Questions and Replies

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:

(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:

In the next 7 years all relevant programmes of the Department, including the conditional grant framework will be aligned to the delivery on amongst other, the legacy of the Commonwealth Games 2022 for the country.

In this vein, it is envisaged that the club development programme that is being piloted in 2 provinces presently will be rolled out in the other provinces, targeting mainly the rural areas.

Within these programmes, there will be capacity development initiatives, the provision of equipment and attire and formation of clubs and local sports structures

Through a targeted approach basic sport and recreation infrastructure will be rolled out to those areas most in need.

Sport and Recreation South Africa will work closely with the local Organising Committee to ensure that rural areas are also beneficiaries to other initiatives.

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:

(1)(a)The most recent pH level test conducted on the Olifants River was in September
2015.

(1)(b) The results range on average from 5.5 to 8.5.

(2) The cause of the high acidity levels of the specified river can generally be attributed to agricultural, mining and industrial activities.

(3) Yes, my Department is conducting routine and targeted compliance monitoring inspections and audits on a regular basis, and where a transgressor is found, enforcement actions are undertaken. The classification, determination of the Resource Quality Objectives (RQOs) and the reserve of the Olifants River is being determined.

---00O00---

Reply:

(1) Refer to Annexure A for the list of notices that were issued for non-compliance by Inkomati-Usuthu Catchment Area in the 2014-15 financial year.

(2) Refer to Annexure B for the list of directives that were issued for non-compliance in the 2014-15 financial year.

(3)(a)(i) One (1) notice of compliance was issued during the period 1 May to 30 September 2015.

(3)(a)(ii) No directives were issued during the date in question.

(3)(b) The notice was issued against Mbombela LM (SembcorpSilulumanzi).

(3)(c) The matter is not yet resolved.

---00O00---

Annexure A

	NOTICES 2014/2015
No.	(a) Name of institution	(b) Outcome
1	Barberton Mine: Sheba Gold Mine: Discharge of partially treated sewage and engaging in unlawful water use activity	Not Resolved
2	York Timber Sabie Mill: Discharge of partially treated wastewater	Not Resolved
3	Chief Albert Luthuli LM: Elukwatini WWTW Discharge of partially treated sewage	Not Resolved
4	Msukaligwa LM: Breyton WWTW Discharge of partially treated sewage	Not Resolved
5	Bushbuckridge LM: Dwarsloop WWTW Discharge of partially treated sewage	Not Resolved
6	Bushbuckridge LM: Shopping Complex Sewer pipeline overflow	Resolved
7	Mbombela LM: Hillsview pump station sewer overflow	Resolved
8	Mbombela LM: Hazyview WWTW Discharge of partially treated sewage	Resolved
9	Department of Public Works: Tonga Hospital WWTW	Not Resolved
10	Mbombela LM: Manhole overflow at Hillsview	Resolved
11	NKK Colliery: Failing to take measures to prevent pollution	Not Resolved
12	Bushbuckridge LM: Acornhoek Ponds, blockage of sewer pipeline	Resolved
13	Bushbuckridge LM: Acornhoek Police Station Ponds sewer line	Resolved
14	Chief Albert Luthuli LM: Carolina WWTW pump station sewer overflow	Not Resolved
15	ThabaChweu LM: Manhole overflow along the railway line	Resolved
16	Bushbuckridge LM: Thulamahashi Section manhole overflow	Resolved
17	Chief Albert Luthuli LM: Silobela pump station overflow	Not Resolved
18	Bushbuckridge LM: Thulamahashi Section A sewer pipeline overflow	Resolved
19	Mbombela LM: Telkom Pumpstation sewage spillage	Resolved however sewer line still poses challenges
20	National Dept of Public Works: Barberton Prison Farm WWTW: irrigating with waste	Not Resolved
21	Dept of Public Works: Bongani Hospital WWTW: Discharge of partially treated sewage	Not Resolved
22	Dayzenza Plaza WWTW: Discharge of effluent to a wetland	Not Resolved
23	Sembcorp Silulumanzi: Kingsvale WWTW: Discharge of partially treated sewage	Not Resolved
24	Chief Albert Luthuli LM: Ekulindeni WWTW raw sewage overflow from a manhole	Not Resolved
25	Barberton Mines: Sheba Gold Mine: failing to take measures to prevent pollution	Not Resolved
26	Barberton Mines: Fairview Mines: engaging in water use activities without authorisation	Not Resolved
27	Exxaro Coal: Strathrae Colliery: failing to take measure to prevent pollution	Not Resolved
28	Nkomati Anthracite: Madadeni operations: failure to take reasonable measures to prevent pollution	Not Resolved
29	Sappi Ngodwana: failure to comply to license condition regarding the effluent quality used for irrigation	Not Resolved
30	Transnet Freight Rail: diesel spillage	Resolved

Annexure B

	DIRECTIVES 2014/2015
No.	(a) Name of institution	(b) Outcome
1	Department of Public Works: Louiville WWTW	Not Resolved
2	Bushbuckridge LM: Mkhuhlu WWTW	Not Resolved
3	Dept of Public Works: Shongwe Hospital WWTW	Not Resolved
4	Bushbuckridge LM: Mangwazi Bio disk WWTW	Not Resolved
5	Emakhazeni LM: EmakhazeniWWTw	Not Resolved
6	Bushbuckridge LM: Maviljane Ponds	Not Resolved
7	Transnet Fright Rail: Rock Phosphate Spillage	Resolved
8	Marrian Industrial Estate: Diesel Spillage	Resolved
9	Bushbuckridge LM: Maviljane township Manhole overflow	Resolved
10	Eastside Coal company: discharge of polluted water from the RWD into the SwartwaterSpruit	Partially Resolved
11	Droogvallei Rail Siding Company: overflow of pollution control dam	Resolved
12	Nkomazi LM: Sewage overflow from manhole	Resolved
13	Jab Dried Fruits Products, illegal wastewater discharge
14	Pembani Coal Carolina: Backfilling a pit with discard	Resolved
15	Bushbuckridge LM: Thulamashi WWTW discharge of partially treated sewage	Not Resolved
16	Bushbuckridge LM: Tintswalo WWTW: Discharge of partially treated sewage	Not Resolved
17	Msukaligwa LM: Breyten WWTW discharge of partially treated sewage	Not Resolved
18	National Dept of Public works. Oshoek WWTW: Discharge of partially treated sewage	Resolved
19	Public Works: Shongwe Hospital, Sewage overflow from the ponds to the river	Not Resolved
20	Mbombela LM: Hazyview WWTW, discharge of partially treated sewage	Resolved
21	Chief Albert Luthuli LM: sewage spillage at Silobela pump station	Not Resolved
22	Mbombela LM: Kabokweni Ridge and Bhejukufa pump station overflow	Resolved
23	ThabaChweu LM: Graskop WWTW: raw sewage leakage	Resolved
24	Dept of public works: Tonga Hospital: Discharge of partially treated sewage	Not Resolved
25	Chief Albert Luthuli LM: Carolina Wastewater pump station: Overflow of raw sewage	Not Resolved
26	Ilanga Eggs: disposal of waste into the environment	Not Resolved
27	Mbombela Local Municipality: Rocky’s drift WWTW: discharging partially treated sewage	Not Resolved
28	Pembani Coal Mine: Directive to put measures to prevent pollution	Not Resolved
29	Jab Dried Fruit Product: Illegal Discharge of Effluent	Not Resolved
30	Mbombela LM: Municipal sewer line spillage at Bhejukufa	Resolved
31	Bushbuckridge LM: Dwarsloop WWTW: Discharge of partially treated effluent	Not Resolved

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.

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:

Requesting the Honorable Member to refer the question to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) who is in a better position to respond to the infrastructure maintenance plans for the next 10 to 15 years to ensure a reduction in non-revenue water for the nine provinces.

