Reply:

This information has been requested from the metropolitan municipalities and will be communicated to the Honorable Member when it is available.

 

Reply:

This information has been requested from the Mbombela Local Municipality and will be communicated to the Honorable Member when it is available.

The Honorable Member should provide CoGTA with any concrete information in his possession that could assist in any investigation – which will be initiated if there is a prima facie basis in existence.

 

Reply:

1. I am not going to provide security sensitive information about the movement of the President
2. No

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

This matter is currently the subject of litigation between the Department and the company concerned and as such any comments at this stage are likely to prejudice the Department’s case.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

A pre-feasibility study (“PFS”) was conducted by the IDC in August 2012.

The key findings of the PFS include:

• A new low cost iron and steel plant with annual capacity of 2.5 million tons based on low cost iron ore and coal resources in South Africa, is viable.
• The preferred process route would be the Rotary Hearth Furnace (“RHF”) technology. The primary advantage of this technology is that it does not require coking coal and subsequently has the lowest operating cost. The downside is the high capital cost of an RHF project and relative high electricity consumption.
• The second best option is Blast Furnace (“BF”) technology. Although it is the most proven route worldwide for iron making, it requires coking coal which is not currently available in South Africa and was therefore considered second best to RHF.
• Beneficiation of the magnetite could be done at a facility at Phalaborwa.
• Middelburg would be a suitable location (and significantly better than Phalaborwa) based on availability of coal, raw material transport logistics, infrastructure including water, rail and electricity as well as proximity to inland domestic market.

After the PFS was concluded, IDC embarked on a process to find a strategic equity partner which led to the Memorandum of Understanding executed with China’s Hebei Iron & Steel Group (HBIS) in September 2014.

HBIS’s participation is conditional upon using their core competence which is based on BF technology as well as to increase the target size of the project to 5mtpa of which a substantial portion will be exported, to other Sub-Saharan African markets. The BF process necessitates the use of coking coal that would need to be imported (possibly from Mozambique). The capacity change, new markets identified and raw material import requirements may put an inland site such as Middelburg at a competitive disadvantage. Therefore, they are considering a coastal site as an alternative.

HBIS and IDC are currently conducting additional prefeasibility studies to assess the economic viability of BF technology, increased size and the project location. Depending on the outcome of these additional prefeasibility studies, a detailed feasibility study will be conducted before a final investment decision is made.

-END-

Reply:

This information has been requested from the Tlokwe Local Municipality and will be communicated to the Honorable Member when it is available.

 

Reply:

This information has been requested from the metropolitan municipalities and will be communicated to the Honorable Member when it is available.

 

Reply:

The Honourable Member will be aware that African stability, development and prosperity have been the bedrock of the ANC-led government since the dawn of our democracy in 1994.

We continue this trajectory by committing to various AU programmes, with the following discernible examples:

1. Peace, Security and Stability: On 08 November 2015, I presided over the closing ceremony of the Amani Africa Field Training Exercise held in Lohatla, Northern Cape, whose main objective was to test the ‘Rapid Deployment Capacity’ (RDC) of the African Standby Force. The success of this Exercise points to the Continent’s readiness to expeditiously provide solutions to some of our instability challenges.

What was most gratifying about Amani Africa was the fact that Southern African Development Community (SADC), the East African Standby Force, North Africa Regional Command, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Volunteering Nations of the African Capacity for Immediate Response to Crises (ACIRC), all participated in this historic exercise. Amani Africa is a practical headway that has been made to ensure stability, which is indispensable to continental development. The Honorable Member will also recall the swiftness with which SADC addressed the recent challenges in Lesotho.

 

2. NEPAD: As the Honourable Member will know, NEPAD has been one of the corner stones of the African Renaissance. The initiative is anchored on our collective determination to extricate ourselves and the Continent from underdevelopment and exclusion in a globalising world. It is a call for a new relationship based on domestic, continental and global partnerships to address under-development, founded on the realisation of common interest, obligations, commitments, benefit and equality.

NEPAD has a number of key programmes, one of which is infrastructure development. The Continent continues to make progress in this regard through the implementation of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) and the Presidential Infrastructure Championing Initiative (PICI) chaired by South Africa, and spearheaded by seven dedicated Heads of State and Government. PICI is part of PIDA, serving as an initiative to bring political leadership to bear, to fast-track the implementation of important projects from the PIDA Priority Action Plan by identifying and dealing with blockages, missing links and choke-points.

For example, under PICI, progress is being made in closing the missing link of the trans-Saharan highway project covering 4500 kilometres between Algeria and Nigeria and $40 million has been secured towards its continued construction. It is expected to be completed in 2016. The optic fibre component of the same project has seen substantial progress, with the completion of 60% of the project. The ICT Broadband Fibre Optic Network Linking Neighbouring States project, championed by Rwanda, has been completed. Egypt recently held the first Steering Committee meeting of the footprint states of the Navigational route between Lake Victoria and the Mediterranean Sea. Construction on the Grand Inga project is due to begin soon. The Dakar Financing Summit in June 2014 prioritized 16 PIDA projects for exposure to private and institutional investors.

With an infrastructure deficit of about USD 92 billion per year, NEPAD is making every effort to highlight this very important challenge. In light of this, at its annual meeting in May 2014, the African Development Bank launched the Africa50 initiative in order to mobilise USD 100 billion for regional infrastructure projects, focusing on addressing the key part of the project cycle that is project preparation. There are several projects in this regard, so this is by no means an exhaustible list.

3. APRM:

The APRM derives from NEPAD and its aim is to foster and promote good political, economic, social and corporate governance in Africa by encouraging Member States to adopt international best practice, which should eventually translate into political stability, economic growth, sustainable development and sub-regional and continental economic integration. South Africa is committed to advancing, nationally and continentally, the objectives of the APRM.

South Africa acceded to the APRM in March 2003 and was reviewed in July 2005. This resulted in the release of the Country Review Reports in 2007 and its’ National Programme of Action .South Africa tabled its First Report on the Implementation of the Programme of Action in January 2009. The second such Report was tabled in January 2011, with the Third Report being tabled in January 2014. South Africa will soon enter the second Peer Review phase.

Membership of the APRM has risen to 35 and 17 countries have been reviewed to date. This is an utterly unique system of self-assessment in the world in terms of its transparency and extent, and the underlying benefits cannot be overstated in terms of the shaping of national development discourse and providing models of best practice on key cross-cutting issues.

4. CAADP AND OTHER PROGRAMMES:

Another key priority for African development is agriculture, as reflected in the AU/NEPAD Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). CAADP is one of NEPAD’s most successful programmes and has been key to driving development on the Continent and responding to poverty, hunger and joblessness. CAADP ensures that the great commodity that we have, arable agricultural land, is used for the benefit of all Africans.

In this regard, 52 states have been engaged in CAADP related interventions, 40 have received direct support under CAADP, 40 have signed CAADP national compacts, 30 National Agriculture and Food Security Investment Plans have been developed and reviewed, at least 8 countries have met the 10% of budget target, and 4 RECs have developed their own regional compacts. Ten countries have registered more than 6% annual growth in agriculture.

5. PARTNERSHIPS:

The role of international partners is to help scale up and accelerate our own efforts. Therefore, South Africa continues to play a leading role in engaging Africa’s Strategic Multilateral Partnerships, such as FOCAC, TICAD, Africa-EU, Africa India, Africa-Korea, Africa-Arab, Africa-South America, NAASP, and Africa-Turkey going forward. One of the key NEPAD principles is “New partnerships within Africa and with the international community”. It is for this reason that all of the Partnerships have been constructed on the understanding that engagement with Africa is to be done within the framework of NEPAD, as the socio-economic development programme of the AU, with the aim of assisting in the achievement of AU/NEPAD objectives and programmes.

