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 following response is based on information on the current (2015/16) financial year's organisational structure:

There are no frozen posts on the organisational structure.

 

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:

Year	Salary per annum	Performance Bonus (once-off)
Eastern Cape Department of Education
(i)(aa) 2012/13	R763 776.00 Acting HOD	None
(i)(bb) 2013/14	R1 485 576.00	None
(i)(cc) 2014/15	R1 570 254.00	None
Free State Department of Education
(i)(aa) 2012/13	R1 584 756.00	None
(i)(bb) 2013/14	R 1 673 502.00	None
(i)(cc) 2014/15	R 1 768 893.00	None
Gauteng Department of Education
(i)(aa) 2012/13	R1 515 528.00	None
(i)(bb) 2013/14	R1 600 398.00	None
(i)(cc) 2014/15	R1 742 751.00	None
Kwa-Zulu Natal Department of Education
(i)(aa) 2012/13	R1 406 796.00	None
(i)(bb) 2013/14	R1 485 576.00	None
(i)(cc) 2014/15	R1 570 254.00	None
Limpopo Department of Education
(i)(aa) 2012/13	R1 406 796.00	None
(i)(bb) 2013/14	R1 485 576.00	None
(i)(cc) 2014/15	R1 570 254.00	None
Mpumalanga Department of Education
(i)(aa) 2012/13	R 1 427 895.00	None
(i)(bb) 2013/14	R 1 530 483.00	None
(i)(cc) 2014/15	R 1 617 720.00	None
Northern Cape Department of Education
(i)(aa) 2012/13	R 1 153 962.00	None
(i)(bb) 2013/14	R 1 238 040.00	None
(i)(cc) 2014/15	R 1 325 724.00	R61 902.00
North West Department of Education
(i)(aa) 2012/13	R968 028.00 (Acting Head of Department)	None
(i)(bb) 2013/14	R1 022 238.00 (Acting Head of Department)	None
(i)(cc) 2014/15	R1 570 254.00	None
Western Cape Department of Education
(i)(aa) 2012/13	R1 515 528.00	None
(i)(bb) 2013/14	R1 600 398.00	None
(i)(cc) 2014/15	R1 811 427.00	R84 581.00
Department of Basic Education
(ii)(aa) 2012/13	R1 406 796.00	R142 789.50
(ii)(bb) 2013/14	R1 153 962.00 (Acting Director-General)	R115 396.20
(ii)(cc) 2014/15	R1 238 040.00 (Acting Director-General)	R61 902.00

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works

No.

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

Programme classification	Goods and services	Payment for capital assets	Reasons for underspending on goods and services	Reasons for underspending on capital assets
Administration	94.3%	38.7%	The underspending was mainly because of billing not received from the Department of Public Works for infrastructure and property management	The department budgeted for furniture for the new employees but because of limited space capacity the process of purchasing the furniture was withheld.
Socio Economic Support	16.0%	29.3%	Dependency on other departments to roll out benefits	The department budgeted for furniture for the new employees but because of limited space capacity the process of purchasing the furniture was withheld.
Empowerment and Stakeholder Management	78.9%	100%	Dependency on other departments to roll out benefits	The programme spent its budget accordingly
TOTAL	51.8%	43.2%

Reply:

Question 1. Yes, Defence Intelligence is in the process of vetting the outstanding security clearance applications of members to be assigned as Senior Military Judges and Military Judges.

Question 2(a). The number of outstanding cases in military courts is 2 176.

Question 2(b). The reasons for the number of cases in arrears in the military courts are (i) unavailability of witnesses or accused and (ii) finalisation of specialised investigations. The vetting back log also causes delay. No military courts were conducted to date for the FY 2015/16.

Question 3. No.

Reply:

(1) According to Regulations in terms of the Military Veterans Act 18 of 2011, a bonafide registered military veteran must apply for all benefits of which healthcare is one of them. Upon application, DMV will issue a once off  authorization letter to the South African Military Healthcare Services (SAMHS) in order to capture the details of the approved military veteran. The military veteran will then have access to healthcare for life at SAMHS and SAMHS approved private facilities.

(2) A military veteran has accesss to health care as outlined in the Constitution of South Africa. Military Veterans are free to access healthcare at the public institution and military hospitals.