---00O00---

Reply:

(a). On Friday, the 17 April 2015, I convened a National Consultative Meeting to deal with the challenges facing the transformation of the heritage sector with a focus on statues, place names and symbols that define our public spaces. Amongst the decisions of this meeting was the creation of a special purpose task team to assist with conceptualization, implementation and monitoring as well as impact assessment of a rapid process of transformation of the heritage landscape towards nation-building. The above-mentioned Task Team has been appointed and has conducted consultation workshops in all nine provinces.

 

Botshabelo Mission is a Provincial heritage site which was first protected on the 26th of February 1965. After successful land claim, the site was for some time managed with the assistance of the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality until it was completely transferred to the Botshabelo Community Development Trust which was appointed by the Botshabelo Community to run the affairs of the site as both a heritage site and a tourist attraction. The Mpumalanga Provincial Department of Arts and Culture established a Task Team that will put together a report and recommendations in terms of ensuring the salvaging of the site from total collapse.

This Task Team includes members of the Botshabelo Community, the Department and both Local and District Municipalities. The Task Team has since removed valuable artifacts from the site to a place of safety. The Task Team also recommended the services of a Conservation Architect to evaluate the state of structures/ buildings and the probable costs to repair. Furthermore, the Provincial Department of Arts and Culture has since 2008 assisted the Botshabelo Community Development Trust to solicit funding from the National Lottery. The funding was frozen amid disagreements and infighting among members of the Botshabelo Community.

The Department is now in the process of ensuring the establishment of a legitimate and stable board so that those funds can be released for the restoration and management of the site.

(b). In accordance with the National Heritage Resources Act, a person may be found guilty or liable to pay a fine or imprisonment for defacing a statue.

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:

During the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Global Summit held in Mexico from 27 to 29 October 2015, South Africa was appointed as the Lead and or Chair of the OGP. In accepting the responsibility to Lead the OGP , the South African government reiterated its profound commitment to ensure that the OGP’s Programme's on the Principles of Transparency, Accountability and Responsiveness performs better.

The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) will further engage the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer at National Treasury with the intention of finding ways in which the OGP’s commitments and principles around Open Contracting are domesticated.

Reply:

1. The Municipal Demarcation Transition Grant was introduced in the 2015 Division of Revenue Act to subsidise the additional institutional and administrative costs that result from the implementation of major boundary redeterminations. The grant is allocated R139 million over the 2015 MTEF. In the 2015 Medium Term Budget Policy Statement it was announced that this grant will receive increased allocations in 2016/17 and 2017/18. These increases include provision for the boundary redeterminations that were finalised by the Municipal Demarcation Board in 2015. Details of the increases will only be made public when the 2016 Budget is tabled.

The Municipal Demarcation Transition Grant only provides funding for operational costs that relate directly to the implementation of major boundary redeterminations. The capital investment needed to eradicate backlogs and upgrade services in these municipalities will continue to be funded through conditional grants in the same manner as they are funded in other municipalities. The data used to determine allocations for conditional grants and the local government equitable share will be updated to reflect the new boundaries.

2. Provincial departments responsible for cooperative governance are accountable for overseeing the implementation of boundary redeterminations in their respective provinces. These departments will be providing support-in-kind to affected municipalities and in some cases provinces may also provide financial support to municipalities. Details of any financial support provided should be published in provincial budgets once these are tabled.

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:

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:

(1)(a)(i) The upgrading of the Mkhondo Local Municipality’s waste water treatment plant (WWTP) in Mpumalanga commenced on 29 June 2012.

(1)(a)(ii) The plant was completed on 30 October 2015.

(1)(b) (i) The total cost of the upgrade to date is R 65 980 058.23.

(1)(b)(ii) The total expected cost for the upgrading of the plant is R 59 159 095.50.

(1)(c) The upgraded category of the plant Inlet works and screw pump station includes the following:

• Transfer pipeline and distribution chamber
• Biological Reactor
• Secondary sedimentation tanks
• Return activated sludge (RAS) and scum pump station
• Chlorine contract channels and dosing facility
• Sludge handling and treatment
• Anaerobic digesters

(2) No. The municipality is in the process of appointing a consultant for operation and maintenance for the period of two years which shall ensure sustainability and skill transfer to eight (8) process controllers for Mkhondo Waste Water Treatment Works.

---00O00---

Reply:

The Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency is in a better position to respond to this parliamentary question, since it is responsible for “monitoring” in the public service. However, flowing from the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) Outcome 12, various projects were initiated, such as the development of Generic Organisational Structures. The Government’s Outcomes Based Programme identified key service delivery outcomes which necessitate collaboration across government Departments.

As part of the implementation of this Outcome 12 initiatives, the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) is tasked with the responsibility to support departments with the development of sector specific generic functional structures, with a view to improve the quality of organisational structures in the public service. The aim is to ensure consistency and common understanding with regard to what constitutes departmental core functions in order to ensure alignment of organisational structures to the mandate and strategic objectives of such departments, as well as to achieve appropriate grouping of national and provincial functions to clearly define roles and responsibilities.

Furthermore, the DPSA conducts analysis of proposed organisational structures submitted to the Minister for Public Service and Administration (MPSA) for consultation in terms of the 2015 Directive on the Changes to the Organisational Structures by the Departments, which has been issued in terms of the Public Service Regulations 1/III/B.2.

The analysis of the proposed organisational structures also ensures alignment of organisational structures and functions to the strategic objectives and mandates of departments to ensure the elimination of the duplication of functions, the findings of the analysis are provided to relevant Executive Authority.

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:

Not being the fire Department, we do not have a register of the fires but we have a register of all support given. The Department keep track of these incidents through its interaction with municipalities and provinces as well as through reports in the media. An important source of information, which the Department relies upon, is the published reports of the Fire Protection Association of Southern Africa (FPASA). Currently, published information by the FPASA is available for four years being 2010 until 2013 as indicated in table 1 below. The 2014 statistics will be available in March 2016 and the 2015 statistics will be available in March 2017.

(a) & (b) Table 1: 2010 - 2013 Fire Incidents Report from the Fire Protection Association of Southern Africa:

Year	No of fire incidents	Financial damage/losses	Highest Causes
	Formal	Informal	Formal	Informal	Formal	Informal
2010	2 578	2 590	R 525 406 578	R 64 719 575	Undetermined	Undetermined
2011	3 943	4 046	R 576 242 642	R 102 389 740	Undetermined	Undetermined
2012	4 593	4 516	R 556 062 426	R 114 556 248	Undetermined	Undetermined
2013	4 859	4 886	R 770 392 753	R 117 693 080	Undetermined	Undetermined

2010- Narrative of Fire Incidents

Most of the fire incidents occurred in the Metropolitan Municipalities with Ethekwini leading with 490 formal and 508 informal settlements fire incidents, followed by Tshwane with 562 formal and 287 informal dwellings, in third place is Ekurhuleni with 321 formal 385 informal dwellings affected by fire incidents, the City of Johannesburg is fourth place with 264 formal and 239 informal incidents recoded, the City of Cape Town recorded 190 formal and 172 informal dwelling fore incidents, Nelson Mandela recorded 122 formal and 212 informal dwelling fire incidents and Mangaung recorded 128 formal and 129 informal dwelling fire incidents.

The rest of the fire incidents are shared between other District and Local Municipalities. The total damage in rand value cutting across formal & informal dwellings, flats, furniture shops, restaurants, churches, hospitals, nursing homes, warehouses, cinemas and night clubs was worth approximately R 1, 3 billion in 2010.

The causes of the fire incidents vary between formal and informal dwellings. For both formal and informal dwellings, a significant portion of the causes of the incidents were undetermined, with a record of 739 and 965 respectively. In formal dwellings most of the determined causes in order of frequency were electrical, open flames and cooking. In the informal sector most (734) were as a result of open flames, cooking incidents were 249, electrical were 220, arson recoded incidents were 151 followed by heating at 112 incidents and 64 were due to smoking.

The rest of the incidents are minor in terms of frequency and range between welding, lightning, unrest and other.

