Questions and Replies

Reply:

Amatola Water

Amatola Water does not have an existing agreement of essential services as this matter is currently being discussed at the Amanzi Bargaining Council in an attempt to have a standardised approach amongst all the Water Boards.

Bloem Water

Bloem Water has an Essential Services Agreement as negotiated with labour, facilitated by the Council for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). The agreement specifies categories of employment designated as essential services such as treatment, security, pipeline teams and artisans. The Amanzi Bargaining Council is currently attending to an Essential Services framework as a guideline for adoption by respective water boards having identified their designated job categories.

Lepelle Northern Water

Lepelle Northern Water (LNW) does not have an Essential Service Agreement. This is due to the fact that organised Labour within LNW is refusing to engage on the same in order to sign one. Organised labour’s reason for refusal is that the agreement is divisive. In case of threatened industrial action we rely on clause 1 (d) of government gazette no 18276, vol 387 dated 12 September 1997 read together with chapter iv of the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 as amended.

Magalies Water

Magalies Water does not have an essential services agreement. A draft agreement is in place for all Water Boards at Amanzi Bargaining Council to be discussed at the next council meeting to be held on 17 September 2015.

Mhlathuze Water

Mhlathuze Water (MW) does not have an essential service agreement in place yet. An application was made to declare MW as essential service. After extensive investigation by the Essential Services Committee where presentations were made by MW and NEHAWU, MW was formally declared an essential service on 22 June 2015. The Essential Services Committee undertook to provide an essential service agreement to MW which is still awaited. Since Mhlathuze Water has been declared an essential service, all employees within Mhlathuze Water are deemed essential employees up until the minimum service level agreement is concluded.

Overberg Water

Overberg Water does not have an existing agreement of essential services in place. Engagements are currently planned with the Trade Unions, being the South African Municipal Workers Union and Independent Municipal and Allied Trade Union to establish an Essential Services Agreement.

Rand Water

Rand Water, by the nature of its mandate in terms of the Water Services Act, 108 of 1997, performs an essential service in supplying and distributing potable water in its area of supply. As far back as 2004, Rand Water and its Trade Unions at the time, being the South African Municipal Workers Union and the Rand Water Staff Association, established an Essential Services task team to investigate and determine which services are essential. The Rand Water Minimum Services Agreement was signed by all relevant parties on 30 September 2004. In terms of Section 70 of the Labour Relations Act, 66 of 1995 (as amended, the Rand Water Minimum Service Agreement was ratified by the Essential Services Committee of the CCMA in 12 January 2005.

In essence the agreement:

• 1. Indicates that parties commit to provision of essential services of providing water during any industrial action.
  2. Defines Essential Service/s, Key Posts and Maintenance Service.
  3. Has two annexures of specified positions that are required during strike action.
  4. Directs parties to meet and consult on key posts.

However should there be, deviation or non-compliance to the agreement, Rand Water reserves its right to engage replacement staff.

Amanzi Bargaining Council, to which all water utilities belong, is in the process of developing an industry / sector wide “Minimum Services Agreement”.

Sedibeng Water

Sedibeng Water has a Minimum Service Agreement in place. The agreement provides for minimum services to be provided upon labour engaging on any strike action.

The agreement lists teams that are attached to Water Purification, Maintenance and Distribution functions of the organisation. The agreement ensures that water and sanitation services continue un-interrupted during the strike action.

Umgeni Water

Umgeni Water does not have a signed Minimum Service agreement, it still in a draft format which have been discussed with NEHAWU. We (The Department) are busy engaging NEHAWU to finalise the agreement.

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Reply:

Currently, my Department is not meeting the set targets of 2% for the employment of people with disabilities.

However my Department has in 2012, established an Employment Equity (EE) Forum which developed and an approved EE Plan to address issues of gender and disability.

Since the inception of the forum in 2012 there has been a slow but significant movement in the appointment of people with disabilties from 0.28% in April 2011 to 0.76% as at April 2014. Currently, the percentatge of people with disabilities as at July 2015 is 0.78%. (see below movement of appointment PWDs)

My Department plans to target vacant funded posts when advertising for people with disabilities in the future to reach the target of 2% or more, and also work closely with the Directorate Gender and Mainstreaming to address isues of gender and disabilities.

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Reply:

1. The Uthukela District Municipality (DM) is the Water Services Authority responsible for providing water services in the Indaka Local Municipality (LM). The area is supplied through the Ekukeveni Water Scheme and the Oliphantskop Dam is the raw water source.

The Divaal area has not been without piped water supply for any extended period. The entire Indaka area has an interrupted water supply i.e. the water supply is not available on a continuous basis due to a shortage of water. The water demand exceeds the available water supply because the Ekuvukeni Water Scheme was designed for a particular area and water demand, however more areas were brought onto and supplied from this water scheme, exceeding the scheme’s design capacity.

The different areas of Indaka LM receive piped water on a rotational basis with each area receiving water supply on different days of the week. Some areas, receive water more than once a week depending on location in the area. This is influenced by the proximity to the water treatment works and the layout of the water scheme. The Divaal area is at the end of the water scheme and receives water once a week on Thursdays.

(2) When an area is not receiving water through the water scheme, the Uthukela DM provides water tankers to fill static water tanks and individual containers so residents have access to water.

(3)(a) The Uthukela DM has identified and is implementing a range of measures to ensure continuous piped water supply in the area.

(3)(b)(i)As part of the drought intervention programme, which is managed by my Department, the UThukela DM is allocated R3 million to implement a borehole programme to improve water availability in the district. Contractors are currently on site conducting investigation of sites to start drilling boreholes. The Uthukela DM has made a further application for R3.5 million under the Municipal Water Infrastructure Grant to extend the borehole programme in this area.

(3)(b)(ii)The long term sustainable solution depends on the rollout of the Driefontein Complex Regional Bulk Scheme, a Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant funded project with various phases to ultimately supply water to the region from the Spioenkop Dam.

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Reply:

1. The Mazizini area collectively comprises of two communities, the Newstand and Obonjaneni communities.

The Obonjaneni community currently has no interruptions in water supply and receives piped water from a reservoir which is fed from the KwaMfalazi River. The water is chlorinated at the reservoir.

The Newstand community in Ward 6 is normally supplied by a reservoir which is fed from the Zwelitsha Water Treatment Works (WTW). However, the Zwelitsha WTW currently does not have sufficient capacity to meet the demands of both the Zwelitsha and the Newstand areas.