(3) The military veteran can access private medical practice only when authorised to do so either by DMV through  SAMHS and /or authorised directly by the SAMHS.

(4) NO. Section 5 benefits are provided to registered and/or verified military veterans.

Reply:

The Department of Defence did not spend on any advertisement in the New Age newspaper during the above mentioned period.

SUBMITTED ON: 15 MARCH 2016

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

(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:

The Minister of Public Works

The Department of Public Works has not bought advertising space in The New Age during the (a) 2012-13, (b) 2013-14 and (c) 2014-15 financial years.

Thus (i) and (ii) fall away.

____________________________________________________________________

Reply:

Our expenditure to date indicates that we are already on par with the presidential pronouncement that expenditure to SMMEs must be at 30% of our procurement spent.

This figure is expected to increase with the finalization of all procurement contracts by the end of financial year 2015/16.

57% (R18M) of the current finalized procurement contracts are awarded to level 1 and 2 BBBEE companies, of which 55% (R10M) there-of is awarded to SMMEs.

Reply:

The following are the members of the Appeals Board Members and their capacity:

Mr M Msimang (Chairperson)

Mr F Hartzenburg (Member)

Adv C.O Morolo (Member)

Ms N.E Mkhwanazi (Member)

Adv M.A Tshivhase (Member)

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:

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. Whether he has entered into a performance agreement with the President, Mr Jacob G Zuma, with regard to the implementation of the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) 2014-2019; if not, why not; if so,

The Performance Management Framework for Ministers is the Medium-Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) for 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 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 publicly available on the government’s website.

(a) Which key indicators and targets from the MTSF are reflected in the agreement?

Key targets for the MTSF include:

• Increase in the percentage of households with access to a functional water service from 85% in 2013 to 90% by 2019.
• Increase in the percentage of households with access to a functional sanitation service from 84% in 2013 to 90% by 2019, including elimination of bucket sanitation in the formal areas.
• 1.4 million Additional households to be connected to the grid between 2014 and 2019, and 105 000 additional non-grid connections.
• An increase in the level of public trust and confidence in local government from 51% in 2012 to 65% in 2019, as measured by the IPSOS survey.
• An improvement in overall municipal audit outcomes, with at least 75% of municipalities receiving unqualified audits by 2019.
• Income support to the unemployed through expansion of the Community Work Programme to reach 1 million participants in 2019.

(b) How many performance assessments has he undertaken in consultation with the President since the agreement was signed?

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, where progress is noted, bottlenecks to implementation are discussed and recommendations to address bottlenecks are considered and approved.

(c) What progress has been made in meeting the key indicators and targets from the MTSF?

This response is based on information received from Department of Water and Sanitation, Energy, Environmental Affairs, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and National Treasury and Government Communication and Information Systems (GCIS). Progress provided hereunder on basic services is as at April 2015. The impact of the key indicators and targets is measured annually by sector departments. As a result, the latest measurement as at end of March 2016 on the key indicators and targets will be provided to the honourable member as soon as it has been finalised by respective Outcome 9 delivery partners.

Indicator	Baseline	Target	Progress	Progress rating
Number or percentage of hhs with access to a functional service at acceptable levels as per norms and standards	Water: 85% operational service 65% reliable service as benchmarked by Census 2011 (this equates to 85% operational service)	90% by 2019	Access to Water Infrastructure increased from 96.2% in April 2015 to 96.5% in December 2015, which constitutes an estimated 85 000 households that have been served with water supply infrastructure during the first 3 quarters of 2015/16 financial year. 66% households have access to reliable services, i.e. access to water services without frequent and lengthy interruptions in supply.
	Sanitation: 84% New baseline proposed by Sanitation of 74%	90% by 2019	Sanitation delivery through the Rural Household Infrastructure Grant and Municipal Infrastructure Grant was 133 508 households served cumulatively since April 2015. This translates to a 0, 7% annual increase.
	HHs using bucket sanitation 88127 in formal areas	88127 buckets eradicated in formal areas by 2015. 32 500 buckets eradicated in formal settlements by March 2016	As at June 2015, bucket sanitation has been removed in 24 559 households over the past year against the initial target of 88 000. The Department has planned to replace 32 500 buckets by the end March 2016