The Honourable member will no doubt remember that in 2005 we had committed ourselves, through the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), that we would have adhered to the desired goals to eradicate informal settlements by the year 2014. President Mbeki signed these on behalf of the country, a commitment which is in line with the founding policy document of the ANC – The Freedom Charter, which proclaims that there shall be no slum.

2011- Narrative of Fire Incidents

A large portion of the causes of these fire incidents were undetermined but others in order of highest incidents recorded ranges from open flames, electrical faults, cooking, heating and arson. The total damage in rand value cutting across formal & informal dwellings, flats, furniture shops, restaurants, churches, hospitals, nursing homes, warehouses, cinemas, night clubs etc. is worth just above R 2, billion in 2011.

In this financial year, the City of Cape Town leads with the number of incidents with 905 formal and 1007 informal dwelling fire incidents, followed by EThekwini Metro with 559 formal 526 informal dwelling fire incidents, in third place is Tshwane Metro with 689 formal and 346 informal dwelling fire incidents, Ekurhuleni is fourth place with 395 formal 418 informal dwelling fire incidents, the City of Johannesburg recorded 390 formal 345 informal dwelling fire incidents, Mangaung recorded 133 formal and 143 informal dwelling fire incidents, Buffalo City recorded 68 formal 172 informal dwelling fire incidents and last was Nelson Mandela with a record of 18 formal and 34 informal dwelling fire incidents. The rest of the incidents are minor in terms of frequency and range between welding, lightning, unrest and other.

2012- Narrative of Fire Incidents

The total damage of the fire incidents was R 3, 1 billion in the 2012/13 financial year. The causes of the fire incidents vary between formal and informal dwellings. For both formal and informal dwellings, a significant portion of the causes of the incidents were undetermined, with a record of 1248 and 1685 respectively. In formal dwellings most of the determined causes in order of frequency were electrical (934), open flames (744), cooking (486) and heating (298). In the informal sector most (1154) were as a result of open flames, electrical were 506, cooking incidents were 385, arson recoded incidents were 289 followed by heating at 200 incidents and 88 were due to smoking. The rest of the incidents are minor in terms of frequency and range between welding, lightning, unrest and other.

The fire incidents are largely prevalent in Metropolitan areas and again the City of Cape Town leads for the 2nd consecutive year with 1310 formal and 1169 informal dwelling fire incidents, followed by Ethekwini with 588 formal and 508 informal dwelling fire incidents, in third place is the Tshwane Metro with 652 formal and 374 informal dwelling fire incidents, In fourth place is the City of Johannesburg Metro with 372 formal and 353 informal dwelling fire incidents, followed by Ekurhuleni Metro in fifth place with 305 formal and 345 informal dwelling fire incidents, at sixth place is Buffalo City with 82 formal and 177 informal dwelling fire incidents, the Mangaung Metro recorded 134 formal and 122 informal dwelling fire incidents followed in last place by the Nelson Mandela Bay with 19 formal and 25 informal dwelling fire incidents.

2013 – Narrative of Fire Incidents

The direct fire losses in 2013 were in excess of R 2 billion. The fire incidents in 2013 within the formal and informal dwellings resulted in 106 deaths. In this period still, a significant portion of the incident causes were undetermined. As in the previous financial years, the highest determined cause of fire incidents in the formal sector is electrical (925) and in the informal sector it is open flames with a record of 1177 in 2013.

The undetermined causes in the formal dwellings were 1540 and 1926 in informal dwellings.

In terms of highest numbers recorded in the formal dwellings were electrical followed by open flames incidents were 805, cooking incidents were 388, arson incidents were 340, heating incidents were 287 and smoking incidents were 128.

In the informal sector, most determined fire incidents were caused by open flames followed by 511 electrical incidents, 444 arson incidents, 349 cooking incidents, 181 heating incidents and 94 smoking incidents. The rest of the incidents are minor in terms of frequency and range between welding, lightning, unrest and other.

The City of Cape Town recorded the highest number of fire incidents with 1097 formal and 1118 informal dwelling incidents, followed by Tshwane Metro with 713 formal and 393 informal dwelling incidents, in third place is Ethekwini Metro with 577 formal and 532 informal dwelling incidents, in fourth place is Nelson Mandela Bay with 435 formal and 537 informal dwelling incident, followed by Ekurhuleni in fifth place with 404 formal and 461 informal dwelling incidents, the City of Johannesburg recorded 412 formal and 373 informal dwelling fire incidents and lastly is Mangaung with a record of 135 formal and 173 informal dwelling fire incidents.

(c) The Department has the Informal Settlements Upgrading Programme (ISUP) whose primary objective is to cater for improving the basic infrastructure and dwelling standards and quality of life of households living in informal settlements. The ISUP for the current MTSF aims to ensure that 750 000 households living in 2200 informal settlements benefit from improved living conditions, and this include preventative measures from the threats and causes of fires.

There is grant funding allocated for this purpose to assist the municipalities in fast tracking the provision of security of tenure, basic municipal services, social and economic amenities and the empowerment of residents in informal settlements to take control of housing development directly applicable to them. The grants include the Human Settlements Development Grant (HSDG) as well as the Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG).

In the Metropolitan areas the Department in conjunction with the Metropolitan Municipalities are funding the roll-out of solar lighting as well as improved cooking facilities for households, in order to limit the use of fossil fuels and liquid fuels, which are a major cause of fires in informal settlements

The ISUP includes, as a measure of last resort, and exceptional circumstances, the possible relocation and resettlement of households on a voluntary and co-operative basis as a result of the implementation of upgrading projects. The ISUP is instituted in terms of Section 3(4) (g) of the Housing Act, 1997 (Act No.107 of 1997)

(d) All Provinces and Metropolitan Municipalities are implementing the ISUP. Provinces implement the ISUP in the District and Local Municipalities as well.

(e) The Department has a Monitoring and Evaluation unit that is responsible for programme and project oversight. In addition, to project level verification, the Department convenes quarterly financial and non-financial performance assessment on Provinces and its Metropolitan Municipalities on all programmes in the Housing Code, including the Upgrading of Informal Settlements Programme.

As a result of reports and recommendations of the monitoring and evaluation process, the Department has initiated a National Upgrading Support Programme (NUSP) to provide support to Provinces and Municipalities to fast track the planning to implement the ISUP programmes. In addition the work of the Department also forms part of the Monitoring and Evaluation programmes and process of the Department of Monitoring and Evaluation, and a focus area is the ISUP.

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) 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:

Refer to Annexure A for arrears owed to water boards for the financial years 2010/11; 2011/12; 2012/13; 2013/14 and 2014/15 and the overdue amounts in terms of each specified municipality in each specified period.

---00O00---

Annexure A

1. Amatola Water

a)(i) Metro	a)(ii) District	a)(iii) Local municipality	Province	aa) 2010/11	bb) 2011/12	cc) 2012/13	dd) 2013/14	ee) 2014/15
	b) (i) owed R	b)(ii) Overdue	b)(i) Owed R	b)(ii) R	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)
	Amathole DM		Eastern Cape	-	-	-	-	-	-	502 890, 56	502 890, 56	-	-
Buffalo City			Eastern Cape	-	-	-	-	-	-			5 264, 60	5 264, 60
	Joe Gqabi DM		Eastern Cape	-	-	-	-	6 942, 14	6 942, 14	432 329, 37	432 329, 37	-	-
		Makana LM	Eastern Cape	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6 368 767, 75	6 368 767, 75
		Ndlambe LM	Eastern Cape	-	-	-	-	176 362, 56	176 362, 56	-	-	3 185 568, 21	3 185 568, 21
	OR Tambo DM		Eastern Cape	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3 878 657, 28	3 878 657, 28
		Blue Crane Route LM	Eastern Cape	-	-	415 329, 45	415 329, 45	-	-	-	-	-	-
TOTAL	-	-	415 329, 45	415 329, 45	183 304, 70	183 304, 70	935 219, 93	935 219, 93	13 438 257, 84	13 438 257, 84			13 438 257, 84