South Africa continues to play a key role in the review of all of Africa’s partnerships with the North and the South, being conducted by the AU PRC Sub-Committee on Multilateral Cooperation.

South Africa is Co-Chair with China of FOCAC until 2018 and we have hosted a very successful FOCAC Summit in Johannesburg on 4-5 December 2015.

President Xi Jinping of China announced a development partnership with Africa worth $60 billion, accompanied by a 10 point plan focusing on areas that are key priorities for development in the continent. We look forward to taking the win-win cooperation further as the African continent as it holds great promise for the renewal of the African continent economically. This occurred on the backdrop of a very successful India-Africa Summit.

Reply:

The general principle is that all political and other disputes should be resolved through discussion, negotiation, mediation, and other forms of non-adversarial dispute resolution mechanisms. We should only resort to the courts when these channels have failed. Parties should refrain from using the courts to resolve political disputes. Parliament has various mechanisms in place to resolve disputes between parties in terms of its Rules, and all parties should make optimal use of those Rules to resolve disputes.

Reply:

1. Yes
2. (a)(i) The process underway has been initiated by Armscor to test the market for information through the issuance of RFI (Request for Information).

At this stage Armscor has only done the RFI (Request for Information), depending on the findings from the RFI, the process can stop or be moved to the next step which will be a request for Offer (RFO).

(ii) Same as previous answer.

(b)(i) There is no specific amount allocated to the project, the request for information will assist in terms of the budget.

(ii) As above.

(c) This will dependent on whether we go ahead with the project in the first place. So far no such decision has been made.

3. The outcome of the findings will provide guidance on the way forward.

4. No statement will be made

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 07 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

National Department of Health

1. (a) and (b) (i) - Nil

(2) R7 299 000.00

Western Cape Department of Health

1. (a) and (b) (ii)

	CLAIMED	PAID OUT
2011-12	R38 065 710.00	R15 900 800.00
2012-13	R16 577 812.00	R6 197 147.05
2013-14	R156 742 059.90	R22 587 000.00
2014-15	R66 537 807.64	R17 311 080.30

(2) R71 401 million

(3)

Year	Top 5 most common
2013-14	Neonatal encephalopathy Delayed diagnosis of illnesses Maternal / labour complications Failure to diagnose and treat
2014-15	Neonatal encephalopathy Maternal /labour complications Failure to diagnose and treat

(4)

Hospital	Number of claims	How much paid in 2014-15
Groote Schuur	3	R775 000.00
Tygerberg	3	R790 000.00
Mowbray Maternity	2	R836 600.00
Worcester	2	R4 867 615.00
Karl Bremer	1	R200 000.00
Hanna Coetzee clinic	1	R1 227 660.00
Retreat MOU	1	R220 000.00
Clanwilliam	1	R100 000.00
Delft CHC/Tygerberg	1	R7 829 205.30
IdasValley clinic	1	R45 000.00
False Bay	1	R200 000.00
Paarl	1	R220 000.00

Eastern Cape Department of Health

1. (a) and (b) (ii)

Financial Year	Amount Claimed	Amount paid
2011/2012	R331 728 678.64	R25 336 038.35
2012/2013	R393 108 094.28	R44 743 495.84
2013/2014	R198 207 500.00	R49 513 I08.93
2014/2015	Information not furnished	Information not furnished
Since 1 April 2015	R2 304 490 306.10	R147 861 438.84

(2) The Eastern Cape Department of Health does not allocate a budget for legal claims settlements, however when a settlement obligation arises from a medico legal claim, funds are reprioritized from within the departmental allocation to pay for such obligation.

(3) In the Eastern Cape, for both years, the 5 most common complaints for which compensation was claimed were:

• Obstetrics and gynaecology;

• Paediatrics;

• Orthopaedics;

• Trauma; and

• Family medicine.

(4) The top 10 litigated hospitals in the Eastern Cape and corresponding claims paid in 20 14/ 15 is presented in the table below as follows:

NO	NAME OF INSTITUTION	NUMBER OF CLAIMS 2014/15	AMOUNTS CLAIMED (not finalised) these matters are still active and pending, as they are not settled)	AMOUNTS PAID
1	Butterworth Hospital	86	R278 042 265.00	RO.OO
2	Frere Hospital	56	Rl87 245 594.10	RO.OO
3	Cecilia Makiwane Hospital	41	R88 572 625.00	RO.OO
4	Dora Nginza Hospital	39	R193 951 117.00	RO.OO
5	Mthatha General Hospital	48	R217 625 555.44	RO.OO
6	All Saints Hospital	19	R171 363 625.00	RO.OO
7	Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital	32	R123 279 284.00	R8 000 000.00
8	Bedford Orthopaedic Hospital	14	R5 425 000.00	RO.OO
9	St Barnabas Hospital	13	R45 050 000.00	RO.OO
10	Livingstone Hospital	12	R20 30I 325.52	RO.OO

1. The following interventions are being implemented in the Eastern Cape to address the high number of medico legal claims in the province:

• The department held a medico legal summit and invited all affected role players to look at ways of managing medical litigations in the province;

• The department is finalizing the appointment of the Medical Ombudsman for the Province;

• The department is also appointing a panel of medical legal experts to assist with preparation for the cases before they appear in court, and in same terms strengthening its legal representation; and

• The department is continuously strengthening the quality of health care services and ensuring adequate retention of patient records; including direct interventions focused specifically in management of medico legal trends.

KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health

1. (a) and (b) (ii)

Financial Year	No of new matters received	Amount Claimed	No of matters settled	Amount paid
2011/2012	81	R326 342 322.68	30	R41 357 533.80
2012/2013	165	R992 272 280.20	28	R49 400 941.94
2013/2014	309	R1 596 517 823.74	49	R123 885 303.21
2014/2015	404	R3 046 136 920.80	61	R212 851 030.87
2015/2016 (as at 11 September 2015)	194	R1 456 528 457.00	17	R68 852 267.54

(2) The Department has not budgeted for litigation matters, as it is difficult to predict possible liabilities.

(3)

Year	Top 5 most common
2013-14	Obstetrics and gynaecology Paediatrics Surgery Orthopaedics Misdiagnosis
2014-15	Obstetrics and gynaecology Paediatrics Surgery Orthopaedics General (refers to claims to cover non medical errors resulting in litigation against the Department ranging from maintenance, security & operational issues)

(4)

District	Hospital	No. of claims 2014/15	Amounts paid
eThekwini District	Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital	121
	Addington Hospital	77
	King Edward VIII Hospital	69
Amajuba District	Mahatma Ghandi Memorial Hospital	69
	Charles Johnson Memorial Hospital	68
	Inkosi Luthuli Central Hospital	34
	Total amount paid for eThekwini District		R85 704 607.21
uMgungundlovu District	Edendale Hospital	44
	Northdale Hospital	44
	Total amount paid for uMgungundlovu District		R10 796 165.80
Ugu District	Port Shepstone Hospital	34
	Total amount paid for Ugu District		R1 375 000.00
Amajuba District	Madadeni Hospital	34	RO.OO
	Total amount paid for Amajuba District		R67 714.83

The Department is planning a Medico-Legal Summit to discuss and address the Medical negligence claims in the Province.

Mpumalanga Department of Health

(1) (a) and (b) (ii)

The following table represents the amounts claimed for medical negligence:

Financial Year	Amount Claimed for medical negligence
2011/2012	R131 538 785.00
2012/2013	R93 194 265.00
2013/2014	R95 375 306.00
2014/2015	R 562 210 541.00
April 2015 to June 2015	R130 536 500
TOTAL	R1 012 855 397.00

(b) The amounts paid out for claimed medical negligence, in Mpumalanga is listed as follows:

(aaa) During the 2011/12 financial year, a total number of eight (8) medical negligence claims were paid at a cost of R5 056 370.00.

(bbb) During the 2012/13 financial year, a total number of three (3) medical negligence claims were paid at a cost of R220 000.00.