The Uthukela District Municipality (DM) has therefore opted to supply the affected Newstand Community with water through a production borehole. The water from the production borehole was being pumped into the existing reservoirs which then supplied the community through the existing reticulation network. However, due to the drought currently being experienced in the Kwazulu-Natal Province, the groundwater levels have dropped substantially and there has been very little water in the borehole to pump. This resulted in the pump running dry which caused damage to the pump and the subsequent collapse of the pipe work within the borehole thus leaving the community without piped water supply for the past 6 months. This production borehole will therefore need to be replaced.

(2) The area currently has two (2) functional hand pump boreholes which are supplying approximately 900 community members with water as a temporary measure. These boreholes do not meet the full needs of the community and the Uthukela DM will be deploying water tankers to the area to fill up the reservoirs twice on a weekly schedule.

(3)(a) Yes, my Department has taken steps to reinstate piped water supplies to the area.

(3)(b)(i) As an interim measure the UThukela DM has appointed a service provider to investigate the availability of groundwater in the area and drill additional production boreholes for supply to the affected community.

(3)(b)(ii) This work is planned to commence within September 2015. The Zwelitsha WTW requires an upgrade in order to meet the required demands of both the Zwelitsha and Newstand areas. There is a planned upgrade by the Uthukela DM to increase the Zwelitsha WTW capacity scheduled to start in December 2015.

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Reply:

(a)(i) A joint discussion has already taken place between the Department of Water and Sanitation together with COGTA, the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA), the office of the Presidency’s M&E unit and National Treasury, and a Project Management Office (PMO) has been established to co-ordinate and integrate all water services activities related to sustainable Water Services delivery in the 27 Priority DMs. The Department of Human Settlements is part of this initiative. The PMO will ensure that there is no duplication with regards to the water and sanitation service delivery and will ensure that funding alignment between different Departments and funding sources takes place.

(a)(ii) No separate actions are being undertaken by the Department. As stated above all water services actions are being coordinated through the PMO.

(a)(iii) A monitoring programme is being established to ensure that, once a pipeline of projects has been determined, they are implemented and run effectively. My Department has identified eleven key intervention activities that will be monitored to ensure the implementation of sustainable water and sanitation service delivery. They are:

1. Demographics;
2. Service Levels;
3. Socio-Economics;
4. Water Services Infrastructure;
5. Operational and Maintenance;
6. Associated Services;
7. Water Resources;
8. Conservation & Demand Management;
9. Financial;
10. Institutional Arrangements; and
11. Social & Customer Service Requirements.

A 5-year implementation plan will be developed and implementation thereof will be monitored at community and project level. The plan will be developed through a consultancy process at municipal level with relevant role-players and funding initiatives. The plan will be signed off by Council to ensure that no duplication takes place.

(a)(iv) Requesting Honourable member to note that, there are no two Departments which execute identical actions. Each Department finds its mandate in the Constitution, followed by the legislation administered by the respective Department, therefore the need for such a resolution mechanism has not arisen. My Department's mandate is highlighted in Section 3 of the National Water Act, 1998 (Act No. 36 of 1998):

“Public trusteeship of nation's water resources

3. (1) As the public trustee of the nation's water resources the National Government, acting through the Minister, must ensure that water is protected, used, developed, conserved, managed and controlled in a sustainable and equitable manner, for the benefit of all persons and in accordance with its constitutional mandate. (2) Without limiting subsection (1), the Minister is ultimately responsible to ensure that water is allocated equitably and used beneficially in the public interest, while promoting environmental values. (3) The National Government, acting through the Minister, has the power to regulate the use, flow and control of all water in the Republic.”

(a)(v) Falls away.

(b) Falls away.

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Reply:

(a) Botshabelo has a total of 757 Buckets of which 155 are located in Section K. Buckets are scattered throughout the settlement and mostly on informal stands. Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality has a total of 1 347 Bucket toilets to be eradicated.

(b) My Department does not fund Metropolitan Municipalities for sanitation programmes since such municipalities receive the Urban Settlement Development Grant (USDG) from the Department of Human Settlements to attend to issues related to the Built Environment which include the provision of municipal services, roads, human settlements etc.

(c) My Department will monitor the programme by the Metro to eradicate all VIP and Bucket Toilets over the next four years.

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Reply:

(1)(a) The construction of the pipeline will commence in March 2016.

(1)(b) The construction of the pipeline will be completed end of September 2016.

(2)(a) The length will be a 72 km and 350 mm diameter pipeline

(2)(b) 6.5 mega litres per day.

(2)(c) The total cost of the pipeline is R 72 million.

(2)(d) It will be funded by my Department through the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG).

(3) Yes, the total cost of the project which is R403 million is already budgeted through RBIG in MTEF period

(3)(a) Falls away.

(3)(b) Falls away.

(3)(b)(i) Falls away.

(3)(b)(ii) Falls away.

(4) Yes, the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) granted approval for servitude.

(5) Falls away.

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Reply:

1. No, my Department has not intervened on this matter yet. The Kouga Local Municipality (LM) is the Water Services Authority, Water Services Provider and owner of infrastructure and is responsible for undertaking the necessary upgrades. The Kouga LM has secured funding through the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform to upgrade the Kwa Nomzamo Waste Water treatment Works (WWTW). My Department will therefore not intervene until the Kouga LM has shown that they are unable to perform their functions.

My Department has reacted as regulator and catchment manager as follows:

• A non-compliance letter, dated 25 June 2015, was sent to Kouga LM addressing both the KwaNomzamo WWTW and the Koraal Pump Station. The Kouga LM responded with a reply dated 13 July 2015 (Refer to attached letter).
• A meeting was held on 24 July 2015 between the officials from my Department and the Kouga LM technical manager to get clarity and progress on this and other matters.

 

2. Yes my Department is aware of the impact the failing WWTW is having on the environment and local communities; hence the actions taken.

The Kouga LM, in their response letter of 13 July 2015, has confirmed a partnership with the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform in 2013 to upgrade the WWTW; and on 3 June 2014 appointed a PSP to develop upgrade plans. On 4 March 2015 the Technical Report on the Refurbishment and Upgrading of the KwaNomzamo WWTW was received and is progressing to the tendering stage.

Regarding access control and fencing of the works, the Kouga Council approved a budget of R 2,0m to fence the said works. This project was approved by a full Council and a contractor has already been appointed in August 2015.

The Kouga LM is also working with local industries to ensure pre-treatment to reduce the organic and hydraulic load on the KwaNomzamo WWTW.

3. The plant assessment was done during the last green drop assessment in 2013 and the plant received a score of 57.44%. This score placed the WWTW in the category ‘50% – 80% - Fair performance, ample room for improvement’.

4. Yes, My Department has intervened from legal perspective as follows:

• A non-compliance letter, dated 25 June 2015, was sent to Kouga LM addressing both the KwaNomzamo WWTW and the Koraal Pump Station.
• Following their attached response dated 13 July 2015, a meeting was held on 24 July 2015 between the officials from my Department and the Kouga LM technical manager to get clarity and progress on this and other matters.