2. Bloem Water

a)( i) Metro	a)(ii) District	a)(iii) Local municipality	Province	a)(aa) 2010/11	a)(bb) 2011/12	a)(cc) 2012/13	a)(dd) 2013/14	a)(ee) 2014/15
	(b)(i) owed R	b)(ii) Overdue	b)(i) Owed R	b)(ii) R	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)
Mangaung			Free State	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	46 383 541, 63	46 383 541, 63
		Kopanong LM	Free State	13 069 448, 36	13 069 448, 36	7 927 858, 57	7 927 858, 57	17 830 428, 47	17 830 428, 47	22 028 023, 23	22 028 023, 23	31 015 030, 69	31 015 030, 69
		Mantsopa LM	Free State	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	144 911, 63	144 911, 63
		Naledi LM	Free State	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1 261 355, 86	1 261 355, 86
TOTAL	13 069 448, 36	13 069 448, 36	7 927 858, 57	7 927 858, 57	17 830 428, 47	17 830 428, 47	22 028 023, 23	22 028 023, 23	63 244 636, 77	63 244 636, 77			63 244 636, 77

3. Lepelle Northern Water

a)( i) Metro	a)(ii) District	a)(iii) Local municipality	Province	a)(aa) 2010/11	a)(bb) 2011/12	a)(cc) 2012/13	a)(dd) 2013/14	a)(ee) 2014/15
	(b)(i) owed R	b)(ii) Overdue	b)(i) Owed R	b)(ii) R	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)
		Polokwane LM	Limpopo	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	12 986 883, 16	12 986 883, 16
		Mogalakwena LM	Limpopo	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2 677 481, 72	2 677 481, 72
	Capricorn DM		Limpopo	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3 256 776, 27	3 256 776, 27
	Mopani DM		Limpopo	7 552 828, 66	7 552 828, 66	9 341 166, 95	9 341 166, 95	10 135 166, 14	10 135 166, 14	64 135 849, 47	64 135 849, 47	9 169 249, 92	135 380 659, 81
	Sekhukhuni DM (Fetakgomo)		Limpopo	-	-	-	-	-	-	24 000 000, 00	24 000 000, 00	1 009 889, 62	4 144 805, 04
	Sekhukhuni DM (Makhuduthamakga)		Limpopo	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2 568 796, 28	14 112 917, 78
		Marble Hall LM	Limpopo	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	141 480, 04	1 003 765, 37
		Ba-Phalaborwa LM	Limpopo	182 759 933,00	182 759 933,00	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	182 759 933, 90
		Greater Letaba LM	Limpopo	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1 155 028, 19	1 155 028, 19
		Greater Tzaneen LM	Limpopo	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	67 815, 15	67 815, 15
		Lepelle-Nkumpi LM	Limpopo	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	985 009, 28	985 009, 28
		Greater Tubatsi LM	Limpopo	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2 104 684, 52	11 077 581, 55
TOTAL	25 828 821, 66	25 828 821, 66	9 341 166, 95	9 341 166, 95	10 135 166, 14	10 135 166, 14	88 135 849, 47	88 135 849, 47	36 123 094, 15	369 608 657, 22

4. Magalies Water

a)( i) Metro	a)(ii) District	a)(iii) Local municipality	Province	a)(aa) 2010/11	a)(bb) 2011/12	a)(cc) 2012/13	a)(dd) 2013/14	a)(ee) 2014/15
	(b)(i) owed R	b)(ii) Overdue	b)(i) Owed R	b)(ii) R	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)
City of Tshwane			Gauteng	10 239 531, 17	7 348 018, 60	5 446 600, 72	3 707 601, 88	5 078 109, 68	3 156 529, 33	7 367 985, 49	-	3 915 793, 78	3 915 793, 78
		Rustenburg LM	North West	1 721 247, 87	18 664, 69	2 327 478, 87	-	2 633 112, 02	-	2 295 830, 14	-	2 750 952, 94	2 750 952, 94
		Thabazimbi LM	North West	7 048 455, 89	5 789 805, 61	13 776 320, 68	12 243 363, 41	12 549 904, 07	10 668 192, 80	22 293 895, 62	19 966 547, 04	21 938 457, 62	21 938 457, 62
		Moses Kotane LM	North West	3 703 312, 21	-	4 417 074, 39	-	5 326 971, 39	-	6 249 475, 22	-	7 671 363, 30	7 671 363, 30
		Modimolle LM	North West	1 546 512, 18	1 026 136, 33	528 700, 70	-	818 488, 18	-	633 857, 89	-	2 177 568, 61	2 177 568, 61
		Moretele LM	North West	705 998, 09	-	1 739 558, 69	839 075, 17	3 731 282, 82	2 506 850, 75	3 310 838, 12	2 673 951, 18	1 792 971, 45	1 792 971, 45
		Bela-Bela LM	North West	828 541, 10	381 917, 78	2 012 950, 81	1 438 208, 04	1 326 517, 06	666 660, 27	813 765, 31	-	1 046 378, 03	1 046 378, 03
		Kgetleng LM	North West	429 293, 99	-	1 404 747, 23	599 806, 96	3 588 897, 47	3 373 510, 32	3 137 565, 86	3 114 380, 61	3 437 631, 92	3 437 631, 92
		Madibeng LM	North West	6 882 756, 86	5 180 702, 90	8 449 517, 70	7 818 301, 13	9 272 762, 90	8 662 654, 78	4 659 765, 83	2 806 296, 11	3 114 100, 97	3 114 100, 97
TOTAL	33 105 649, 36	19 745 245, 91	40 102 949, 79	26 646 356, 59	44 326 045, 59	29 034 398, 25	50 762 979, 48	28 561 174, 94	47 845 218, 62	47 845 218, 62			47 845 218, 62

5. Mhlathuze Water

a)( i) Metro	a)(ii) District	a)(iii) Local municipality	Province	a)(aa) 2010/11	a)(bb) 2011/12	a)(cc) 2012/13	a)(dd) 2013/14	a)(ee) 2014/15
	(b)(i) owed R	b)(ii) Overdue	b)(i) Owed R	b)(ii) R	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)
		uMhlathuze LM	KwaZulu-Natal	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	27 720, 00
	Gert Sibande DM		KwaZulu-Natal	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1 068, 00
	Amajuba DM		KwaZulu-Natal	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	uThungulu DM		KwaZulu-Natal	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
TOTAL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	28 788, 00

6. Overberg Water

a)( i) Metro	a)(ii) District	a)(iii) Local municipality	Province	a)(aa) 2010/11	a)(bb) 2011/12	a)(cc) 2012/13	a)(dd) 2013/14	a)(ee) 2014/15
	(b)(i) owed R	b)(ii) Overdue	b)(i) Owed R	b)(ii) R	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)
		Theewaterskloof LM	Western Cape	-	-	-	-	-	-	286 100, 00	1 993 698, 47	992 835, 52	1 000 862, 95
		Hassequa LM	Western Cape	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	TOTAL	-	-	-	-	-	-	286 100, 00	1 993 698, 47	992 835, 52	1 000 862, 95