(ccc) During the 2013/14 financial year, a total number of nine (9) medical negligence claims were paid at a cost of R44 193 741.66.

(ddd) During the 2014/15 financial year, a total number of five (5) medical negligence claims were paid at a cost of R2 773 768.00

(bb) For the period April 2015 to August 2015, the department has paid three (3) medical negligence claims at a cost of R10 099 248.63.

(2) The Mpumalanga Department of Health has been allocated with a budget of R22 212 000.00 for claims against the state and R34 737 000 for legal fees, that are paid to state attorneys and private attorneys.

(3) The most common complaints in Mpumalanga for which compensation was claimed in 2013/14 and 2014/15 financial years, were obstetric cases due to birth injuries where period of labour has been prolonged and resulted in the child suffering from cerebral palsy and orthopaedic cases as a result of motor vehicle accidents.

(4) (a) The Top Ten hospitals in Mpumalanga with highest claims in 2014/15, are:

• Tinswalo Hospital

• Matikwana Hospi

• Themba Hospital

• Mapulaneng

• KwaMhlanga Hospital

• Witbank Hospital

• Rob Ferreira Hospital

• Shongwe Hospital

• Sabie Hospital

• Evander Hospital

(i) Number of claims made against them

• Tinswalo Hospital	13
• Matikwane Hospital	13
• Themba Hospital	12
• Mapulaneng Hospital	07
• KwaMhlanga Hospital	04
• Witbank Hospital	04
• Rob Ferreira Hospital	04
• Shongwe Hospitals	03
•-- Sabie Hospital -­	03
• Evander Hospital	02

(ii) Total amount paid out of each specified claim in 2014/15

• Tinswalo Hospital None

• Matikwane Hospital None

• Themba Hospital None

• Mapulaneng Hospital None

• Kwa Mhlanga Hospital R430 000.00

• Witbank Hospital R2 411 432.00

• Rob Ferreira Hospital None

• Shongwe Hospitals None

• Sabie Hospital None

• Evander Hospital None

Free State Department of Health

1. (a) and (b) (ii)

	CLAIMED	PAID OUT
2011-12	R39 201 030.30	R5 473 097.00
2012-13	R145 406 892.00	R2 935 534.00
2013-14	R177 408 892.65	R673 373.00
2014-15	R322 449 863.07	R15 090 000.00
2015-	R259 771 498.92	R12 725 427.59

(2) R10 000 000.00 was budgeted for the 2015/2016 financial year.

(3)

Year	Top 5 most common
2013-14	Cerebral Palsy Botched Operations Misdiagnosis leading to complications Perforation of uterus during delivery
2014-15	Cerebral Palsy Botched Operations Misdiagnosis leading to complications Perforation of uterus during delivery

(4)

Hospital	Number of claims
Pelonomi Hospital	9
Bongani Hospital	8
Thebe	5
Universitas	4
Fezi Ngubentombi	3
Boitumelo	3
Manapo	2
Elizabeth Ross	2
Botshabelo	1

No payments have been made yet, all matters still pending.

(5) A medico legal expert panel, consisting of medical doctors from various medical disciplines has been appointed. One of their responsibilities is to draft a Litigation Prevention Strategy, the strategy is still a in a draft format.

Limpopo Department of Health

1. (a) and (b) (ii)

	CLAIMED	PAID OUT
2011-12	R161 228 792.79	R11 394 831.08
2012-13	R130 155 032.44	R4 114 165.00
2013-14	R299 181 456.14	R22 033 040.50
2014-15	R656 940 666.77	R31 364 817.07

1. The budget and revenue unit make availability of the funds for payments on claims against the State and litigation matters.

1. The most common complaints that the department receives:

• Loss of a child during labour/delivery
• Foreign objects left inside the patients after the operation
• Cerebral palsy
• Maternal death
• Amputations

1. (a) The Limpopo province is divided is divide into 5(five) districts namely; Mopani, Capricorn, Waterberg, Sekhukhune & Vhembe District. The hospitals that have a large number of cases are as follows:

• Philadelphia
• Polokwane
• Maphutha Malatji
• Mankweng
• Nkhensani
• Sekororo
• Seshego
• Malamulele
• Tshilidzini
• Letaba

 

(b) (i) This are the claims that have been made against each hospital for the financial year 2014/15 are:

• Philadelphia = 12
• Polokwane = 12
• Mapjutha Malatji= 09
• Mankweng = 08
• Nkhensani = 07
• Sekororo = 06
• Seshego = 04
• Malamulele = 04
• Tshilidzini = 03
• Letaba = 03

 

(ii) For the financial year 2014/2015 the Department has paid R23 805 262.72

1. In respect of Limpopo Province the Department of Health has established a specialized unit which is the Medico Legal unit separate from the Legal Services unit which functions includes:

• Identification of overt claims, potential claims and monitoring of medical negligence cases,
• Consultation with state attorney,
• Rebuttal of claims,
• Settlement of claims and
• Closure of cases.

North West Department of Health

1. (a) and (b) (ii)

	CLAIMED	PAID OUT
2011-12	R733 602.57	R753 602.57
2012-13	R144 470 255.72	R7 899 232.50
2013-14	R207 601 325.00	R12 959 528.18
2014-15	R499 577 250.00	R19 978 582.00
Since April 2015	R142 886 250.00	Nil

(2) R5 409 525.00

(3) Most common complaint that the Department receives:

Obstetric complications

END.

Reply:

The information can be processed through the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans in the new year, as the beneficiaries names are considered confidential.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

This matter is currently the subject of litigation between the Department and the company concerned and as such any comments at this stage are likely to prejudice the Department’s case.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

This information has been requested from Tlokwe Local Municipality and will be communicated to the Honorable Member when it is available.

 

Reply:

This information has been requested from the metropolitan municipalities and will be communicated to the Honorable Member when it is available.

 

Reply:

1. The Memorandum of Understanding was executed in September 2014.

a) The terms of reference include undertaking and completing a pre-feasibility study (“PFS”) for a new low cost steel production facility in South Africa (the “Project”) that will meet international environmental compliant standards using raw materials that are locally and regionally available. The envisage Project had to be a profitable low cost producer of a broad spectrum of steel products required by the South African and Sub-Saharan markets

Furthermore, it envisages the establishment of a down-stream industrial park to process some of the steel products to finished goods for domestic and export markets.

b) The estimated total capital outlay of the envisage plant is USD 5 billion which is R70 billion at R14/$. The Project will be funded partly with debt (up to 60%) and partly with equity (40%). The objective of the IDC is to play a catalytical role in the establishment of the facility and not to have a controlling interest in the project.

c) The plant will be designed to have a capacity of 5 million tons of steel per annum. During the detailed feasibility study, consideration will be given to the option to build the Project in two phases of approximately 2.5 million tons each.

d) The labour force to construct the Project is estimated to peak at around 11000 and construction will span over a period of at least 42 months. The operational labour requirement for the Project is estimated at 3 500.

An earlier pre-feasibility study was completed, based on the use of a Rotary Hearth Furnace (“RHF”) technology. Since Hebei seeks to use a different technology, further pre-feasibility studies will be conducted. For details of the earlier pre-feasibility study outcomes, the attention of the Honourable Member is drawn to the reply submitted to Parliamentary Question 4138.

-END-

Reply:

This information has been requested from the Mbombela Local Municipality and will be communicated to the Honorable Member when it is available.

 

Reply:

1.Yes.

(a) In November 2015, the University of Fort Hare (UFH) informed the Department that it has continued to experience financial strain and requested approval to utilise R35 million of its earmarked infrastructure grant to enable short-term relief. Approval was granted and the University must reimburse this amount from its subsidy in April 2016. This will not negatively impact on the progress of projects.

(b) Operating deficits are projected for UFH in the 2015/16 and 2016/17 financial years.