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Reply:

(1) The latest information with regard to spillages that have been reported is taken from those received from April 2015 to date. The number of cases reported to my Department are 19 and the cases are captured to include all the 9 provinces. Refer to Annexure A.

(2)(a) My Department through the various provincial offices undertake planned audits for the Waste Water Treatment Works (WWTWs) against their water use license, and also attend to queries received from consumers and those reported through the media as a means to attend to spillages resulting from the WWTWs, pumpstation and manholes.

(2)(b) In areas where spillages are as a result of manholes or pumpstation and municipalities have challenges to address the spillages, the rapid response unit is despatched to the affected municipality. However, Water Service Authorities (WSAs) are able to address spillages in-house if it’s detected early. In cases of a overflow from a WWTWs, nature of overflow dictates intervention and assistance needed. As a result the nature of the overflow will determine if the matter can be addressed rapidly or if it will require the plant to be upgraded to address the overflow.

In areas where it is as a result of overloading due to capacity constraint, such plants are prioritised through various support programmes of my Department for allocation of funds (Regional Bulk Infrastructure, Municipal Infrastructure Grand and Accelerated Community infrastructure programme) to upgrade the plants or in other cases refurbishment to ensure the plant operates efficiently with functional equipments that will be able to handle loading coming into the plant. The overflow as a result of design capacity constraint may not necessarily be addressed rapidly due to the fact that the upgrades are often multi year projects which take longer to construct before the overloading is completely addressed.

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Annexure A

Region	Sector	Investigations & Inspections Reported	Investigations & Inspections Investigated or Inspected	Water User License Yes	Water User License No	Non-compliance Letters	Pre-directives	Severity of each case
Eastern Cape	Local Government [WSA/WSP]	11	11	0	11	0	7	Each cases reported were severe based on the fact that spillages reported has potential to pollute the environment hence pre-directives were issued.
Free State	Local Government [WSA/WSP]	1	2	0	0	3	0	Each cases reported were severe based on the fact that spillages reported has potential to pollute the environment
Gauteng	Local Government [WSA/WSP]	2	2	0	2	0	0	Cases reported were regarded to be severe based on the fact that spillages reported has potential to pollute the environment
Limpopo	Local Government [WSA/WSP]	1	1	0	1	0	0	Each cases reported were severe based on the fact that spillages reported has potential to pollute the environment
Mpumalanga	Local Government [WSA/WSP]	1	2	0	1	0	1	Each cases reported were severe based on the fact that spillages reported has potential to pollute the environment
North West	Government [National/Prov]	0	2	0	0	0	1	Each cases reported were severe based on the fact that spillages reported has potential to pollute the environment
North West	Local Government [WSA/WSP]	2	1	0	2	0	0	Each cases reported were severe based on the fact that spillages reported has potential to pollute the environment
Western Cape	Local Government [WSA/WSP]	1	2	0	2	0	0	Each cases reported were severe based on the fact that spillages reported has potential to pollute the environment
National	Local Government [WSA/WSP]	19	23	0	21	3	10	Cases reported not only for wastewater treatment works however also includes manholes that are close to streams and rivers. This has been taken with great urgency and prompted investigations that led to issuing of directives and put those affected WSAs under regulatory surveillance by the department.

Reply:

(1)(a) The following buildings were demolished:

• Boys' hostel
• dining hall and Dormitories
• Green house
• Fruit room
• Garage and carport
• Music room
• Outside rooms
• Prayer room
• Guard house
• Store room
• Workshop and storerooms
• 2x dwellings
• Garage and rooms.

Other activities under this contract included:

• Protection of existing graves
• Construction of a memorial monument
• Termination and the moving of underground services; sewer, water and electricity
• Construction of new sewer septic tanks and laying of sewer pipe lines
• Decommissioning and demolishing of existing sewer septic tanks and
• Upgrading of the existing alternative access road

(1)(b) The buildings were affected by the raising of the dam wall and were within the dam boundary line.

(1)(c) The buildings were demolished during the contract period, start date 02 February to end date November 2013.

(1)(d) All buildings were demolished by NCG Oosthuizen Investment CC.

(2)(a) All issues related to acquisition of land by my Department.

(2)(b) A review of the cost revealed the changed total as shown in the Table below:

RECIPIENTS	DETAIL BREAKDOWN EXPENDITURE ON LAND MATTERS (excl. VAT)
Valuator - Turnover Trading 243	R 1 232 758
Land Surveyor - Button & O’Connor INC	R 96 802
Expropriation of properties:
Oakford Priory Investments (PTY)	R 10 523 000
Roman Catholic Mission	R 92 447
TOTAL EXPENDITURE	R 11 945 007

(3) My Department did not commence any dredging at Hazelmere as yet. This would be a process to be considered once a dam basin management analyses indicates this to be an economic viable operations option. Continued silt survey records indicated sections of the basin to be prone to sedimentation but this is to be mitigated by the raising of the dam wall.

My Department is in the process of developing dam basin management protocols that will guide on siltation prevention operations as well as dredging where determined as viable.

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Reply:

(1)(a)&(b) For the current financial year, there is no fiscal-derived funding allocated by either my Department or the Department of Mineral Resources for the construction and operation of the proposed acid mine drainage (AMD) desalination plants (long-term solution) project.

(1)(c) The Vaal River System (VRS) Reconciliation Strategy has identified AMD reclamation and beneficial use thereof as one of the key pillars for ensuring water security in the VRS. Since reclaimed AMD will augment the yield of the System and benefits all water users reliant on the VRS, it is proposed that a portion of the AMD desalination cost is recovered through the VRS Raw Water Tariff, which is levied on all water users. The balance of cost is proposed for recovery through an “environmental levy” that may be invoked in the mining sector. This dual cost-recovery mechanism ensures equity by invoking both the “user pays” and “polluter pays” principles. Any funding deficit that may result is likely to be addressed through future fiscal allocations. Having considered the foregoing funding and cost-recovery proposal, my Department was given the approval of the National Treasury to fund the AMD long-term solution project off-budget using the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) borrowing programme (loan facility) and recover cost through the VRS Raw Water Tariff. Supplementation of the cost recovery through the proposed environmental levy is under development.

(1)(d) Irrespective of the funding model that will apply for the proposed desalination of AMD, that model will not jeopardize funding allocations to other programmes.

(2) Any potential role of the private sector in construction and/ or implementation of the proposed project will be in accordance with Government’s policy on public sector procurement for the acquisition of goods and services.