7. Rand Water

a)( i) Metro	a)(ii) District	a)(iii) Local municipality	Province	a)(aa) 2010/11	a)(bb) 2011/12	a)(cc) 2012/13	a)(dd) 2013/14	a)(ee) 2014/15
	(b)(i) owed R	b)(ii) Overdue	b)(i) Owed R	b)(ii) R	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)
City of Tshwane			Gauteng	7 940 276, 49	7 940 276, 49	2 601 261, 06	2 601 261, 06	6 720 777, 05	6 720 777, 05	3 054 550, 10	3 054 550, 10	1 857 610, 77	1 857 610, 77
Mangaung Metro			Free State	1 902 787, 15	1 902 787, 15	1 902 787, 15	1 902 787, 15	1 902 787, 15	1 902 787, 15	1 902 787, 15	1 902 787, 15	1 902 787, 15	1 902 787, 15
Ekurhuleni Metro			Gauteng	809 412, 12	809 412, 12
	Sekhukhune DM		Mpumalanga	634 256, 34	634 256, 34
		Bushbuckridge LM	Mpumalanga	-	-					360 689 131, 26	360 689 131, 26	470 921 289, 72	470 921 289, 72
		Chief Albert Luthuli LM	Mpumalangaq	-	-							2 833 847, 23	2 833 847, 23
		Dipaleseng LM		-	-
		Emalahleni LM		-	-	1 009 566, 06	1 009 566, 06	1 009 566, 06	1 009 566, 06	1 009 566, 06	1 009 566, 06	32 496 896, 03	32 496 896, 03
		Emfuleni Lm	Gauteng	32 116 219, 39	32 116 219, 39	9 225 961, 63	9 225 961, 63	51 699 996, 91	51 699 996, 91	74 032 097, 61	74 032 097, 61	137 530 809, 02	137 530 809, 02
	Gert Sibande DM		Mpumalanga	-	-
		Goven Mbeki LM	Mpumalanga	17 844 893, 69	17 844 893, 69	1 287 372, 86	1 287 372, 86
		Kungwini LM	Gauteng	13 210 869, 02	13 210 869, 02	7 593 445, 62	7 593 445, 62	7 593 445, 62	7 593 445, 62	14 094 136, 38	14 094 136, 38	2 805 675, 28	2 805 675, 28
		Lekwa LM	Gauteng	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6 199 101, 99	6 199 101, 99
		Lesedi LM	Gauteng	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3 938 278, 84	3 938 278, 84
		Madibeng LM	North West	-	-	1 176 444, 04	1 176 444, 04	1 037 095, 71	1 037 095, 71	2 658 665, 72	2 658 665, 72	139 980, 63	139 980, 63
		Mbombela LM	Mpumalanga	-	-	662 669, 47	662 669, 47	-	-	-	-	7 775 251, 47	7 775 251, 47
		Merafong LM	Gauteng	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13 090 0456, 22	13 090 0456, 22
		Metsimaholo LM	Free State	-	-	-	-	4 928 874, 11	4 928 874, 11	9 326 866, 38	9 326 866, 38	-	-
		Midvaal LM	Gauteng	5 207 621, 89	5 207 621, 89	-	-	-	-	28 478, 34	28 478, 34	301 125, 46	301 125, 46
		Mkhondo LM	Mpumalanga	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1 659 865, 05	1 659 865, 05
		Mogale LM	Gauteng	6 503 898, 06	6 503 898, 06	13 442 138, 12	13 442 138, 12	1 171 524, 42	1 171 524, 42	1 171 524, 42	1 171 524, 42	12 197 117, 14	12 197 117, 14
		Msukaligwa LM	Mpumalanga	-	-	-	-	-	-	558 263, 56	558 263, 56	-	-
		Ngwathe LM	Free State	85 921, 41	85 921, 41	288 373, 74	288 373, 74	1 513 660, 01	1 513 660, 01	1 371 300, 43	1 371 300, 43	-	-
		Nkomazi LM	Mpumalanga	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7 458 805, 36	7 458 805, 36
		Dr Pixley Ka Isaka Seme LM	Mpumalanga	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	14 454 379, 84	14 454 379, 84
		Randfontein LM	Gauteng	42 875, 35	42 875, 35	4 482 138, 49	4 482 138, 49	-	-	-	-	-	-
		Royal Bafokeng LM	North West	-	-	-	-	2 567 806, 26	2 567 806, 26	-	-	-	-
		Thembisile LM	Mpumalanga	7 104 133, 79	7 104 133, 79	6 028 194, 03	6 028 194, 03	6 141 560, 61	6 141 560, 61	6 969 240, 72	6 969 240, 72	34 756 353, 85	34 756 353, 85
		Umjindi LM	Mpumalanga	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3 512 803, 07	3 512 803, 07
		Victor Khanye LM	Mpumalanga	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4 826 726, 29	4 826 726, 29
		Westonaria LM	Gauteng	-	-	2 755 265, 70	2 755 265, 70	17 336 889, 94	17 336 889, 94	9 869 412, 49	9 869 412, 49	7 684 265, 72	7 684 265, 72
TOTAL	93 403 164, 70	93 403 164, 70	52 455 617, 97	52 455 617, 97	103 623 983, 85	103 623 983,85	486 736 020,62	486 736 020, 62	768 343 015,13	768 343 015, 13

8. Sedibeng Water

a)( i) Metro	a)(ii) District	a)(iii) Local municipality	Province	a)(aa) 2010/11	a)(bb) 2011/12	a)(cc) 2012/13	a)(dd) 2013/14	a)(ee) 2014/15
	(b)(i) owed R	b)(ii) Overdue	b)(i) Owed R	b)(ii) R	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)
	Dr Ruth S Mompati DM		Northern Cape	10 331 772	7 340 812	16 360 781	11 807 293	32 772 420	28 253 059	40 568 091	36 956 571	69 121 670	59 571 346
	Ngaka Modiri Molema DM		North West	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	171 662 841	171 479 675
		Matjhabeng LM	Free State	310 772 160	288 998 373	478 329 661	452 387 926	588 398 597	564 464 674	867 786 155	836 881 474	1 218 182 660	1 181 667 926
		Maquassi Hills LM	North West	17 792 293	15 354 056	28 195 513	25 455 921	41 061 185	38 020 402	49 188 194	45 683 162	77 194 939	73 242 725
		Phokwane LM	Northern Cape	5 762 558	4 593 732	5 762 558	4 593 732	4 042 075	2 873 249	4 042 075	2 345 341	12 322 945	10 406 153
		Ditsobotla LM	North West	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	39 914 648	33 561 358
		Mahikeng LM	North West	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	182 751 485	178 660 199
		Nama-Khoi LM	Northern Cape	7 310 477	5 774 169	22 816 982	19 046 076	40 762 755	38 623 115	58 445 314	57 012 844	77 819 232	76 523 394
		Dikgatlong LM	Northern Cape	8 584 742	8 352 717	5 103 899	4 915 847	4 117 556	3 869 097	2 033 549	1 688 218	5 908 463	5 093 833
		Nala LM	Free State	32 813 089	30 273 702	53 971 644	51 018 741	55 696 901	52 965 702	66 734 541	63 674 871	86 338 919	82 990 344
TOTAL	393 367 091	360 687 561	610 541 038	569 225 536	766 851 490	729 069 298	1 088 797 919	1 044 242 481	1 941 217 802	1 873 196 953

9. Umgeni Water

a)( i) Metro	a)(ii) District	a)(iii) Local municipality	Province	a)(aa) 2010/11	a)(bb) 2011/12	a)(cc) 2012/13	a)(dd) 2013/14	a)(ee) 2014/15
	(b)(i) owed R	b)(ii) Overdue	b)(i) Owed R	b)(ii) R	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)	b)(i)	b)(ii)
eThekwini			KwaZulu-Natal	100 628, 00	100 628, 00	99 685, 00	99 685, 00	-	-	144 612, 00	144 612, 00	157 059, 00	157 059, 00
-		iLembe LM	KwaZulu-Natal	4 105, 00	4 105, 00	4 448, 00	4 448, 00	-	-	15 684, 00	15 684, 00	29 817, 00	29 817, 00
		Msunduzi LM	KwaZulu-Natal	29 772, 00	29 772, 00	30 736, 00	30 736, 00	-	-	36 059, 00	36 059, 00	39 915, 00	39 915, 00
	Ugu DM		KwaZulu-Natal	8 003, 00	8 003, 00	6 325, 00	6 325, 00	-	-	7 114, 00	7 114, 00	5 303, 00	5 303, 00
	Harry Gwala DM		KwaZulu-Natal	4 531, 00	4 531, 00	4 039, 00	4 039, 00	4 087, 00	4 087, 00	6 616, 00	6 616, 00	7 600, 00	7 600, 00
		uMgungundlovu LM	KwaZulu-Natal	690, 00	690, 00	601, 00	601, 00	-	-	1 015, 00	1 015, 00	1 570, 00	1 570, 00
		Siza Water	KwaZulu-Natal	3 455, 00	3 455, 00	2 989, 00	2 989, 00	1 780, 00	1 780, 00	4 309, 00	4 309, 00	3 983, 00	3 983, 00
TOTAL	151 184, 00	151 184, 00	148 823, 00	148 823, 00	151 184, 00	151 184, 00	148 823, 00	148 823, 00	245 247, 00	245 247, 00

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:

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:

SAFA routinely interrogates the coaches' reports through its Technical Committee and has done so at the March 2015 Technical Committee meeting.