(c) The University was requested to provide a turnaround strategy to manage the cash flow constraints and bring it onto a sound financial footing.

2. The Department does not provide bailouts to universities. The Annual Ministerial Statement on University Funding deals with the funding instruments to steer the university sector, and is issued in accordance with the requirements of the Higher Education Act, 1997 (Act 101 of 1997 as amended) and the funding framework for universities (Government Gazette, No 25824 of 9 December 2003). All universities are funded as explained in this statement.

3. No. As indicated, the allocation of the total funding available to universities is articulated in the approved Annual Ministerial Statement on University Funding. The 2014 statement for the 2015/16 and 2016/17 financial years is available on the Departmental website.

 

 

Compiler/contact persons:

Ext:

DIRECTOR – GENERAL

STATUS:

DATE:

REPLY TO QUESTION 3983 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED

Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

STATUS:

DATE:

Reply:

1. (a) On 13 October 2015, I made the following appointments: Statutory Directors (Director Military Judges, Directory Military Prosecutions, Director Military Defence Counsel and Director Military Judicial Reviews); Reserve Force Military Judges (2 Senior Military Judges and 4 Military Judges).

(b) Regular Force Military Judges will be appointed as soon as their secret security clearances are in place.

(2) (a) As indicated above, I have appointed Statutory Directors and Reserve Force Military Judges to deal with cases in the military justice system.

(b) Once vetting is completed of Regular Force Military Judges these appointments will further alleviate pressure on the system.

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

This information has been requested from the metropolitan municipalities and will be communicated to the Honorable Member when it is available.

 

Reply:

The President of the Republic of Sudan did not attend the Forum of China-Africa Cooperation Summit, (FOCAC).

Reply:

Due to the voluminous nature of the information requested, I would recommend that the member approaches the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Defence and Military Veterans and request to have this information tabled in a meeting of the Portfolio Committee in one of their sessions in 2016

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 08 DECEMBER 2015

Reply:

This information has been requested from Tlokwe Local Municipality and will be communicated to the Honorable Member when it is available.

 

Reply:

(1) (a) The scope of investigation covers the supply chain processes followed by the Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa in the appointment of Ernest and Young to oversee the procurement process and companies to supply digital terrestrial (DTT), direct to home (DTH), satellite dishes and antennas.

(b)(i) & (ii) The investigation is expected to be finalised by end December 2015.

(2) The sensitivities regarding the information contained in the final report will determine whether the report will be made public or not.

 

 

 

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE

Reply:

(a)(i) According to the National Immigration Information System (NIIS) system there are around 144 200 appeal cases defined as backlog, and around 80 315 of these cases appear to be active on the system.

(a)(ii) The causes of the delay in the adjudication of appeal cases is as follows:

• Presently there are five Refugee Appeal Board Members, including the Chairperson, serving five Refugee Reception Offices (Pretoria, Musina, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town) in the whole of South Africa. Most of the applications from these offices are rejected as unfounded and they end up at the Refugee Appeal Board.

 

• In the past members of the Refugee Appeal Board (RAB) used to seat as single members for each appeal hearing. However, following a number of judicial review applications challenging composition of the Board members in the appeal hearing, the RAB is now compelled to seat as a quorum for hearings. Being five members of the Board, three members must be seated to constitute a quorum for each appeal hearing.

• It is also not helping that previous RAB decisions, back-dating before the Western Cape High Court case of Harerimana in December 2013, are challenged on the quorum issue and end up being settled out of court on condition that they are reheard before a properly constituted quorum, and there are many such cases.

- Present legislation (the Refugee Act 130,1998) does not make provision for appointment of part time Board Members, so it is not legally possible to appoint part-time Board Members for backlog projects.

- As much as the Board makes efforts to adjudicate appeals already heard, there is also a high number of appeals scheduled to be heard by the Board. The RAB tries to balance the number of cases it hears with those that are adjudicated.

- The decision making process requires extensive research on latest possible country of origin information, International Refugee Law and Case Law because of the complexity of most cases that have to be adjudicated and it is not always easy to get access to these sources of information.

- The RAB decisions need to be carefully constructed because sensitive human rights issues are being dealt with; some of which in their nature are matters of life and death. The RAB has to apply its mind to the facts of each case in compliance with Public Administrative Justice Act, The Constitution, The Refugee Act, International Refugee Law and other Human Rights Instruments before coming to a particular decision.

(b) It is presently not possible to provide a time-frame because the appeal cases dealt with differ in terms of their profiles and complexity. Some appeal cases are simple and straightforward and some are high profile and complicated cases that require in-depth research and legal consultation.

However, during the RSA-UNHCR High Level Bilateral Meeting in Geneva, in July 2015, the two parties agreed to development of a backlog project to address the outstanding appeal cases pending with the RAB. Provided enough human capacity and financial resources are made available, the backlog could be cleared by financial year end in March 2019.

Reply:

(1) & (2) The Department is unable to provide exact details of a formalised communications relations agreement with Vietnam because it has not entered into any agreement with Vietnam.

 

 

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE

Reply:

(a) A proposal has been presented to SABC for consideration

(b) Discussions on this issue are being held with SABC

(c) A decision is pending consideration and ratification by the SABC

 

 

 

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

 

Reply:

I am not sure what the Honourable Member means about a tax revolt in our country, as most South Africans pay their taxes, and I thank them for doing so. The Government continually takes steps to improve tax morality in South Africa, as Government regards taxation as an essential component of nation-building, with taxation a form of social contract with all residents in exchange for public services and the realisation of developmental objectives.

A tax revolt could be interpreted as a condition that is manifested by (very) low tax morale and low tax compliance. South Africa does not exhibit such conditions. Despite weak economic growth, tax revenue has remained relatively buoyant over the past 4 years. In particular, personal income tax has performed well, with actual collections surpassing forecasts.

Government is continually focused on improving tax morality, and recognises that it is negatively influenced by incidences, or even perceptions of, corruption and wasteful expenditure. Government is undertaking a range of measures to improve the quality of spending and reduce corruption. Specifically, government, in 2012, introduced cost savings measures that place restrictions on air travel, car hire, accommodation, catering, entertainment and conferencing budgets. Procurement reforms are being rolled out to improve efficiency, reduce red tape and stamp out corruption. The Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, established in 2013, has introduced a range of reforms to make supply chain management processes more efficient and transparent. Government is also taking active steps to improve tax compliance including combating base erosion, profit shifting and misuse of transfer pricing.

Most importantly, our system of taxation, borrowing and spending are subject to annual auditing processes, with all organs of state accountable to Parliament, a provincial legislature or municipal council. The Constitution outlines the role of the Auditor-General to compel the auditing of all public funds, and lays the basis for laws like the Public Finance Management Act and Municipal Financial Management Act which provide the foundation for the accountability system. We recognize the challenges of poor financial management as outlined by the Auditor-General in his various reports and recognize that more needs to be done to bring those responsible for non-compliance or corruption to book.

Reply:

No. Leave regulations, and in particular sick leave, are a transversal conditions of service which are largely determined at central level for the whole public service. This applies to both normal sick leave which provides for 36 days in a three year cycle; and incapacity leave which provides for short-term and long-term incapacity in addition to the normal sick leave.

In the case of absence due to incapacity leave, a substitute teacher is temporarily appointed. As indicated in the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit’s report referred to, days taken as sick leave by teachers are within the regulations. The only possible form of abuse, which is not only limited to teachers, is when employees deliberately plan to exhaust all the allocated normal sick leave days. All Provincial Education Departments are aware of the practice and are continuously seeking to improve the management of leave at school level to ensure that teachers comply with the regulations including submission of all necessary documentation. Other factors such as job satisfaction and improved working conditions are critical in ensuring that employees do not abuse sick leave.