(3) It is projected that construction will commence in 2018 and would last for a minimum of 2 years. Operations are thus likely to be effective from the 2020-2021 financial year.

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Reply:

1. As per the response provided to PQ 483, along with the Minister of Finance, I am currently considering the proposal to adjust the pension fund rules to amend the 2% rule and will provide a response in due course.
2. The rules of the fund stipulate that only when the fund is unable to meet its financial obligations, will there be a requirement for Transnet to inject money into the fund. Should Transnet not be in a position to inject the required funds in order for the Pension fund to meet its financial obligations, then the state will be required to inject funds directly into the fund. At this stage, the fund is able to meet its financial obligations and accordingly there is no legal obligation in terms of the Legal Succession to the South African Transport Services Act of 1989, for either Transnet and/or the State to make a direct payment to the Pension Funds.
3. Transnet has complied with the recommendations of the Portfolio Committee in as far as the payment of bonuses to the pensioners are concerned. Since 2010, Transnet has to date paid over R2.2 billion in ad hoc bonuses to the pensioners belonging to the TPF and TSDBF. With regard to the recommendation relating to financial injection and inflation-linked increases, please refer to paragraphs 1 and 2 of this response.

 

Reply:

The first coal-fired Power Station to be decommissioned will be Camden Power Station, anticipated to take place in 2020. Eskom has already commenced with a study to look at various options for the current coal fired Power Station fleet. There are currently no firm plans to convert from coal-fired to natural gas. Gas options will depend on the technical feasibility, availability of gas and environmental considerations.

(a) Not applicable.

(b) Not applicable.

(c) Not applicable.

(d) Not applicable.

Reply:

The Department requires additional time to respond to this question as the details required needs sufficient time to collate. The Department of Sport and Recreation has a very small finance Directorate and will not be able to respond to this question within the period allocated to reply to questions.

Reply:

(1) The bio-monitoring reports are compiled on a quarterly basis and are adapted to coincide with the different seasons. The latest available reports are therefore, for the period between April – June 2015.With regards to the Nkomati River, the August 2015 report was finalised.

(2) Refer to the table below for the response on the water quality of each river:

Name of the River	South African Scoring System (SASS) Scores	Average Score Per Taxa (ASPT)	Class
Mvoti River	99	5.5	Fair
	25	3.13	Poor
Slang River	170	6.54	Good/Natural
Tugela River	69	6.23	Good
	Too deep to sample- in flood	N/A
Mooi River	120	6.32	Good
Mhlathuze River	118	6.21	Good
Hluhluwe River	No sampling done – the river had stopped flowing, broken to several pools of water.	N/A
Nkomati River	The river is largely fair with 3 monitoring sites showing poor quality and 5 monitoring sites out of 31 monitoring sites showing pristine to good quality water and it is moderately impacted

Please note that in some cases low flows (due to drought) have affected the water quality or ecological state of the rivers.

(3) Refer to the table below for the response on the date of sampling for each river:

Name of the River	Date of Sampling
Mvoti River	3-Jun-2015
	15-Jun-2015
Slang River	30-May-2015
Tugela River	1-Jun-2015
	15-Jun-2015
Mooi River	10-Jun-2015
Mhlathuze River	25-May-2015
Hluhluwe River	28-May-2015 (No sampling possible)
Nkomati River	July/August 2014 (dry season) and February/March 2015 (wet season)

(4) Refer to the table below for the response on the geographical location of the rivers:

Name of the River	Coordinates
	Latitude (S)	Longitude (E)
Mvoti River	-29.159860	30.628690
	-29.370004	31.304341
Slang River	-27.420670	30.296810
Tugela River	-28.756331	30.150376
	-29.172622	31.391921
Mooi River	-29.380814	39.660522
Mhlathuze River	-28.746950	31.747450
Hluhluwe River	-28.138560	32.019950

 

The geographical location where samples were taken for Nkomati River are as follows:

Vlakfontein 418 JT, Waterval 424 JT, Ndubazi Ranch 413 JT, Winkelhaak 723 JT, Tjakadstad 730 JT, Hooggenoeg 162 IT, Laaggenoeg 158IT, Nooitgezien 3 IU, Fig Tree 503 JU, Lebombo 186 JU.

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Reply:

(a) The development of a Master Plan for water resource infrastructure is currently in the information gathering stage entailing aspects such as condition assessment of existing infrastructure and updating of the asset management plan.

It should be noted that the Second Edition of the National Water Resource Strategy that was published in 2013 already indicates key information on new water resource infrastructure projects that are currently under development and this shall form part of the master plan.

(b) The development of the Master Plan is estimated to be completed at the end of August 2016.

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Reply:

1. The Wentzel Dam’s water level has dropped to 22% effective from end August 2015. The volume of water supplied from the Schweizer-Reneke Water Treatment Plant has also dropped from 4 Ml to 2.8 Ml per day. This has resulted in water supply shortages in Schweizer-Reneke Town and Ipelegeng Township.

The most affected are high-lying areas of Ipelegeng which are getting water intermittently during the night. To address this challenge, my Department in collaboration with water services authority, the Dr. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati DM, implemented the following short term interventions:

• The Fire and Disaster Unit from the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati DM is on standby to supply water to the clinics and schools.
• Two water tanker trucks are currently supplying water to the most affected areas of Ipelegeng Extension 4, 6, 8 and portion of Extension 5.
• A total of 9X10 000 liters Jojo tanks are placed at Ipelegeng (including clinics, schools, police station) and are being filled from 06H00 until 20H00 on daily basis.

2.  My Department has allocated R5,1 million to Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati DM under the Municipal Water Infrastructure Grant (MWIG) for intervention in addressing the short term water supply issues. Already eight non-functional boreholes have been tested and the results have confirmed dewatering on the aquifers. The scope of work for this funding entails:

• rehabilitation and refurbishment of existing boreholes;
• sitting and drilling of new boreholes;
• equipping of boreholes; and
• connecting mains.

Furthermore, my Department allocated R1, 589 million to Dr. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati DM under Accelerated Community Programme (ACIP) to address Water Conservation Demand Management issues in Mamusa Local Municipality. The Dr. Ruth Segomotsi Mompati DM is in the process of getting Bid approval and the work is anticipated to commence in October 2015.

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Reply:

(1)(a) The new water purification plant in Bloemhof in the North West will be completed in January 2017.

(1)(b) The capacity of the plant is from 10 Mℓ/d to 25 Mℓ/d.

(2)(a) The total cost of the plant is R403 million.

(2)(b) It will be funded by my Department through Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG).

(3) No outstanding funding is required.

(3)(a) Falls away.

(3)(b) Falls away.