SAFA also received an independent expert technical analysis of all 3 matches at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Final Tournament in Equatorial Guinea and has discussed it thoroughly with a view to making corrections for future matches.

SAFA has its own internal match analysis system which it has used for all national teams.

b) No government funds were used for Bafana Bafana at any time during this period. The independent technical analysis was done by an international match analyst engaged by SAFA;

c) Government did not use any service providers. Instead, SAFA engaged the independent technical analysts who were vying for a long-term relationship with the Association. They produced their analysis to indicate the strengths of their system. SAFA deems its own system to be of equal value and continues to use its own match technical analysis system to adjust/improve the performance of its national teams.

Reply:

Government does not have a binding policy for setting the level of disaster relief contingency funding. Disaster relief funding is mainly included on budget, in conditional grants to municipalities and provinces, and also in the baselines of certain departments, like the Departments of Social Development and Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Where disaster relief grants are insufficient, government can draw down on the national contingency reserve. Historically, immediate disaster relief transfers to provincial and local governments have been less than the provision on budget.

Once a disaster occurs, government distinguishes between two levels of disaster funding: 1) immediate disaster relief and 2) long term disaster reparations relating to infrastructure.

For immediate disaster relief (food, temporary shelter and temporary access roads), government introduced two conditional grants in 2011/12 – the Municipal Disaster Grant and the Provincial Disaster Grant – which allow for the release of funds within a 100-day period from a disaster being declared. Other government grants may also be reprioritised to focus funding in response to immediate disaster needs. The Disaster Grants are included in the baseline of the Department of Cooperative Governance. For 2015/16, the municipal disaster grant amounts to R261.1 million and the provincial disaster grant amounts to R103.2 million. Funds from these two grants have remained underspent for the past 3 years, as the full grant amounts were not required for disaster response. In 2014/15, R197.4 million was allocated to the Provincial Disaster Grant of which R85.9 million was transferred to provinces. For the same period R363.6 million was allocated to the Municipal Disaster Grant, of which R121.4 million was transferred to municipalities.

Required medium term disaster responses are dealt with using the normal MTEF budget process. This is done through the reprioritisation of budgeted funds, mainly within existing government infrastructure grants, or through draw downs on the national contingency reserve. The Department of Cooperative Governance administers the Municipal Disaster Recovery Grant for rehabilitation and reconstruction of disaster damaged municipal infrastructure.

Draw-downs from the contingency reserve are part of the in-year budget process, and need to be tabled by vote. This was done in 2013/14 for floods in the Eastern Cape and the Western Cape (R111.5 million from the contingency reserve) and in 2014/15 for infrastructure reconstruction in the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and the Western Cape (R157 million from the contingency reserve). The 2016 MTEF budget process is in progress, with the national contingency reserve standing at R2.5 billion in 2016/17, R9 billion in 2017/18, and R15 billion in 2018/19. Depending on the severity of the current drought, after sector budget reprioritisation, part of the contingency reserve in each year may be allocated for additional disaster relief in the 2016 Budget and / or the 2016/17 Adjustments Budget.

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:

Ministerial commitments are ongoing in nature. The assessment as to whether these commitments were implemented or are still in progress is done by the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA). Until such time as the department obtains a clean audit outcome, the AGSA is likely to report that these ongoing Ministerial commitments will remain work in progress. Clearly the onus rests on the department to convince the AGSA that it has improved its asset management, accountability of reporting from the regions, leadership, financial accountability, record keeping and has implemented proper financial management processes and credible action plans before the AGSA will agree that these commitments were fully implemented.

Reply:

Yes, my department has made significant progress with respect of the 2014 – 2019 MTSF goals to achieve Nation Building and Social Cohesion in order to realize the objective of Outcome 14, namely South Africa achieving a diverse, socially cohesive society with a national identity.

The department has been able to successfully coordinate the various Outcome 14 government departments to develop the outcome 14 MTSF strategic targets in line with the five pillars of chapter 15 of the National Development Plan and quarterly progress reports have been submitted to Cabinet.

Outcome 14 has five (5) broad sub outcomes that direct its ultimate goal of a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous South Africa, namely: fostering constitutional values, equal opportunities, inclusion and redress, promoting social cohesion across all levels in society, promoting active citizenry and leadership and fostering a social compact.

The progress against outcomes include:

Support to the Moral Regeneration Movement in terms of the promotion of the Code of Positive Values.

We continue to leverage on the national days as key platforms through which to instil constitutional values, build and promote unity and reconciliation.

The report back Summit held in March 2015 offered partners an opportunity to give feedback and renew discussions on matters discussed at the Social Cohesion Summit held in 2012.

The department’s resolve to ensure a generation is raised that knows the history of our country is driven by our visibility in schools as we install flags in schools and educate learners on how to hoist the flag and driving the understanding of the meaning of the preamble as they recite it at assemblies.

The opening of the Matola Monument in September of this year and the Liberation Heritage Route that has been approved by cabinet further emphasis the strides being made in ensuring we tell the correct history of our country.

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:

Requesting the Honorable Member to refer the question to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) who is in a better position to respond to the estimated amount of kilometers of water pipes that were replaced in each of the metropolitan municipalities.

---00O00---

Reply:

1. (a) Cape Town

(aa) The unprocessed post-mortem blood alcohol samples at 31 December 2014 were 13280.

(bb) The unprocessed ante-mortem blood alcohol samples at 31 December 2014 were 1169.

All the post-mortem and ante- mortem blood alcohol samples that were received as at 31 December 2014 have been processed.

(b) Pretoria

(aa) The unprocessed post-mortem blood alcohol samples at 31 December 2014 were 3730.

(bb) The unprocessed ante-mortem blood alcohol samples at 31 December 2014 were 19683.

All the post-mortem blood alcohol samples that were received as at 31 December 2014 have been processed. Of the 19683 ante- mortem samples that were received as at 31 December 2014, 17080 (87%) samples have been processed.

(c) Johannesburg

(aa) The unprocessed post-mortem blood alcohol samples at 31 December 2014 were 3031.

(bb) The unprocessed ante-mortem blood alcohol samples at 31 December 2014 were 27767.

All the post-mortem blood alcohol samples that were received as at 31 December 2014 have been processed. Of the 27767 ante-mortem samples that were received as at 31 December 2014, 11401 samples have been processed. However, it should be noted that, in Johannesburg, in addition to the 11401 samples processed, all the backlog samples of 2011, 2012 and 2013 have all been completed.

(d) Durban

The question does not apply to Durban since the laboratory was not yet opened during this period in question.

2. Cape Town

a) The new blood alcohol samples received in 2015 are 19447;

b) The number of new blood alcohol samples that were received in 2015 which has been processed are 17866(92%)

Pretoria

a) The new blood alcohol samples received in 2015 are 14255;

b) The number of new blood alcohol samples that were received in 2015 which have been processed are 3835. The total number of samples, including the backlog, which has been processed in 2015, are 24645. Therefore, there were 10390 more samples processed in 2015 than the number specimens received in 2015.

Johannesburg

a) The new blood alcohol samples received in 2015 are 27860;

b) The number of new blood alcohol samples that were received in 2015 that have been processed are 5487. However, the total number of samples processed in 2015, including the backlog, is 19919(71%). However, it should be noted that, in Johannesburg, all the backlog samples of 2011, 2012 and 2013 have all been completed.

Durban

a) The new blood alcohol samples received in 2015 are 13184;

b) The number of new blood alcohol samples that were received in 2015 that have been processed are 12507(95%).

END.