Reply:

The ideal would be for the department to have an electronic Document Management System. An electronic system for all applications for visas, permits and refugee IDs and travel documents would obviate the need to keep paper applications since applications would be scanned. All applications would be electronically available for processing and used when needed. This will also alleviate filing space constraints currently a problem at head office.

In line with the above vision, the department has recently introduced an electronic application process for visas and permits, which allows for applications and supporting documents to be scanned and be available in electronic format, thus easing the process of retrieval of records. It also facilitates obtaining statistics on operations and performance. Whilst there are some implementation glitches, which are being addressed as and when they occur, the department expects the system to be fully embedded during the next financial year. 

Reply:

Yes. The Human Resource Development Strategic Framework Vision 2015 and the Skills Development Act, 1998, provide for the placement of young people in Learnership and Internship programmes in the national and provincial departments. The intention is to establish an effective and efficient internship programme aimed at bridging the gap between academic study and competent performance in the workplace by offering structured internship opportunities to students and unemployed youths. The intended outcome of this internship programme is to enable school leavers and unemployed graduates to gain practical work experience over a maximum period of 12 months.

In 2009, the Minister for the Public Service and Administration issued a Determination on the Internship Programmes and Implementation Guidelines for Public Service.

Flowing from the signing of the National Skills Accord in October 2011 and a Youth Employment Accord in April 2013, the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) issued a Circular directing the scaling up of internship, learnership and apprenticeship programmes in the public service. Through the same Circular, the scope of internship programmes in the public service was expanded to include graduates, learners seeking work-integrated learning (experiential learners), graduates seeking to meet statutory requirements for professional registration and those seeking minimum work experience for employment purposes both within the public service and other sectors.

The annual target for internship, learnership and apprenticeship programmes is five (5) percent of the departments’ fixed staff establishment on an annual basis.

During 2009-2012, annual target for the public service was 25 000 for each financial years. The following numbers were reported:

(a) 4002 in 2009/10;

(b) 19 278 in 2010/11; and

(c) 20 370 in 2011/12.

For the 2012-2015 period, the target was revised to 50 000. The target for 2012/13 and 2013/14 was 15 000 and 20 000 for the 2014/15 financial year. The following numbers were reported:

1. 17 820 in 2012/2013;
2. 27 351 in 2013/14; and
3. 40 891 in 2014/15.

As at 30 September 2015, a total of 9 320 interns, learners and apprentices have been reported to have been recruited since 1 April 2015.

For the period since January 2012 to 30 September 2015 a total of 50 988 candidates who had been recruited as either interns, learners or apprentices have been absorbed into departments on a permanent or contract employment.

The DPSA has initiated a review of the Determination issued in 2009 to address concerns raised by departments regarding amongst others, the duration of the internship programme, especially for individuals involved in regulated programmes, and to facilitate recruitment and retention of scarce skills.

The outcome of a feasibility study on the development and piloting of a graduate recruitment scheme as recommended by the National Development Plan is currently underway and consultation is also taking place with the national and provincial departments.

Proposals have been made to amend the Public Service Regulations to accommodate the retention of individuals recruited into the public service via internship, learnership and apprenticeship programmes when filling entry levels posts.

Reply:

(1) (a) The total number of applications lodged at the 18 SKA area branches up to 30 November 2015 amounts to 2, 336 in total.

(b) (i) A total of 2, 074 qualifying applications has been processed up to 30 November 2015.

(ii) A total of 262 non-qualifying applications has been processed up to 30 November 2015

(iii) A total of 274 applications for the period ending 30 November 2015 stills needs to be processed.

(2) The reasons for the 262 non-qualifying applications to date are the following:

(a) Foreign ID’s (Total: 1)

(b) Unknown address (Total: 207)

(c) Total household income above income threshold of R3200 pm (Total: 54)

 

 

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE

Reply:

(a). The Department of Arts and Culture has not outsourced the management of the Artist in School programme. The programme is implemented in partnership with organizations that specialize in arts, culture and heritage matters, such as community arts organisations, to

• Recruit and provide regular training of the contracted arts practitioners;
• Partake in identifying and negotiations’ processes with relevant officials at school Principals, Teachers, creative arts subject advisors and Provincial Department of basic Education and Departments of Sports Recreation, Arts and Culture level before any placement of arts practitioners can take place;
• Lesson planning and teaching of the subject (genres);
• Monitoring the individual arts practitioners to ensure that they execute their functions in a very desirable way and in line with the policy prescript of DBE
• Hosting of the Provincial Schools Festivals;
• Project Management (stipend allowances, conflict resolutions, report writing and all the relevant logistical arrangements that enables the successful implementation of the Project;

(b). The Department of Arts and Culture is not aware of any of the Department’s supported Artists in Schools programme that employs people with no background or training to teach arts in the Schools. Recruitment of the Artists in Schools take place at a local level through the identified arts, culture and heritage organisations to ensure that artists with the necessary skills and experience are appointed, and are placed in consultation with relevant stakeholders. It would be appreciated if any such individual or individuals could be reported to the Department.

Reply:

(1) (a) The target of the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) is to conduct a Citizen Report Card survey every 3 years or so. The DPSA aims to deepen the Citizen Report Card (CRC) methodology in the departments and the municipalities. At this stage, DPSA is focusing on assisting the departments in the development of the Improvement Plans and the implementation of the interventions geared to improving service delivery. The DPSA is also in the process of setting up a mechanism for ongoing reporting and assessment of implementation of interventions. Once implementation of interventions has taken root in the departments, another CRC survey will be undertaken and its purpose will be to assess progress made against the baseline.

(b) The Citizen Report Card by definition reflects the performance of government from the perspective of the citizens. The citizens through focus group discussions and interviews get involved in the entire CRC process. The determination of the service delivery areas to be assessed and the eventual design of the questionnaire is a direct result of the consultative process. Flowing from the design of the questionnaire, a pilot survey gets conducted whose purpose is to further refine and finalise the questionnaire before full deployment.

The deployment of the questionnaire is preceded by the development of a sampling plan to ensure that specific randomly selected households and qualifying random respondents are identified. To ensure successful execution of the sample plan and administration of the questionnaire, carefully selected data collectors or field workers are thoroughly trained in understanding the content of the questionnaire and the broader research objectives of the CRC survey.

It should be noted that right at the beginning of the CRC process there are engagements with the various stakeholders in the community to ensure buy-in and support throughout the entire process. The stakeholders key to the process are the traditional authority, Municipal leadership, Non-Governmental Organisations and other organised interest groups in the areas of assessment.

(2) The Citizen Report Card survey is available to the public and can be accessed through the departmental website.

Reply:

(1) The residents of the Mhlaba Village in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality who extended their Breaking New Ground (BNG) government subsidised houses did not qualify for the Rectification Programme because the Rectification Policy clearly states that, “Under no circumstances shall alterations to the original dwellings qualify for rectification nor be included in the rectification programme.”

(2) The National Housing Programme for the rectification of subsidised houses that were built during the period 15 March 1994 and 1 April 2002, was specifically introduced to address cases where dwellings had structurally failed due to design flaws, problematic geotechnical conditions which were not catered for in the specification of the houses or to repair houses that were damaged before occupation by the approved housing subsidy beneficiaries. These affected houses were not enrolled under the National Home Builders Registration Council’s (NHBRC) warranty scheme and the relevant houses were pre-identified and recorded in a register. No additions to the register were allowed. The Rectification Programme is not applicable in cases where lack of general maintenance or neglect has led to the deterioration of the dwellings.

Secondly, the Programme prescripts only apply to the original superstructure that was constructed with the housing subsidy funding; structural failures of any additions or improvements to the houses that were affected by the beneficiaries are thus excluded from the scope of the rectification work.

Honourable Member, I am amazed that this question is even raised. We all know that we are working tirelessly against an ever increasing backlog and diminishing resources. Surely, we should not encourage total dependency in the State. If people are able to incrementally improve their houses, it suggest that they have the means. We should focus on those who are still waiting for shelter. It is a responsible thing to do."