Indicator	Baseline	Target	Progress	Progress rating
	Electricity: 12,8 million hhs connected to grid	1.4 million additional HHs connected by 2019	Access to electricity (grid) increased from 88.13% in April 2014 to 88.23% in April 2015. This percentage increase constitutes 233 455 households connected to grid from.
	Refuse: 72%	80% by 2019	According to the General Household Survey results, access to refuse removal increased from 74.5% in July 2013 to 74.6% in July 2014. The percentage increase constitute 162 046 households with access to waste collection services. The GHS is conducted annually and the results are release in July every year. The latest report will be released in July 2016.
Public trust and confidence in local government	51% (Ipsos 2012)	65% by 2019	Decreased from 55% in November 2014 to 49% in November 2016. This is according to a survey conducted by Ipsos.
Number of municipalities that improve their audit outcomes	20% adverse and disclaimers 25% qualified audits 50% unqualified audits (2014)	Number of municipalities with disclaimers and adverse opinions Maximum of 25% municipalities with Qualified audits At least 75% of municipalities with unqualified audit opinions by 2019	The audit outcomes for the MFMA 2013/14 Financial Year are as follows: 17% of municipalities and entities had disclaimers and adverse, which is a reduction of 6% from 23%. 22% of municipalities and entities had qualified opinions 58% municipalities and entities had unqualified opinions. As at 17% of municipalities and entities had disclaimers and adverse opinion The 2014/15 preliminary audit results for 2014/15 were released by the Auditor-General in December 2015. The final consolidated report will be released in June 2016. The improvement in audit outcomes can only be measured after the release of the consolidated AG report.
Number of participants reached	172 000 (actual participation rate end March 2014)	1 million participants by 2019	The total CWP participation rate as at end of December 2015 was 214 013 cumulatively

 

(d) What are the key obstacles to implementation?

• The provision of reliable services remains a challenge across all services due to backlogs in infrastructure refurbishment and neglect of operation and maintenance and asset management. There are no proper investments for infrastructure maintenance, which results in service interruptions.

• The challenge of connecting households in rural areas, to bulk electricity infrastructure remains an issue. Most of these connections are concentrated in remote areas far from the grid, which necessitates installation of additional bulk infrastructure to connect these households. Installation of new bulk infrastructure necessitates environmental impact assessments, acquiring servitudes and project design functions, which have long lead times, to complete leading to delays in reticulation.

(e) What is the plan to address such obstacles?

• Improving service delivery performance requires a programme management approach to proactively address the planning, coordination and institutional constraints experienced in the 27 priority districts. In this regard, a Service Delivery Business Strategy (Attached) was developed and approved by Cabinet on 02 June 2015 which entailed the establishment of a Programme Management Office (PMO) which is currently being coordinated by MISA and comprises key sector departments (DWS, DoT, DEA, DOE, NT, DCoG, & DPME).

• To date, the PMO has completed the diagnostic assessments at the Amathole District to determine and confirm the status quo of the backlogs on access to reliable services. Umzinyathi, Sekhukhune and Bojanala Districts municipalities are currently being assessed.

 

• The Department of Energy has recognized the need to enhance performance through project management of the electrification programme, to establish stakeholder forums aimed at managing expectations and to ensure alignment with planned electrification targets. Separate funding from Integrated National Electrification Programme (INEP) will be allocated to address bulk infrastructure requirements for targeted electricity connections specifically in deep rural areas.

 

Reply:

Minister has a signed performance agreement that is translated into a Medium Term Strategic Framework for a 5 years period.  This is broken down into an annual performance plan. 

These documents form the basis of the department being held accountable by Parliament on a quarterly basis and also held accountable by the public.  The performance agreement of the Minister is therefore publicly assessed through the Portfolio Committees on a regular basis. 

Additionally, the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) compels all the Executing Authorities to subject their departmental expenditure to the Auditor General. This again is a measure that ensures full accountability to the public funds. 

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:

I have been advised by the Department as follows:-

There are no frozen vacant positions.

a) Not applicable

b) Not applicable

c) Not applicable

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:

Any question which relates to the capacity or capabilities within the defence force shall not be made available to the public and therefore we are not able to answer this question.

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 buy advertising space in The New Age in the year in question.