Reply:

No.

(a) The brining of poultry meat is being dealt with under amendments to the Regulations regarding control of the sale of Poultry Meat by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF).

(b) The final amendments to the Regulations have not been published as yet. The date of publication will be determined by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

END.

Reply:

1. The ongoing maintenance and renovations of Sizwe Hospital was essential to comply with the Occupational Health and Safety legislative requirements, the National Core Standards of the Office of Health Standards Compliance as well as Quality Improvement Standards.

At any rate the Department of Health never had it in mind that the Hospital should be relocated. It is another government department which took that decision and promised that the Company that needs that space will relocate at their own expenses, meaning that whatever has been spent cannot be lost.

2. How so? The relocation is done at the expense of whoever needs to take over that space. The Department of Health or the government is going to pay nothing.

END.

Reply:

According to the Gauteng Provincial Department of Health -

(a) Specifications have been completed;

(b) The scope and project plan is still to be finalised. This will provide the specifics with regard to the envisaged time-frames to complete the renovations. It is however, expected that it will be completed before the end of this financial year.

END.

Reply:

(1) (a) The lease agreement for the previous office accommodation for the National Office of the Public Service Commission (PSC) (Commission House) expired on 31 January 2012.

(b) Yes, the initial request forwarded to the Department of Public Works (DPW) on 29 October 2010 was that the lease agreement should be extended for a period of five (5) years as the building was still suitable and met the requirements of the Public Service Commission (PSC). The PSC experienced challenges with the renewal process.

Seeing that there were delays with the renewal of the lease as well as the fact that the PSC had reached the optimal occupancy of the building, the PSC requested the DPW to procure alternative office accommodation in July 2012.

In order to allow the DPW to commence with the procurement process of the alternative accommodation, the PSC agreed that the lease agreement be renewed for a further period of eighteen (18) months to ensure that PSC relocate into the new alternative office building on 1 April 2014.

DPW then commenced with the procurement process and a building was identified as a suitable alternative accommodation for the PSC and a lease agreement was signed. However, during tenant installation process there were concerns raised by the PSC e.g. additional costs to be borne by the PSC relating to tenant installation. This resulted in the process being suspended by the DPW. Due to the dispute, the PSC did not take occupation of the building.

Furthermore, the PSC forwarded another request to DPW in June 2015, after receiving notice to vacate Commission House, to commence with sourcing the alternative accommodation. To date, the PSC has not received an update from DPW on this matter. The PSC has requested the Minister for Public Works to intervene.

(c) The lease agreement for the interim accommodation is for a period of 18 months, with an exit clause in the event a new building is procured before the expiry date of 18 months.

(2) (a) The PSC has not received any financial support from the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) as the request for additional funding was forwarded to National Treasury.

(b) The PSC has not received any other support from the DPSA as the PSC is interacting directly with DPW and National Treasury.

(3) The National Office of the PSC moved to ABSA Towers in July 2015, as an interim arrangement between PSC and DPW until such time that suitable permanent office accommodation has been sourced. The contract for the previous building (Commission House) was on a month to month basis and the landlord gave the PSC notice to vacate the premises as the landlord wanted to refurbish the building.

Reply:

The Accumulated cost of the Co-Operative Incentive Scheme to the State are as follows:

(i) Since introduction by the Department of Trade and Industry:

Refer to Table 1 below. This depicts thedti CIS program data:

CO-OPERATIVE INCENTIVE SCHEME
Department	YEAR	NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS APPROVED	VALUE OF APPLICATIONS APPROVED	ESTIMATED NO OF JOB CREATED	VALUE OF DISBURSEMENT
Trade and Industry	2008-9	93	R 14 634 075	744	R 9 330 000
Trade and Industry	2009-10	224	R 47 345 447	1792	R 34 523 371
Trade and Industry	2010-11	235	R 55 228 903	1880	R 44 170 626
Trade and Industry	2011-12	182	R 47 824 520	1456	R 52 555 674
Trade and Industry	2012-13	314	R 85 323 599	2512	R 64 979 000
Trade and Industry	2013-14	243	R 62 331 729	1944	R 75 479 830
	Total A	1291	R 312 688 273	10328	R 281 038 501

Total Costs = R 281 038 501

(ii) Since its transfer to the department and (b) how many (i) co-operatives have been funded,

Refer to Table 2 below. The table depicts DSBD CIS program data

	CO-OPERATIVE INCENTIVE SCHEME
	Department	YEAR	NUMBER OF APPLICATIONS APPROVED	VALUE OF APPLICATIONS APPROVED	Estimated No of Job Created	VALUE OF DISBURSEMENT
	Small Business Development	2014-15	207	R 56 103 695	1656	R 64 965 564
	Small Business Development	2015-16 YTD	104	R 31 878 000	832	R 16 576 000
		Total B	311	R 87 981 695	2488	R 81 541 564
Grand Total	Total A + B	1602	R 400 669 968	12 816	R 362 580 065

(ii) How many of these funded co-operatives are still operative?

• Not all the funded projects have been visited after implementation of the interventions. Post investment support done on a sampling basis.

(iii) How many jobs have been created in each case?

The total estimate number of jobs created is illustrated in both table 1 & 2 above, The grand total is 12 816 .

Reply:

(1) My Department has instituted a number of stakeholder meetings to resolve the matter, - the meetings resolved that;

• The National Department of Public Works should transfer the land in question to the Madibeng Local Municipality in order to assist those that have already occupied the land.
• The Housing Development Agency should assist the Municipality to develop the Developmental Layout Plan in order to conclude on the transfer of the land. The Housing Development Agency has already developed the Developmental Layout Plan.
• The Municipality should conduct a social survey to determine the exact number of illegal households already occupying the land in question so as to mitigate for further illegal occupations. The Municipality reported to have not yet started to conduct the social survey.
• The National Department of Human Settlements through the Province assist with the provision of the necessary housing instruments.

(2) Honourable member, the North West Provincial Department of Housing, Madibeng Local Municipality and the Department of Public Works are seized with this matter in order to ensure that a lasting solution is arrived at. This means that the eviction order will not be executed until solutions are found.

 

Reply:

(1) (a) The budget for adverting is R 1, 946, 058.28.

(b) R161, 040.00 for six one-hour radio phone in programmes in three Nelson Mandela Bay Community Radio Stations. These are Nkqubela, Kingfisher and Bay FM.

- R274, 140.00 for Umhlobo Wenene

- R272, 970.00 for Algoa FM

(2) (a) Government communicates with its citizen daily.

(b) The Minister is leading a Cabinet sanctioned intervention to support the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBM) to implement the Human Settlements Programmes. Key to the intervention is to improve service delivery and address all concerns regarding service providers. Communication is central in informing citizens about their rights and responsibilities to ensure participation in the implementation processes.

Reply:

(1) (a) Refer to attached Annexure 1 for details of the toll-free helpline and or hotline.

The following provinces indicated that they have call centres and/or hotlines; Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Western Cape. The other three (3) provinces (i.e. Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and North West) indicated that they do not have call centres or hotlines.

The following key service delivery oriented national government department indicated that they have call centres; Social Development, Labour, Human Settlements, Health, Home Affairs, Department of Public Service and Administration, Public Service Commission, Government Employees Medical Scheme, South African Police Services and the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation.

(b) The public can access the details in many ways including from the website of the relevant departments and government telephone directory

(2) Discussions on rationalising the hotlines are in progress. The final decisions will be communicated as soon as they are concluded. The Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation, the Department of Public Service and Administration, the Public Service Commission and the National Treasury are the initiators of such discussions.

(3) Nothing is hampering discussions towards rationalisation of the hotlines/ call centres.

(4) No.

(5) The Department of Public Service and administration has developed a national framework to guide complaints and compliments in the public service. It is currently supporting departments and provinces to align their complaints and compliments systems to the national framework.