Reply:

1. (a) (i) (aa)(bb) The Citizen Report Cards (CRC) were compiled for the following:

• Department of Basic Education;
• Department of Health:
• Department of Home Affairs;
• South African Police Service; and
• South African Social Security Agency.

(ii) (aa)(bb) The Citizen Report Cards were compiled for the following:

• Ga-Segonyana Local Municipality;
• Mookgopong Local Municipality;
• Okhahlamba Local Municipality;
• Matatiele Local Municipality;
• Emalahleni Local Municipality;
• Moretele Local Municipality;
• City of Mangaung (Botshabelo);
• City of Johannesburg (Diepsloot and Alexandra); and
• City of Cape Town (Gugulethu and Khayelitsha).

(cc) None. The Citizen Report Card survey was conducted in the 2013-14 financial year and the subsequent reports were finalised in the 2014-15 financial year.

(b) The selection was based on the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) priorities, which set out key focus areas of the departments over the MTSF period. One municipality per province was chosen to benefit from the survey and the selection of the municipality in every province was based on the readiness of the municipality to accommodate the study within the set timelines.

(2) (a) (i) The overall scores for each department and municipality are shown herewith below on figure 1 and figure 2 respectively:

Figure 1: Overall Ranking of Departments

Figure 2: Overall Ranking of Municipalities

(2) (a) (ii) The scores are reflected on figure 3 and figure 4 herewith below. The departments were assessed on Accessibility, Reliability, Quality of Service, Staff Performance, Transparency and Openness and also Avenue for Redress whilst the municipalities were assessed using the Batho Pele principles. The satisfaction of citizens against a range of municipal basic services was also assessed.

Figure 3: Ranking of Departments against service delivery attributes

 

Figure 4: Performance of municipalities against Batho Pele principles

(2) (b) (i) The benchmarks reflected in figure 1 and figure 2 above were on the following:

 

• Minimum level of service expected and
• Ideal level of service required.

 

	Minimum service expected	Ideal level of service required
Departments	73.78%	87.78%
Municipalities	67.00%	89.40%

 

(ii) The benchmarks indicated above are considered acceptable as they were sourced from the citizens regarding the level of service they expected and required from the assessed government departments and municipalities..

(c) Action taken was the development of Service Delivery Improvement Plans, which entail interventions to improve performance.

Reply:

1. (a) As part of an exercise undertaken by the North West Office of the Premier to determine the cost drivers of the wage bill in the Province, misinterpretation of employee information lead to the reports in the media about the 36 000 ghost workers in the Province. After realisation of this misunderstanding the Director-General of the North West Office of the Premier, Dr Keneilwe Sebego issued a media statement, early in November 2015, indicating that there were no ghost workers in North West, but that non-permanent type of appointments were erroneously labelled as ghost workers. This was also officially confirmed in a letter, dated 13 November 2015, addressed to the Director-General of the DPSA in response to enquiries made to the North West Office of the Premier.

(b) Taking the information in (a) above into consideration, there was no fraud or financial loss in the North West Provincial Administration since the payments made to these non-permanent type of appointments were made legitimately.

(c) The non-permanent appointees themselves benefited from the salaries legitimately paid to them.

(d) The DPSA is not aware of any disciplinary action taken as a result of the misunderstanding. The Office of the Premier in North West indicated that it will continue to monitor appointments in the Provincial Administration.

(2) The management and employment of public servants at national and provincial level are managed through a decentralized Human Resource Management framework where Heads of Department and Executive Authorities are responsible for the employment and management of their own employees. Departments’ employee numbers and payroll fall under the purview of the respective Executive Authorities and are audited by the Auditor-General.

(a) The Public Finance Management Act, 1999; Treasury Regulations and other legal prescripts contain provisions to deal with monitoring of payments to employees in the Public Service. Fraud and non-compliance to these measures are managed through the disciplinary processes in the Public Service.

(b) See the reply to (a) above.

Reply:

1. The Riverside Office Park lease contract was determined to be irregular in the year ended 31 March 2011 and the rental and operating costs relating to the lease for the year then ended were disclosed in the annual financial statements for that year. In terms of the rules relating to irregular expenditure however, the expenditure needs to be incurred before it can be determined to be irregular, and as the lease is a 10 year agreement further irregular expenditure will be incurred and disclosed in each year until such time as the lease expires or is set aside. Each year, as is required, National Treasury is notified of the irregular expenditure incurred.

2. In line with the recommendations as contained in the Public Protector’s Report, a disciplinary process was instituted against the implicated officials. The respective officials sought to review the rulings of the Chairperson of the disciplinary committee made at the commencement of the disciplinary enquiry.

The review was heard in the Labour Court on 15 September 2015 and on 1 October 2015. The officials’ application was dismissed with no order as to costs. The disciplinary proceeding was then scheduled to be continued from 9-13 November 2015. However, the officials filed an application for leave to appeal the judgment of 1 October 2015. Lawyers have been instructed to oppose the application for leave to appeal and have done so.

The officials’ lawyer in the appeal papers requested the judge to consider the matter in chambers, but prior thereto, furnish the parties with dates by when the parties’ heads of arguments must be filed. The parties now wait for directions from judge.

3. The Commission seeks relief for review and set aside of the lease agreement and addenda thereto. The Commission also seeks to institute a new procurement process to conclude a new lease for the premises and to suspend the existing one (assuming the court finds the procurement process was flawed) upon finalisation of a new procurement process.

The Commission is further addressing this matter through its Risk Management Committee.

Reply:

1. National Treasury was requested by the Chairperson of the MDB on 16 March 2015 to submit information on the potential impact on municipal viability of several proposed boundary redeterminations. A report providing this information was submitted to the MDB on 6 August 2015. Honourable van Lingen wrote to the Minister of Finance on 27 August 2015 and requested a copy of this report. In a reply dated 26 October 2015, the Minister of Finance informed Honourable van Lingen that it was not possible to share this report before the budget is tabled as it includes information on budget allocations to affected municipalities and all budget information is embargoed prior to the tabling of the budget. As such no report was presented to the Select Committee on Appropriations.
2. As outlined above, no report was presented to the Select Committee on Appropriations.

Reply:

(a) The amount of irregular expenditure incurred by the Department of Home Affairs increased from R730 000 in the 2013/14 financial year to R1 809 000 in the 2014/15 financial year. The reasons for the increase in the amount disclosed as irregular expenditure are:

• Use of single quotation without approval for a deviation;
• Motivation for a deviation was considered not justifiable by the Auditor General;
• Failure to incorporate local content component in the bid for the office furniture; and
• The controls that have been introduced by the department to effectively detect and report all irregular expenditure. In this regard, it should be noted that the department itself identified 50% of the irregular expenditure disclosed in the 2014/15 financial year.

(b) Details of the irregular expenditure for 2014/2015 financial year are attached as Annexure A.

Reply:

The Department is currently sourcing the information required.

Reply:

(1) The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has not received a complaint from Mr. Abraham.

(2) The complaint was lodged with his previous employer, the Department of Social Development in KwaZulu-Natal. The DPSA will investigate and also respond once the Department of Social Development has furnished the DPSA with details of the complaint.

Reply:

a) No. It is not possible to share this report before the budget is tabled as it includes information on budget allocations to affected municipalities and all budget information is embargoed prior to the tabling of the budget. As such no report was presented to the Select Committee on Appropriations.

b) This report was shared with the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs when it was submitted to the Municipal Demarcation Board, for information purposes.

Reply:

(1) Refer to Annexure A for locations of the 200 monitoring sampled sites within the Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Area.