 

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:

I have been advised as follows:-

After considering the contents of the report and applying my mind to the matter, I notified the PSC on 23 February 2016 that I have accepted the report without any amendments. The report is available to the affected parties.

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:

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:

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 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:

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:

a. Ref Par 1 (a): The intention of the SANDF is not to have contracts for servicing of military vehicles and equipment.

b. Ref Par 1 (b): First and second line maintenance and repair tasks including limited depot repairs will be performed by internal capability.

c. Ref Par 1 (c): Through Project Thusano, internal capability and capacity the SANDF will do the internal work.

d. Ref Par 1 (d): It will save cost, military vehicles and equipment will be maintained and repaired as a far less cost as it will be done internally.

It is important that the SANDF becomes self-sustainable. We are not ruling out possibilities of working with the private sector on some of our projects. However, the SANDF must develop internal capacity to deal with such matters.

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:

Questions (1) (a)	SAAF Response
What is the operating status of AFB Langebaanweg?	The main function of this base is to provide basic flying training to the SAAF pilots. The utilisation of the base as SAAF basic flying school is planned to continue for the foreseeable future.
Question (1) (b) (i and ii)
What are the medium and long term plans and objectives for using AFB Langebaanweg for both training and operational purpose?	To make SAAF combat ready.
Question (2)
Are there plans to commercialise the base?	The DOD (SAAF) has no intention or plans to commercialise the base.

Reply:

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

SUBMITTED ON: 15 MARCH 2016

Reply:

Due to security reasons, the response to this question can only be presented to the closed session of the JSC on Defence.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works

No.

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

____________________________________________________________________

Reply:

1. (a) The building contractors for 3 Technical and Vocational Education and Training college campuses have been appointed, and the sites are currently under construction.

The table below responds to questions (b), (c) and (d) above.

TVET College	(b) Anticipated Completion Date	(c) Estimated Costs	(d) Areas that will be serviced by the campuses
Bhambanana	July 2016	R 167 427 900.00	uMkhanyakude district with localities such as Jozini, Mkuze, etc.
Nkandla A	June 2016	R 194 019 880.00	uThungulu district such as Nkandla, Babanango, Nkungumathe, etc.
Thabazimbi	April 2016	R 190 093 606.63	Waterberg district such as Regorogile, Northam, Swartklip, Amandelbult, etc.

2. (a) Yes, the TVET Infrastructure Development Programme has planned to build 12 new campuses and refurbish 2 existing campuses across the country, at 16 sites. To date 3 sites are currently under construction. The processes to commence construction at the remaining 12 sites are underway. These projects will be implemented through the initial allocations of the programme. Relevant details are tabulated below:

 

TVET College	Campus	Local and District Municipality	Scope of Work	(iii) Project Estimate Costs
Eastcape Midlands	Graaff-Reinet	Camdeboo Local, Cacadu District	New college campus	R 99 273 672.84
Ingwe	Ngqungqushe	Ngquza Hill Local, OR Tambo District	New college campus	R 111 184 487.86
Ikhala	Sterkspruit	Senqu Local, Joe Gqabi District	New college campus	R 124 999 717.95
	Aliwal North	Maletswai Local, Joe Gqabi District	New college campus	R 108 128 554.14
Esayidi	uMzimkhulu	uMzimkhulu Local, Sisonke District	New college campus	R 94 554 838.06
Umfolozi	Nkandla B	Nkandla Local, uThungulu District	New college campus. There is only one Nkandla campus. This campus spans across two delivery sites, namely Nkandla A and Nkandla B.	R 116 564 136.04
Umgungundlovu	Greytown	uMvoti Local, uMzinyathi District	New college campus	R 124 999 717.95
	Msinga	Msinga Local, uMzinyathi District	New college campus	R 127 157 312.09
Mthashana	KwaGqikazi	Nongoma Local, Zululand District	Refurbishment of existing college campus. Refurbishment of the KwaGqikazi and Nongoma delivery sites, which is situated on the same portion of farm reserve.	R 91 065 653.69
	Nongoma	Nongoma Local, Zululand District		R 112 464 595.16
	Vryheid	Abaqulusi Local, Zululand District	Refurbishment of existing college campus	R 108 128 554.14
Letaba	Giyani	Greater Giyani Local, Mopani District	New college campus	R 92 573 493.64
Gert Sibande	Balfour	Dipaleseng Local, Gert Sibande District	New college campus	R 106 722 623.82

(ii) The tender process commenced in March 2016 and the campuses are planned to be completed within 18 months from the date of site handover to the contractor.