(4) The plant will be operated by Sedibeng Water Board on behalf of Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati District Municipality.

(5) The following areas will receive water from the plant.

• ScheizerReneke Town;
• Ipelegeng Township;
• Bloemhof Town; and
• Boitumelong Township.

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Reply:

 

THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS REPLIES:

The Department of Environmental Affairs is aware of the problems faced by the Oyster Bay Community regarding dune encroachment onto properties and infrastructure.

a)  An application for an environmental authorisation for the proposed Slang River bank erosion stabilisation revetment, as well as management of dune sand encroachment on various ervens, including Brander Street in Oyster, Eastern Cape was submitted by Kouga Local Municipality and approved on 9 May 2015 by the competent authority being the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism.

b)  The Department of Environmental Affairs is in the process of undertaking a situational analysis report which will provide guidance on the best rehabilitation mechanism or practices.

c)  The Department has scheduled a stakeholder’s consultation meeting with all interested and affected parties during the month of October and November 2015 in order to seek short- and long-term solutions.

END

Reply:

 THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS REPLIES:

(1) Since 01 January 2009 to 10 September 2015, approximately 2850 applications for Environmental Authorisation were received by the department.

(2) (a) Seven applications have been refused authorisation, and

     (b) 1651 have been granted authrorisation. The remainder may have lapsed, withdrawn or are currently being processed.

(3) Since 01 January 2009

     (a) 301 appeals against the issuance of Environmental Authorisations were lodged.

     (b) Of those 301 appeals, 20 were upheld, 29 were varied and 38 were withdrawn following settlements reached between the      parties. The rest of the appeals were dismissed.

 

END

Reply:

 

(1)  (a) Full service schools do not as yet have their specific transport to transport learners and therefore there are:

             (i) no vehicles that can accommodate disabled learners, particularly

                  (aa) learners who are wheelchair users

                  (bb) learners with visual impairment in respect of each province and district.

      (b) There are no vehicles that have been adapted for the specified purpose in each province.

(2)  There are (a) 36 full service schools with boarding facilities, of which it is not certain how many are able to accommodate learners with disabilities and (b) DBE is not aware of learners who are currently placed on waiting lists due to accommodation in respect of each province and district.

(3)  The information on full service schools with boarding facilities that are without sufficient support staff is not readily available. DBE will make future plans to collect the data.


END

Reply:

(a) No

(b) No

1. Not applicable
2. Not applicable
3. Not applicable

Reply:

(1) Eskom has 1 (one) contract for the supply of coal with Tegeta Exploration and Resources.

(2) (a-c) The details of the contract are commercially sensitive as per contractual terms. The contract is for the supply of coal to Eskom.

(3) The contract followed the relevant governance process for the commodity in question.

(4) We are able to conduct a search based on companies information. The member is therefore requested to provide specific information.




END

Reply:

THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS REPLIES:

1. The Department is the competent authority for the Basel Convention which controls the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and their disposal. The Department ensures that the Basel Convention is complied with by implementing the control system. Developed countries are not allowed to export wastes to developing countries for disposal purposes. Information Technology Association of Canada controls the imports of second-hand goods through the Second-hand Goods Act – by providing conditions for imports of second-hand goods, including electrical and electronic goods, which then ensures that no used goods are imported into the country under the guise of donations.

​2. (a and b)

The Department provides education and awareness training to provinces and municipalities on the legislation and policies developed, which includes the Waste Act; and emphasis is always on prevention for the protection of the environment and health. The Waste Act classifies Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) as hazardous waste. Other regulations that outlines specific measures related to WEEE include the National Waste Information Regulations and Waste Classification and Management Regulations. This information is made available to the public. The Department also envisages that there will be a waste-stream specific education and awareness training programme, linked to the industry waste management plans, which is expected to be provided by the WEEE sector. The programme should provide effective communication that informs EEE consumers about the potential dangers of improper, and the potential value of proper e-Waste treatment and disposal. These campaigns will have to be of a general public nature using various media.

END

Reply:

(a) (b) Not applicable

Reply:

1. None
2. Not applicable
3. Not applicable
4. Not applicable

Reply:

Umalusi’s response to question:

(a) How and (b) on what legal basis has Umalusi:

      (i)  monitored the performance of provincial education departments since the repeal of section 22 of the General and             Further Education and Training Quality Assurance Act, 2001 (Act No. 58 of 2001, as amended in 2008)?

Umalusi’s response:

In terms of section 27 (i) of the National Qualifications Framework Act, 2008 (Act No. 67 of 2008), Umalusi, as the Quality Council, is required to develop and implement policy for quality assurance. In this regard Umalusi, for example, commenced in 2009 with the process of conducting systemic evaluation for the General Education and Training Certificate, and the National Certificate (Vocational), by monitoring the Department of Higher Education and Training and the provincial education departments. Umalusi further plans to conduct systemic evaluation for the National Senior Certificate in due course.

Umalusi monitors the conduct, administration and management of examinations of all the qualifications on its sub-framework across the provincial education departments.

      (ii) Accredited provincial education departments since the repeal of section 22 of the General and Further Education              and Training Quality Assurance Act, 2001 (Act No. 58 of 2001, as amended in 2008).

Umalusi’s response:

Umalusi has never accredited any national or provincial education department, as the national and provincial education departments are deemed accredited.

      (iii) exercised control over provincial education departments since the repeal of section 22 of the General and Further             Education and Training Quality Assurance Act, 2001 (Act No. 58 of 2001, as amended in 2008).

Umalusi’s response:

The National Qualifications Framework mandates Umalusi to:-

• develop a sub-framework of qualifications;
• recommend the qualifications to the South African Qualifications Authority for registration;
• develop and implement policies for the quality assurance of those qualifications; and
• advise the Minister on the enactment of the qualifications.

On this basis, and the fact that the Department offers and assesses the qualifications registered on Umalusi’s sub-framework, Umalusi monitors their enactment and assessment, reports their performance to the Minister, and recommends steps to rectify any deficiencies.

 

END

Reply:

THE MINISTER OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS REPLIES:

1) In July 2015, the Minister published a gazette which gave published notice of her intention, in terms of section 28(1) read with section 28(5) of the National Environmental Management: Waste Act, 2008 (Act No. 59 of 2008), to require the Paper and Packaging Industry, Electrical and Electronic Equipment Industry and Lighting Industry to prepare and submit their industry waste management plans. The notice invited members of the public to submit comments within thirty (30) days. Once all the comments have been considered, the Minister will then publish a
section 28(1) notice which will require the 3 sectors to submit the plans.

2) The Minister has not yet published a section 28(1) notice requiring the sectors to submit an industry waste management plan. Failure to comply with an approved plan is an offence.