(2) Refer to the table below for problem areas that have been identified:

Catchment	Specified Area
SABIE-SAND CATCHMENT	Sabie Town
	Mkhuhlu
	Dwarsloop
	Thulamahashe
	Bushbuckridge
	Acornhoek
CROCODILE RIVER CATCHMENT	Emthonjeni
	WatervalBoven
	Ngodwana
	White River
	Rocky's drift
	Kabokweni
	Kanyamazane
	Barberton
	Louieville
	Malelane
	Hectorspruit
	Komatipoort
UPPER KOMATI CATCHMENT	Seepage from Union Colliery
	Tributary of boesmanspruit at Tselentis Colliery
	Downstream of Tselentis Discard Dumps
	Coastal fuel @ Witkrans Seepage
	Carolina sewage Discharge point
	Elukwatini
LOWER KOMATI CATCHMENT	Driekoppies
	Tonga Hospital WWTW
	Tonga Ponds
	Ka-Maqhekeza
USUTHU CATCHMENT	Piet Retief
	Heyshope Dam (Downstream of Kangra mine)
	Amsterdam
	Assegai

(3) Refer to the table below for the names of the wastewater treatment plants in the specified area:

Requesting the Honorable Member to note that the report of the Blue and Green Drop reports, has been submitted to Cabinet for approval in line with the exercise of executive authority in terms of section 85 of the Constitution hence the information cannot be provided at this point.

Catchment	Name of the wwtw plants
SABIE-SAND CATCHMENT	Sabie WWTW
	Hazyview WWTW
	Mkhuhlu WWTW
	Dwarsloop
	Thulamahashe
CROCODILE RIVER CATCHMENT	Emthonjeni sewage
	WatervalBoven sewage
	(Sappi Ngodwana) Bambi on Elands Rriver
	White River WWTW
	Rocky's drift sewage
	Kabokweni WWTW
	Kanyamazane WWTW
	Barberton WWTW
	Louieville WWTW Final Discharge
	Mhlatiplaas WWTW final exit
	Mhlatikop WWTW
	Hectorspruit WWTW
	Komatipoort WWTW
UPPER KOMATI CATCHMENT	Carolina WWTW
	Elukwatini sewage Pump Station
	U/S of Elukwatini Pump Station
	ElukwatiniWWTW
LOWER KOMATI CATCHMENT	Shongwe Hospital WWTW
	Tonga Hospital WWTW
	Tonga Ponds
	Ka-Maqhekeza Plaza sewage package plants
USUTHU CATCHMENT	Mkhondo WWTW
	Amsterdam WWTW

(4) The selection of monitoring sites for river health is completely different from chemical monitoring program. While the selection of monitoring sites for chemical monitoring program is activity based and seeks to establish the impact of land-based activities on the quality of water resources, the selection of monitoring sites for river health purposes looks at the reference conditions that best mimic the natural conditions of the river before development took place. The monitoring points for these respective monitoring programs are therefore far apart from each other in most instances and although it is possible to attribute the health of the river to the quality of the resource, it is not always accurate since it is not activity-based. Hence the number of monitoring sites for the River Health programme are fewer compared to those for chemical monitoring. The eco-status of the various catchment within the Inkomati-Usuthu Water Management Area are summarised below per catchment.

Sabie Catchment – 15 of 20 sites were monitored along the length of the Sabie River (mainstream) from source till it enters the Kruger National Park was recorded to be at category B and even A in some places which is almost pristine. The head-waters of the Sabie River showed degraded eco-status and improved as the river continues downstream, contrary to the norm where the head-waters are more pristine and tend to deteriorate as the river progresses downstream. A detailed study of the upper reaches of the catchment revealed that the impact on the eco-status in the head-waters emanates from the poor maintenance of the road networks in the forestry plantations causing high sedimentation and increased turbidity.

The moderately impacted to near pristine eco-status is attributed to the high flow of water in this river which provides adequate dilution for partially treated waste water discharged into the river. However, in areas where wastewater treatment works discharge partially treated waste, there has also been impact associated with the low levels of dissolved oxygen that results from the high organic loads that utilize oxygen to be broken down. This phenomenon is shown by the high prevalence of air breathing taxa (micro-organisms) recorded and conversely low prevalence of those taxa that get dissolved oxygen from water. These taxa were negatively affected by low levels of dissolved oxygen which occurs as a result of high organic loads found in partially treated domestic waste water. The Sabie River Eco-Status study was conducted in 2012/13.

Crocodile Catchment – 15 of 18 sites were monitored along the length of the Crocodile River (main stem) from source till it enters Mozambique was recorded to be at category C and with 3 sites at category B/C. The level of development in this catchment is extremely high and composed of industry, mining, irrigated agriculture and wastewater treatment works. Two of the tree sites that are rated at category B/C are just upstream of Nelspruit. From Nelspruit down towards the border of Mozambique, the eco-status remains at category C. This is the stretch that contains the highest number of wastewater treatment works in this catchment. The Crocodile River Eco-Status study was conducted in 2013/14.

Komati Catchment – 23 of 31 sites were monitored along the length of the Komati River (mainstream) from source till it enters Mozambique was recorded to be at category C and with 5 sites recording B category and 3 sites at category D. The level of degradation in this catchment is higher due to mining development but not necessarily wastewater treatment works. There are actually fewer wastewater treatment works in this catchment than in both the Sabie and the Crocodile Catchments. The Komati River Eco-Status study was conducted in 2014/15.

Usuthu Catchment – Assessment currently underway and will be completed in the first quarter of 2016/17 financial year.

(5) Yes, steps have been taken against those activities that negatively impact on the water resources including issuing of notices and directives as well as opening of criminal cases and the details of the latter are presented in the table below:

Name of the Polluter (a)	Case Number	Reasons for such actions
Maviljan Ponds (Bushbuckridge Municipality)	Case 127/08/2014	Continuous discharge of partially treated sewage into a water resource.
Thulamahashe WWTW (Bushbuckridge Local Municipality)	Case 89/02/2014	Continuous discharge of partially treated sewage into a water resource
Carolina WWTW (Chief Albert Luthuli Local Municipality)	Case 57/09/2015	Continuous discharge of partially treated sewage into a water resource
Hillsview Pump Station	Case 35/07/2014	Continuous overflow of raw sewage into the water resource.
Twin City Hazyview (Mbombela Local Municipality)	Case 112/02/2014	Continuous overflow of raw sewage into the water resource
TTC manhole (ThabaChweu Local Municipality)	Case 11/05/2014	Continuous overflow of raw sewage into the water resource

---00O00---

Reply:

(1) Yes. In terms of the Directive on Service Delivery Improvements Plans dated 30 October 2008, issued by the Minister for Public Service and Administration, the national and provincial departments are required to submit their Service Delivery Improvement Plans by 31 March every three years and to report on the progress made annually to the Department of Public Service and Administration.

The Service Delivery Improvements Plans should be aligned to the Public Access Information Act (PAIA) and to the Public Administrative and Justice Act (PAJA) and should also provide an indication on how Service Delivery Improvements Plans are cascaded to service points. The Service Delivery Improvements Plans must be signed-off by Head of the Department (HOD) and also the Executive Authority.

(2) (a) The assessment process of the Service Delivery Improvement Plans include; (i) scrutinizing preliminary scoring using an assessment tool, (ii) structured peer and/or sector assessments for verification and validation of scoring by the cross-cutting teams using the same assessment tool, (iii) provision of preliminary feedback to the participants by the Department of Public Service and Administration.

(b) The standards used to assess the value of the specified plan are based on critical compliance areas of the Service Delivery Improvements Plans Assessment Tool and include;

(i) Openness & transparency on the process followed in developing the Service Delivery Improvement Plans (SDIP).

1. Meaningful utilization of a situation analysis in identifying the critical service areas that should be addressed in the SDIP.
2. Process mapping, human resources and Unit costing that should lead to a problem statement to be addressed through the mandatory SDIP template.