 

Compiler/contact persons:

Ext:

DIRECTOR – GENERAL

STATUS:

DATE:

REPLY TO QUESTION 462 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED

Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

STATUS:

DATE:

Reply:

I am informed by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) that:

(1)(a), (b) and (c) The Public Investment Corporation (PIC) was not consulted about; did not enter into, and did not advice on any financial transaction that involves any of the entities mentioned in the question, as the PIC was not approached by any of these entities.

(2) The PIC did not play any role in the Optimum Coal Holdings Limited transaction.

Reply:

1. The Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college system, including individual institutions such as Western TVET College, uses the criterion-referenced system of student performance measurement and evaluation, i.e. Internal Continuous Assessment (ICASS) and Integrated Summative Assessment Tasks (ISATs), which are designed to measure student performance against a fixed set of predetermined criteria, learning performance standards and outcomes. This system of student performance measurement and evaluation is critical for the TVET system as it reveals what each student can or cannot to do against a set standard in the classroom, workplace, workshop or trade test centre. It is an appropriate system for determining the levels of individual student competence and provides information about areas where each student can be supported to ultimately be successful in their studies. At the level of the national quality assurance system executed by Umalusi, the Quality Council for General and Further Education and Training, a norm-referenced system of student performance evaluation is applied. This type of student performance evaluation yields an estimate of the position of the tested individual in a predefined population, with respect to the trait or level of knowledge being measured. To determine the validity of all performance measurement results, a standardisation process is used to mitigate the effect of factors other than students’ knowledge and aptitude on their performance, as well as other sources of student performance variations stemming from the difficulty of question papers, undetected errors, and student interpretation of questions.
2. The Bell Curve grading system is neither applied nationally nor at Western TVET College. Given the apartheid legacy of this country, it is not and would not have been in the best interest of this country’s education system to apply the Bell Curve theory in the measurement and evaluation of student performance in the TVET college system or any other part of our education system.

Compiler/contact persons:

Ext:

DIRECTOR – GENERAL

STATUS:

DATE:

REPLY TO QUESTION 267 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED

Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

STATUS:

DATE:

Reply:

a) Primrose police station has three sectors.

b) The following suburbs fall within the sectors:

• Sector 1: Makause, Marathon, Delport and Rasta informal settlements, Primrose East, Woodmere, Marlands and Primrose central business districts.
• Sector 2: Activia Park, Homestead, Sunnyridge, Solheim, Fishershill, Symhurst and Primrose central business district.
• Sector 3: Dawnview, Simmerfield, Primrose Hill, Wychwood, Malvern East and Creston Hill.

c) The estimated population size is 71 000.

d) There are four visible policing officers per sector and one Sector Commander per sector.

e) There are four shifts for visible policing.

Reply:

1. (a) There are no frozen vacant positions in the Department of Arts and Culture. In line with DPSA Circular 1 of 2012, all unfunded vacant positions have been abolished.

(b) Not applicable.

(c) Not applicable.

Reply:

1. Corruption is identified as a separate crime within the department’s records, but it is reported under the broader crime category of commercial crime.

Corruption figures
Financial year	Figure
2006/2007	99
2007/2008	90
2008/2009	124
2009/2010	81
2010/2011	83
2011/2012	60
2012/2013	78
2013/2014	123
2014/2015	58

2. Does not apply.

Reply:

My department has commenced with conducting an investigation into the matter of unfinished low-income houses, built in Lakeside Extension 4 (Ward 40/Tonosa) in Emfuleni Local Municipality, Gauteng Province.

The National Home Builders Registration Council has been requested to conduct in loco inspections on properties which were constructed as part of this project, particularly the affected incomplete houses.

We have also requested the Gauteng Provincial Department of Human Settlements to furnish my department with a detailed report on the status of this project, particularly its implementation; quality of houses built and any intervention measures put in place to deal with allegations of poor workmanship and completion of houses.

Once this work has been completed, I will be provided with a report which will shed light on what happened to the project that the Honourable members is referring to.