 

 

END

Reply:

The Cabinet has tasked the Office of the Deputy President to deal with all Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) related matters, including the possible unintended consequences of the visa regulations. I, therefore, recommend that such matters be referred to Deputy President’s Office.


END

Reply:

(1-2) The total amount used on travel by the department for Minister and Deputy Minister is made available on 2014/15 Annual Report tabled in Parliament in September 2015.


END

Reply:

Minister and Deputy Minister did not travel to China during 201-2015 financial year. However, 3 officials visited China from 28 November - 6 December 2014 and participated during the World Family Summit.

Breakdown of costs:

Flights: R 144, 109.12

Accommodation: R59, 000.00

Allowance: R 18, 300.00

Total: R 221, 409.12

Funds have been budgeted for this activity

 

Reply:

 

(a) Refer to PQ 115

(b) Refer PQ 115

(i) Yes

(ii) Documents attached

Reply:

 

1. The number of learners with disabilities and/or barriers to learning that have been turned away from mainstream and/or full service schools and referred to special needs schools in respect of each province and district is not readily available in the Department of Basic Education given that the Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS) Policy has only been promulgated in December 2014 and its rollout plan to scale is starting from 2015 through to 2018.

​2. (a) The number of learners with disabilities and barriers to learning who are currently on waiting lists:

    (i) to attend mainstream schools per province and district is not readily available given that the SIAS Policy implementation has only just commenced in 2015; however, learners currently on waiting lists

    (ii) to attend special schools per province is provided in the table below. The information is not available in disaggregations per district.

Province	Number of Children/Learners on Waiting Lists: 2014
EC	183
FS	561
GT	155
KZN	1111
LP	1027
MP	725
NC	1643
NW	There are no learners on waiting lists. All learners placed in schools awaiting appropriate placement
WC	147 Most learners identified as needing special school placement are in ordinary/full-service schools receiving support while awaiting placement.
National total:	5552

(2)  (b) There is no maximum time period specified for learners in respect of

      (i) mainstream schools and

      (ii) special needs schools to be on the waiting lists. Instead, the Admissions Policy advocates for urgent intervention by             a Provincial Head of Department in setting up an assessment and alternative placement process to ensure that                    learners in this situation access education with immediate effect.

(3)   The number of officials at:

(a) District offices; and

(b) Provincial Education Departments that are suitably qualified to determine a learner’s disability in respect of each province and district is not readily available in the DBE as the DBE makes referrals on disabilities to local health professionals and medical practitioners employed by the Department of Health.

4.  (b) Percentage of 7- to 18-year old children with disabilities who are out of schools/educational institutions.

	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
EC	32.4	45.0	40.0	25.0	33.8	30.8	44.1	22.8	13.1	13.9	19.8	18.0	17.5
FS	14.5	34.4	37.7	12.9	20.4	21.6	25.6	11.0	8.5	6.6	5.7	9.3	11.5
GP	25.0	17.6	11.8	9.5	13.5	20.5	13.6	14.7	10.7	8.0	15.0	3.8	7.6
KZ	45.9	41.4	65.8	29.7	29.6	32.3	36.1	14.9	17.0	10.4	7.8	11.1	10.4
LP	33.5	36.7	31.3	43.0	22.5	33.6	42.5	13.2	8.3	5.4	12.3	15.1	12.7
MP	31.0	32.6	36.3	37.7	34.4	37.6	23.8	5.8	5.6	3.2	5.2	11.5	12.4
NW	35.0	38.0	47.8	25.8	23.2	23.4	36.3	26.7	7.3	14.4	10.4	5.4	7.5
NC	37.2	30.1	25.9	23.4	24.9	31.8	36.0	34.6	11.3	4.1	4.9	14.6	1.4
WC	24.5	36.3	26.5	28.6	24.0	11.9	27.4	9.9	5.0	23.6	13.7	6.3	8.6
SA	31.8	35.1	39.2	25.5	26.4	28.3	30.6	15.0	10.3	9.2	11.1	10.5	11.2

Source: General Household Survey (GHS), 2002-2014, DBE own calculation.

 

5. The number of learners with disabilities or barriers to learning at mainstream schools who:

(a) Percentage of 15- to 24-year olds with disabilities who completed grade 9 and above.

	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014
EC	21.4	8.7	19.5	24.6	35.6	35.6	22.8	20.2	60.4	48.1	25.9	52.1	21.6
FS	32.0	31.3	13.1	46.3	41.8	44.8	41.0	54.0	49.9	53.2	58.1	55.6	66.7
GP	48.8	47.2	47.1	54.0	43.3	40.7	68.2	52.9	58.8	58.8	76.1	84.6	73.2
KZ	41.9	18.8	19.1	35.8	37.5	34.3	37.7	40.8	52.4	56.2	34.8	53.4	39.8
LP	49.7	38.0	27.5	13.2	33.6	33.6	49.3	23.6	43.7	21.2	51.9	49.5	27.6
MP	36.6	43.9	27.9	50.5	39.8	35.4	35.1	60.1	44.8	43.5	54.2	46.8	55.1
NW	47.4	32.9	35.0	44.2	28.3	42.6	52.8	44.1	52.6	46.5	39.2	46.3	40.2
NC	45.9	18.5	21.7	41.9	20.2	48.8	46.1	30.0	33.9	47.1	50.1	51.7	91.1
WC	40.1	37.9	17.2	61.5	32.9	31.2	32.1	34.8	61.4	52.8	73.7	64.1	76.8
SA	39.2	30.3	26.6	39.1	36.8	36.9	43.5	40.3	54.4	49.7	50.2	57.4	51.0

(a)    Source: General Household Survey (GHS), 2002-2014, DBE own calculation.

b.  (i) found employment should be available from the Department of Labour (DoL); as well as

    (iii) progressed to further education in respect of each province and district should be available from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).



END

Reply:

(1) Yes. The Eastcape Midlands Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college in conjunction with the Department of Higher Education and Training will be conducting a union membership audit as part of an annual requirement to determine which recognised unions have organisational rights within the College.

(a) The audit will be conducted during the last quarter of the 2015 academic year.

(b) No. Collective bargaining can only take place at a central level through the General Public Service Sectorial Bargaining Council (GPSSBC), Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) and/or Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council (PSCBC). It is envisaged that through the College Labour Relations Forum, many issues of rights can be discussed, which will improve and enhance employer-employee relations, as well as secure labour peace and stability.

(2) (a) The College, after seeking legal advice, realised that the dismissals could be declared null and void on procedural grounds. The College therefore agreed to a "re-hearing'', which meant the dismissals would be null and void. There is no concept of "re-hearing" in the labour relations regime and such a process would be highly contestable. The dismissals would have only been fully effective after their appeals were rejected, and even then they would have had the right to challenge the dismissals further through dispute resolution mechanisms, including the labour courts and other courts. The affected employees were not rehired but re-instated.