Reply:

(1) The Department of Health has worked and continues to work with the SAPS, State Security Agency (SSA), South African National Defence Force, PSIRA and various stakeholders when such incidents occur. These interventions include, entering highly volatile areas with SAPS escorts, having safe pick-up points for members of the public and engaging with the applicable communities through their community leaders advising on the role of Emergency Management Services (EMS) and the need for their safety while serving the community. EMS personnel are taught and advised to withdraw immediately if there are any signs of danger. In this regard, there are safety and security coordinators (senior police officers) in all Provinces at Cluster level, Police Stations and at Sector level to coordinate safety and security related challenges in the public health sector

Emergency Medical Services Management has also engaged with ward councillors and the communities in an attempt to address attacks on EMS personnel.

A Security Services Ministerial Task Team was established in 2011 after first reported incident which works with the departmental heads of security for the nine provincial departments. The Ministerial Task Team will continue working with the national security cluster in ensuring that the occurrence of such incidences are minimised.

(2) Details of specific incidents where (a) medical officers and (b) paramedics were victims of the specified incidents whilst in the course of duty in the 2014 - 15 financial year are as follows:

KWA ZULU-NATAL PROVINCE

DATE	AREA	DESCRIPTION OF INCIDENT
26/10/2014	KwaMakutha Ethekwini	13h45 PPT Unit was hijacked whilst undertaking a transfer from KwaMakutha clinic to Prince Mshiyeni Memorial Hospital. The driver escaped while the ambulance assistant together with the 2 patients and one escort was abducted. The vehicle was abandoned 30 minutes later and the patients, the attendant and escort was not harmed however the vehicle keys were taken by the hijackers.
25/03/2015	Eshowe Mbongolwane Uthungulu District	During the labour unrest in EMS 2 calls were logged at the call centre and ambulances were dispatched to two different locations which were Eshowe and Mbongolwane – Uthungulu District. The staffs from both ambulances were met by the so called guides and were led away. They later realised that they were being hijacked. The perpetrators removed the personal belonging and released the staff unharmed. Both ambulances were burnt completely.

WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE (CAPE TOWN)

DATE	DISTRICT	DESCRIPTION OF INCIDENT
3/4/2014	Tafelsig Southern Div	While loading a patient into the ambulance a member of the community opened the passenger door, and stole a cell phone of the crew member, the man had a long knife.
4/5/2014	Mannenberg Southern Div	While the crew were inside the house treating the patient, members of the community broke into the ambulance and stole medical equipment.
05/5/2014	MPDH Southern Div	While collecting a patient at the day hospital, the father of the patient became verbally abusive to the crew when they explained that a minor cannot be transported without adult supervision.
14/8/2015	Khayelitsha Eastern Div	A crew responded to a call in Khayelitsha and upon arrival, the crew were ambushed by a group of men. Both staff members were robbed of their personal belongings, were physically assaulted and sustained head injuries.
15/8/2014	Khayelitsha Eastern DIV	While attending to a child on scene, 4 males entered the back of the ambulance and produced various weapons (guns and knives) and robbed the staff of their belongings
14/9/2014	Tafelsig Southern Div	While treating a patient on scene in Tafelsig Mitchells Plain the crew member was stabbed in the back by one of the gang members. Mr Labuschagne had a bullet proof vest on at the time of the incident and did not sustain any injuries.
14/9/2014	Mannenberg Southern Div	While the crew were waiting for the escort to show them where the patient was, two men approached the crew exposing their firearms to the crew. Before the men could gain entry to the vehicle, the driver managed to drive away.
30/9/2014	R300	While the crew were returning from the AMS base they drove into a group of people on the R300 who were throwing stones - vehicle damaged
23/9/2014	Heideveld Southern Div	A crew had loaded a patient into the ambulance, and as they drove off two gunmen approached the ambulance and held a gun to the drivers head and tried to force the ambulance door open. No one was injured during the incident
5/10/2014	Browns Farm - Western Div	While attending to a call, the vehicle was stoned, sudden violence broke out and police drew their firearms and began chasing an unknown male.
21/10/2014	Langa Western Div	While driving to a call, a group of people started throwing stones and bricks at the ambulance. The brick entered through the driver's side window and struck the driver above the right eye.
3/3/2015	Tafelsig Southern Div	Staff were held at gunpoint and robbed of personal possessions ie wallets and GPS.
7/3/2015	Macassar Eastern Division	Staff member was physically assaulted.
28/3/2015	Du Noon Western Div	Staff were threatened by a large crowd of people. SAPS assistance was requested but none arrived.
31/3/2015	Capricorn Western Div	Staff member was robbed of her bag while attending to a patient.

NORTH WEST PROVINCE:

DATE	DISTRICT	DESCRIPTION OF INCIDENT
1/10/2014	Matlosana klerksdorp DKK	Two ambulances were dispatched to a call. When the ambulances arrived the crews were assaulted
1/10/2015	Matlosana klerksdorp DKK	Staff assaulted. As above

EASTERN CAPE PROVINCE: (PORT ELIZABETH)

DATE	DISTRICT	DESCRIPTION OF INCIDENT
3/2/2014	PE	Ambulance was stoned
5/2/2014	PE	Ambulance was stoned
6/2/2014	PE	Ambulance was stoned
15/2/2014	PE	Ambulance tyres slashed
12/4/2014	PE	Crew threatened and robbed
7/10/2014	PE	Ambulance was stoned
17/10/2014	PE	Ambulance side mirror damaged
26/10/2014	PE	Ambulance was stoned
11/1/2015	PE	Attempted high jacking of ambulance
12/4/2015	PE	The crew were threatened and assailants threatened to burn the ambulance

Provinces with no incidences:

Limpopo, Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape Province

END.

Reply:

As a Development Finance Institution, we certainly share the view that the farmers are in a difficult position. The prevailing drought has aggravated this season’s conditions following an equally challenging 2014 season.

The Land Bank has been closely monitoring the distress signals of our farmers in an attempt to proactively intervene and support. We are of the view that as the prevailing weather conditions continue, it is likely that more farmers will show early signs of distress.

Farmers genuinely need more state support right now. Land Bank has been proactive in preparing itself to be in a position to assist it clients by reviewing the loans of affected clients through Drought Relief intervention initiatives.

The above is targeted to all droughts declared areas and other affected areas will be confirmed by Land Bank Agricultural Economist Specialists (AES) report and supported by evidence of losses.

 PURPOSE OF DROUGH RELIEF INTERVENTION

• Carry-over  of debt to next session
• Restructuring, of existing facility
• Deferring of payment
• Payment holiday, where applicable
• Interest write-back for Retail Emerging Markets,

 

ELIGIBLE CLIENTS

 

• Existing Land Bank client’s drought relief loans intervention will be based on own merits.
• New clients will be assessed according to the existing credit criteria as set out in the Retail Emerging Markets and Retail Commercial Banking Credit Policies.
• Distressed accounts due to other reasons other than drought are excluded from this initiative, but may apply on the normal criteria.

 

CREDIT CRITERIA

All loans must comply with current Land Bank loan guidelines with respect to repayment ability, security and approved Credit Policy, exceptions will be considered on own merit.

INTEREST RATE

 Interest rate or pricing will be based on client’s risk grade or determined by the appropriate approving committee.

 

RECOMMENDED OPTIONS AT THE DESCRETION OF THE LENDING COMMITTEE

Implementation of drought relief initiative will consider options as follows on a case by case:

1. To advance 2nd season production loans without full settlements of the previous season production facility.
2. Extend repayment period for the remaining term of the mortgage and medium term loan.
3. Granting repayment holiday to a maximum of 24 months depending on commodity and cash flow projections.
4. Interest accrued write back for Retail Emerging Markets clients with inputs for the 2014/2015 production season that did not plant.
5. Adjust loan to value from 60% to 75% (fully collateralized) where business cash supports increased borrowing.
6. Subordination of existing loan where applicable to prevent reckless lending and over-indebtedness.
7. Evaluation for assistance will be based on client’s business case merit.
8. All applications approved under this initiative will require progress reporting every 6 months.

We hope that the above comprehensive account of the Land Bank Drought Relief intervention initiative responds fully to the requirements of the question