(c) The cluster and sector of the SDIP assessment and the capacity building workshops organized by the DPSA assist departments to identify their weaknesses, develop and implement corrective measures to address the unacceptable SDIPs developed by the departments.

The workshops provide a platform for technical support, capacity building and practical solutions with departmental cross cutting teams in order to develop realistic, credible and effective SDIPs.

(3) Monitoring and reporting of compliance with commitments is undertaken through annual progress reporting and Annual Operational Plans. Service Delivery Improvement Plan monitoring follow-ups are made through the Khaedu programme and Public Service Month programme.

National and Provincial departments have also put in place internal processes and system to monitor compliance with commitments in the service delivery plans, including reporting to internal departmental structures and eventually to the DPSA in line with the legislative framework.

(4) The Service Delivery Improvements Plan is currently an Internally Driven Plan. However, it is not a confidential document and can be made available on request.

Reply:

(a) Disciplinary action has been taken against the official who was responsible for part of the growth of irregular expenditure from R74,3 million in the 2013-14 financial year to R80,6 million in the 2014-15 financial year (b) Disciplinary action has been taken against the official who was implicated in some of the fruitless and wasteful expenditure of R5,5 million in 2013-14 and R330 000 during the 2014-15 period My department has since appointed the service provider to investigate the irregular expenditure and fruitless and wasteful expenditure in order to establish the extent of transgression and deal with consequent management. Since the investigation report has not yet been released, the recommendations to take disciplinary action against the transgressors have not yet been implemented.

Reply:

(a) (i) A total of 11 252 houses were delivered in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality since 2011 (01 April 2011 to 31 October 2015) with budgets allocated from the Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG).

(ii) Preliminary information indicates that at least 440 houses were completed in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality from 01 April 2015 to 31 October 2015.

The table below provides information on deliverable versus the targets for each year, where available:

FINANCIAL YEAR	HOUSES - TARGET	HOUSES DELIVERED
2011-12	Information is not available	2 983
2012-13	Information is not available	1 560
2013-14	3 978	3 973
2014-15	3 079	3 079
2015-16	2 778	440 (April to October)
Total houses delivered		11 252

1. While the average annual target for houses over the last three years for Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality and for which the information is readily available was 3 278 houses, the municipal level information was included in the HSDG provincial business plan only from 2013-14.

The delivery targets (houses only) per year since 2011-12 were:

(i) 2011-12: Information not available (Municipal level target not catered for at in the HSDG provincial business plan);

(ii) 2012-13: Information not available (Municipal level target not catered for at in the HSDG provincial business plan);

(iii) 2013-14: 3 978 houses;

(iv) 2014-15: 3 079 houses;

(v) 2015-16: 2 778 houses.

Reply:

The department was informed by the Limpopo Department of Economic Development Environment and Tourism that an administrative enforcement notice was issued to the management of the Modimolle landfill site and that a criminal investigation was initiated, at the Thabazimbi landfill site, by Environmental Management Inspectors within the Limpopo Department of Economic Development Environment and Tourism and this case is currently under investigation.

(ii) The Limpopo Department of Economic Development Environment and Tourism is the licensing authority for general landfill sites in the Limpopo Province. For this reason, the Limpopo Department of Economic Development Environment and Tourism is also the competent authority for undertaking compliance and enforcement activities in relation to non-compliance that is detected at the landfills that the enquiry relates to. Given that the function is a constitutionally concurrent function, the Department of Environmental Affairs is mindful of the Limpopo Department of Economic Development Environment and Tourism’s regulatory obligations in this regard. The Department of Environmental Affairs will provide the necessary assistance and support if this is required or requested, but will always first engage with the provincial authority (which in this case is the Limpopo Department of Economic Development Environment and Tourism) before any form of enforcement action is taken in instances where the competence to undertake the necessary compliance and enforcement action lies with the provincial authority.

(ii)(aa) As indicated above, the Department of Environmental Affairs will not encroach into the regulatory space of various competent authorities which regulate the environment unless a specific request is received. However, and in response to the growing environmental concerns around general landfill sites across the country, Working Group IV included in its 2014/2015 work programme a national general landfill site compliance and enforcement blitz in order to understand what the exact compliance status is in relation to sites which were flagged as problematic; and

(bb) Upon request of the Limpopo Department of Economic Development Environment and Tourism, the Department of Environmental Affairs will undertake the necessary enforcement action. However, and as indicated above, the Limpopo Department of Economic Development Environment and Tourism is currently undertaking various actions at each of these landfills, and where no action is noted the Limpopo Department of Economic Development Environment and Tourism indicated that these facilities, namely, Vaalwater, Bela-Bela and Mookgophong will be included in their inspection programme for this financial year.

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Reply:

1. Currently, four provinces (KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, Northern Cape, and Limpopo) have declared states of disaster and processes are underway to declare a state of disaster in Mpumalanga province. Requests for drought relief have been made to the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) in the Department of Cooperative Governance (DCOG). An allocation of R364.3 million in 2015/16 was made to the department for disaster relief grant transfers for provinces. The Eastern Cape has also indicated that it is in the process of finalising a request (a)The NDMC is currently working together with the affected sector departments to verify and finalise the funding requests. In addition, the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is also engaging with provinces and the NDMC and the National Treasury to finalise the funding requirements. This process will determine the extent to which financial resources are required over and above the already available disaster relief grant, as well as the extent to which other budgets and allocations can be reprioritised for drought relief assistance. Further details may be obtained from the NDMC, which is responsible for the technical assessment process(i) Requests are being processed and verified by the NDMC (ii) Allocations will be determined on the basis of the outcomes of the NDMC’s process. Otherwise, the existing allocation of R364.3 million that is already within the NDMC/DCOG budget was made at the beginning of the year and is available (b) It is anticipated that the funding requested will mainly be used for supply of water tankers, drilling, testing and equipping of boreholes (for both animal and human consumption) and supply of animal feed.

2. Funding for disaster relief is based on the verified damages and cost of repairs by the provinces and the NDMC. Once the disaster has been declared, the province will make an assessment of what damages occurred and what the cost of the repairs will be. This assessment is then sent to the NDMC, in the department of Cooperative Governance, which verifies the damages and the cost of repairs. After the verification, the NDMC will make a submission for funding to the National Treasury. However, the NDMC may decide that due to the urgency and seriousness of an event, the already available allocation can (in consultation with the Treasury) be made available immediately to assist with relief efforts while a full assessment is underway, as provided by the Division of Revenue Act, In addition the province may, as provided for in section 25 of the Public Finance Management Act (and provided that the legal provisions are complied with), urgently reprioritise funds towards an urgent disaster response while a final assessment is being finalised.

Reply:

1. Government borrows money to finance the main budget balance and maturing debt. As government is running budget deficits it will not be in a position to pay down its existing stock of debt. This will only be possible once government runs budget surpluses.

However, government has a strategy to mitigate sharp increases in debt repayments over the medium term whereby short-dated debt is exchanged for longer-dated debt. In 2015/16 and 2016/17, government will refinance the maturing domestic loans of R85 billion and foreign loans of R16 billion.

• (a) Details on loan repayments are available in Table A.7 on page 49 of the 2015 MTBPS.
• (b) Government finances its gross borrowing requirement through issuing domestic short- and long-term loans, foreign loans and also draw downs on its cash balances.

The term structure of debt is not necessarily an indicator of intergenerational equity. Intergenerational equity is about ensuring that future generations are not unfairly burdened by the fiscal decisions taken today. Swapping shorter-dated debt for longer-dated debt helps government to manage the risk of default and ensure long-term fiscal sustainability of its social programmes. Similarly, issuing long-dated debt for projects with long-term benefits (e.g. infrastructure) can enhance intergenerational equity.

2. Table A.7 on page 49 of the 2015 MTBPS discloses detail on the financing of national government’s borrowing requirement which includes maturing debt.