The inherent risks in waiting for the process to be concluded and based on the legal advice, the unprocedural actions by the College would have impacted on the normalisation of learning and teaching, as well as resources of the College. If the College was found to have acted "unprocedurally" during the hearings, the possibility existed that the employees could have returned to the College on their own terms which was something that the Department and College had to mitigate against. The re-instatement of the employees was part of a settlement agreement with the National Education, Health and Allied Workers' Union (NEHAWU).

(b) The terms and conditions of the settlement agreement are as follows:
• The employees were on leave without pay from the date of their dismissal to 6 September 2015;
• All employees who embarked on the unprotected strike will forfeit a month's salary and repay any payments made to them while they were part of the unprotecied strike. This is aligned to the principle of "no work no pay"; and
• Accept a twelve month final written warning not to engage in any misconduct activities. The final written warning indicates that if the employee is found guilty of any misconduct. it will lead to a call for their dismissal.

While there were a number of employees who faced charges related to acts of arson, intimidation and attempted murder, they remain innocent until found guilty of the charges in terms of the South African legal system. In South Africa, both criminal charges and disciplinary hearings can be undertaken in parallel. It should be noted that charges were laid/instituted by individuals and not the College. At this time, the Department and College are investigating all employees who embarked on the unprotecied strike for misconduct, which will soon be followed by disciplinary action.

(3) The positions were not advertised as there were appeal processes still to be completed. However, the College opted to appoint temporary lecturers to replace striking or dismissed lecturers in order for teaching and learning to continue.

(4) Since no single employee could be identified for causing any loss or damage, the College will be undertaking a forensic audit to accurately quantify the expenses and damage incurred or caused during the strike. According to estimated College calculations, the monetary value of expenses and damage caused to property is estimated at R4 297 180.16. The College intends exercising its right to claim these damages from NEHAWU and individuals who are found guilty after disciplinary hearings are completed. This excludes the expenses and damage caused to the vehicles and property of College personnel who were not on strike, as they have their right to claim damages reserved.

Compiler/Contact persons:

Ext:

DIRECTOR – GENERAL

STATUS:

DATE:

REPLY TO QUESTION 3491 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED

Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

STATUS:

DATE:
 

Reply:

1. (a)(i) The total amount spend on travel costs between Gauteng and Cape Town in the 2014-15 financial year for the Minister was R 268 638.82.

(a)(ii) The Minister undertook 40 trips between Gauteng and Cape Town in 2014-15 financial year.

(b)(i) The total amount spent on hotel was R 185 828.80 and (ii) residential or other accommodation for the Minister in Cape Town and Pretoria in the 2014 financial year .This information relates to prestige accommodation which will mainly be municipal charges as residential accommodation is paid by Department of Public Works Prestige Unit.

2.  (a)(i) The total amount spent by DAFF on travel costs between Gauteng and Cape Town in the 2014-15 financial year for the Deputy Minister was R122 157.85.

(a)(ii) The Deputy Minister undertook 19 trips between Gauteng and Cape Town in 2014-15 financial year.

(b)(i) The total amount spent by DAFF on hotel was R 265 416.58 and (ii) residential or other accommodation for the Deputy Minister in Cape Town and Pretoria in the 2014 financial year. This information relates to prestige accommodation which will mainly be municipal charges as residential accommodation is paid by Department of Public Works Prestige Unit.

Reply:

The budget and outcomes cited in the question relate to 2012/13 financial year as published in the Budget Review 2013. Public sector infrastructure budgets have increased significantly over the past 10 years, from R89.8 billion in 2005/06 to R262.4 billion in 2014/15. In some instances, capital budgets have grown faster than the capacity to spend. In addition, some projects experience implementation difficulties resulting in underspending. Despite this, inflation-adjusted infrastructure spend has more than doubled over the past 5 years.

Underspending of funds implies that projects may not be delivered on time and on budget, and the expected outcomes may be delayed. In some cases additional financial resources may be needed to complete the project. National Treasury has not undertaken any specific investigation in this regard. However, it closely monitors these matters on an on-going basis. When there is underspending at any level of government, the Accounting Officer for the relevant institution is responsible for taking appropriate action to address the situation. Every Accounting Officer ultimately has to account to Parliament. National Treasury plays an active role in building capacity and ensuring that resources are deployed appropriately to drive capital spending across all three spheres of government.

In addition to this government has put in place many programmes to improve infrastructure spending. For instance:

• The PICC is coordinating the implementation of strategic infrastructure projects.
• A performance-based approach to the allocation of infrastructure grants to provinces has been introduced. Provinces that adhere to best practice in planning and procurement are eligible for additional allocations.
• The provincial infrastructure skills development grant has placed 240 graduates in municipal jobs in areas such as civil and electrical engineering.
• The Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency is working with water services authorities to eradicate backlogs and conduct maintenance in water and sanitation infrastructure.
  
  
  END

Reply:

(a) The SABC is in the process of concluding its editorial policy review, public reviews and participation were undertaken in the 2014/2015 financial year.

(b) Review completion date is 31 December 2015

      (i)  N/A

      (ii) Yes across all provinces

      (ii) SABC audiences and stakeholders

      (iv) All feedback is currently being integrated into the policy

 

 

 

 

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

Reply:

Government recognises the need to review its policy and regulatory environment that continue to hinder the development, growth and competitiveness of small businesses. Government has requested all spheres to institutionalise the guidelines aimed at reducing red tape at local government level. To date, the Red Tape Reduction guidelines workshops have been conducted for 102 municipalities across the country in partnership with the Provincial Departments of Economic Development as well as District and Local municipalities, Department of Trade and Industry and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

 

 

 

MR N MUNZHELELE

[ACTING] DIRECTOR GENERAL

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

Reply:

SABC undertook investigations against

(a) Ms Gugu Duda former CFO

(b) Ms Nompilo Dlamini Manager: Supply chain

(c) N/A

(d) N/A

(i) N/A

(ii) This was resolved

 

 

 

 

MR N MUNZHELELE

[ACTING] DIRECTOR GENERAL

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI, MP

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

Reply:

1. No metropolitan municipality received a disclaimer or adverse audit opinion for the
   2013-14 financial year.

A total of 58 municipalities (names supplied in the attached spreadsheet) had either a disclaimer or adverse audit opinion, as follows:

District municipalities: 5 disclaimer opinions and 1 adverse opinion

Local municipalities: 50 disclaimer opinions and 2 adverse opinions

 

District and local municipalities fall within the oversight of Provincial Government hence not all the information needed to fully respond to this parliamentary question is held by the National Treasury. Enquiries with the respective Provincial Treasuries have revealed that they too do not keep all the information needed to dispose of this matter.

