The Department covers all requests when funds are available.

(4)

(a) The Department does make a budget allocation for SANMVA activities under the Chief Directorate: Provincial Offices and Stakeholder Management.

(b) No funds have been transferred to SANMVA to date for personal managemrent by SANMVA. The mechanism for this has not yet been instituted.

(5) SANMVA has submitted one annual report to the office of the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, to date, since the establishment of SANMVA under the new Military Veterans Act, No 18, of 2011.

Reply:

The Department of Social Development has checked its records and could not find companies with above mentioned names which have been awarded contracts within the abovementioned financial years.

a) None

b) None

c) None

(i) N/A

(ii) N/A

 

Supported/ Not Supported

_______________________________

Ms. S Mgwaba

Chief Director: Financial Administration

Date:

Supported/ Not Supported

_______________________________

Mr. C Appel

Chief Financial Officer

Date:

Supported/ Not Supported

_______________________________

Ms. L Oliphant

Chief Director: Communications

Date:

Supported/ Not Supported

_______________________________

Mr. A Phahlamohlaka

Chief of Staff

Date:

Supported/ Not Supported

_______________________________

Ms. N Ndabankulu

CD: Executive Support & IGR

Date:

Recommended/ Not Recommended

_______________________________

Mr. T Magwaza

Acting Director-General

Date:

Reply:

The application for leave to appeal was filed on 3 March 2016. As Minister, I am appealing the Court’s decision to set aside the moratorium retrospectively.

---ooOoo---

Reply:

Armscor’s Strategy departs from the premises as indicated below and contains objectives as indicated.

1. The SANDF is Armscor’s client and as such Armscor must firstly focus on the SANDF’s requirements as defined and scheduled by them.
2. Armscor is, however, also sensitive to the greater socio-economic issues that come into play with defence expenditure. In this regard Armscor had studies conducted to assess the socio-economic impact of different types of acquisition programs related to the requirements of the Defence Review.  The insights from these studies are used to advise the SANDF, to try and position the local defence industry for optimal socio-economic impact in the RSA or to define the required characteristics of agreements with international suppliers where necessary, for example to protect the balance of payments and to transfer skills to the RSA.  
3. Armscor is also in consultation with the Departments of Science and Technology and Trade and Industry to optimize possible defence expenditure with their departmental initiatives.
4. Armscor is not the representative body for the local defence industry (AMD), but it is cooperating with the body to define and implement initiatives to strengthen the local defence industry.
5. In addition to existing support to marketing events such as the upcoming Africa Aerospace Defence (an international and continental) event, Armscor reacts to opportunities as they show themselves within the relevant oversight policies. The approach is not only reactive but also proactive as Armscor Research and Development is involved in forums that are aimed at optimizing the continent’s military output through improved logistic support and interoperability. Armscor Research and Development is also providing insights to the focusing of technology development to ensure an ability to react to opportunities.

SUBMITTED ON: 15 MARCH 2016

Reply:

(a) (b) (c) (i) (ii)

The information requested in the format that appears in the aforementioned question is not available as only the particulars of companies are recorded within the financial systems in the Department and not the details of any directors.

 

---ooOoo---

Reply:

During the indicated financial year, skills audit was not conducted due to capacity challenges however gaps were identified and all employees per branches were identified according to their placement, qualification, skills and knowledge.

Process is underway regarding the skills audit project. Therefore skills audit will be conducted before the end of the financial year 2016/17.

Reply:

Annual report 2014-15

The Minister appointed a Turnaround Support Initiative (TSI) team during September 2015 for a renewable period of six (6) months to address audit findings identified in the 2013-14 and 2014-15 Auditor General South Africa reports and to assisting with implementation and/or operationalisation of the projects and programmes to complement the long term service delivery capacity challenges of the Department.

The TSI is characterized of a steering committee led by Convener Mr S Majombozi through a programme management office and the deputy programme manager, Mr T Nemahagala, and a resource panel.

Reply:

Yes, the South African National Defence Force participated in the disaster relief operations from 01 January 2015 to the latest specified date.

(a) Relevant details:

i) Drought: Water supply in Smithfield in the Free State during period of 13–30 November 2015.

ii) Flood disaster: No flood disaster relief actions were conducted during this period.

(b) Cost: R504 845.34

The SANDF is always ready to give support and assist the communities in any disaster relief operations.

Reply:

There are no frozen posts at the moment all posts are active and funded.

SUBMITTED ON: 15 MARCH 2016

Reply:

1 (a) and (b); 2(a) and (b); 3(a) and (b) and 4 (a) and (b):

It is not clear whether questions 2, 3 and 4 refer to all municipalities or metropolitan municipalities only. To collect this information from all municipalities in the country is a major task which we have initiated but is not yet complete. The Metropolitan Municipalities have this information in their annual reports but many other municipalities do not have this information in their annual reports.

According to the Metropolitan Municipalities’ Annual Reports for 2013/14 and 2014/15 financial years, the answers to these questions for the Metropolitan Municipalities are provided in the table below:

Name of Metropolitan Municipality	Total amount spent on major roads upgrades	Kilometres of roads resurfaced	Kilometres of gravel roads tarred	Square metres of potholes repaired
Year:	2013/14	2014/15	2013/14	2014/15	2013/14	2014/15	2013/14	2014/15
Buffalo City	R65m	R130m	4.9km	33.7km	28.99	59.1	149 000	161 389
City of Cape Town	R2.9bn	R3bn	13.2km	15km	2	3	450 000	550 000
City of JHB	R57.7m	R60.0m	623km	654km	7.05	8.1	87 075	91 234
City of Tshwane	R1.6 bn	R303m	131km	154km	658.97	121,4	65 100	75 233
Ekurhuleni	R404m	R173m	93km	25km	93	25	29 025	31 234
eThekwini	R69.6m	R141.9m	315km	184.5km	11.6	23.65	114 000	202 000
Mangaung	R28.02	R51.0m	35km	40.5km	4.67	8.5	387 754	398 894
Nelson Mandela Bay	R106.86	R66.0m	20.4km	25.3km	17.81	11	30 123	35 234

Reference: All Metropolitan Municipalities’ annual reports for 2013/14 and 2014/15

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works

No.

Thus (a), (b) and (c) (i) and (ii) fall away.

____________________________________________________________________

Reply:

(a) (i) There are currently no approved changes to the burial support policy.

(ii)

In lieu of the current Act, there are no envisaged changes on the Healthcare Policy.

(c) Not applicable since there are no approved changes at present.

Reply:

I have been advised by the Department as follows:-

(a) & (b) Not Applicable: The department was not in existence during the years in question.

(c) No: The department did not award any contract to the persons in question.

Reply:

The Municipal Assessment Tool falls within the mandate of the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) and, in collaboration with various stakeholders, developed and manage this tool. It is thus recommended that the Honourable member direct his question to the DPME to provide detailed information and a comprehensive answer to the question.