In order to respond fully and properly, the National Treasury requests a period of 6-8 weeks to further consult with the respective Provincial Treasuries and the affected municipalities to collect and analyse the outstanding information.

In the interim, based on the information available to the National Treasury, all 58 affected municipalities reported that they had audit committees in place. Data on the audit committee meetings held during 2013-14 are shown in the graph below. It should be noted that all municipalities that held less than four meetings are non-compliant with the MFMA.

 

 

2. See table below;

No.	Province	Municipality	Type	Audit opinion	Audit Committee (AC)	No of times AC met during 2013/14 FY
1	EC	OR Tambo District	District	Disclaimer	Yes	3
2	EC	Great Kei	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	4
3	EC	Ikwezi	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	No Info
4	EC	Inkwanca	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	3
5	EC	Inxuba Yethemba	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	1
6	EC	Lukhanji	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	3
7	EC	Makana	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	3
8	EC	Mbizana	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	4
9	EC	Mhlontlo	Local	Adverse	Yes	4
10	EC	Ndlambe	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	4
11	EC	Ngqushwa	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	3
12	EC	Ntabankulu	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	3
13	EC	Sundays River Valley	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	4
14	FS	Letsemeng	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	5
15	FS	Mafube	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	4
16	FS	Maluti-A-Phofung	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	3
17	FS	Mantsopa	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	5
18	FS	Matjhabeng	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	3
19	FS	Moqhaka	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	No Info
20	FS	Nala	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	1
21	FS	Ngwathe	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	1
22	FS	Phumelela	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	2
23	GP	Westonaria	Local	Adverse	Yes	4
24	KZN	Amajuba District	District	Disclaimer	Yes	3
25	KZN	Hlabisa	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	4
26	KZN	Jozini	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	3
27	LP	Mopani District	District	Adverse	Yes	5
28	LP	Vhembe District	District	Disclaimer	Yes	4
29	LP	Ba-Phalaborwa	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	6
30	LP	Ephraim Mogale	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	5
31	LP	Fetakgomo	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	6
32	LP	Thabazimbi	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	No Info
33	LP	Tubatse	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	3
34	MP	Emakhazeni	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	3
35	MP	Emalahleni	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	4
36	MP	Mkhondo	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	4
37	MP	Msukaligwa	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	4
38	MP	Thaba Chweu	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	6
39	NW	Dr Ruth S Mompati	District	Disclaimer	Yes	4
40	NW	Ngaka Modiri Molema	District	Disclaimer	Yes	No Info
41	NW	Ditsobotla	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	No Info
42	NW	Greater Taung	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	4
43	NW	Lekwa-Teemane	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	4
44	NW	Mamusa	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	4
45	NW	Maquassi Hills	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	2
46	NW	Tswaing	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	No Info
47	NW	Ventersdorp	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	2
48	NC	!Kheis	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	No Info
49	NC	Dikgatlong	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	No Info
50	NC	Ga-Segonyana	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	No Info
51	NC	Kamiesberg	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	No Info
52	NC	Karoo Hoogland	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	No Info
53	NC	Kgatelopele	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	No Info
54	NC	Magareng	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	No Info
55	NC	Phokwane	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	No Info
56	NC	Renosterberg	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	No Info
57	NC	Thembelihle	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	No Info
58	NC	Tsantsabane	Local	Disclaimer	Yes	No Info

Reply:

(a) The National Treasury publishes detailed statement on actual tax revenue received into the National Revenue Fund on a monthly basis in the Government Gazette and on its website. This is done within 30 days after the end of each month, in terms of section 32(1) of the Public Finance Management Act 1 of 1999. The latest available monthly statement is for the period ending 31 July 2015, which was published as part of on 28 August 2015 (refer to Statement of the National Revenue, Expenditure and Borrowing as 31 July 2015 published by the Director-General of the Treasury, as attached). The data for the period ending August 2015 will be published by the end of September 2015.

The information below refers to the annual tax revenue targets as published in the 2015 Budget Review, and the actual collections for the year to date for this fiscal year and the previous fiscal year. The Treasury does not publish monthly revenue targets as these can be subject to great volatility. As you are aware, the Treasury does revise the annual tax revenue targets in October every year during the Medium Budget Policy Statement, and again in the annual Budget.

(i) The total (gross) tax revenue target for the 2015/16 fiscal years is R1 081 275 million. This is R94 992 million, or 9.6 per cent, higher than the actual collections of R986 283 million for the previous fiscal year.

(ii) The actual total tax revenue collections for the period April to July 2015 (the first four months of the 2015/16 fiscal year) amounted R309 742 364 million. The actual total tax revenue collections for the period April to July 2014 (the first four months of the 2014/15 fiscal year) amounted R279 047 million.

(iii) Hence the actual total tax revenue collections during the first four months of the 2015/16 fiscal year is R29 376 million, or 10.5 per cent, higher that for the same period last year.

(b) The table attached (Statement 1 as published on 28 August 2015) provides the breakdown of the aggregate (total) data provide in (a) by tax type. The table indicates that in nominal terms corporate income tax revenue, during the first four month of the 2015/16 fiscal year, were below the actual collections during the first four months of the previous fiscal year by 1.5 per cent. This may be an indication that total corporate income tax revenue for the 2015/16 fiscal is likely to be below the target for the year. It should, however, be noted that most corporate tax revenue is collected at the end of each quarter with June and December the more important months.

Reply:

(a)(b) Internal Cases:

The requested information forms part of the ongoing investigative process.

The release of such information may prejudice the outcome of such investigations/ disciplinary proceedings.

External Cases:

Due to the taxpayer confidentiality provisions contained in Section 69 of the Tax Administration Act No. 28 of 2011, SARS is prohibited from disclosing any taxpayer information (Including whether or not a taxpayer is subject to an audit/ investigation) to any person other than a SARS official. SARS is, therefore, unfortunately not in a position to respond to the above request in relation to any tax matter.

Reply:

1. Table 1 provides a summary of expenditure in relation to the amounts spent and the percentage increases or decreases related to (i) consultants, (ii) travel and subsistence and (iii) catering and events in departments. The table provides expenditure information for the 2012/2013, 2013/2014 and 2014/2015 financial years.

Table 2 provides a summary of expenditure in relation to the amounts spent on (i) consultants, (ii) travel and subsistence and (iii) catering and events in departments for months of 01 April 2015 to August 2015. The aforementioned information was extracted from the National Treasury’s transversal financial management systems that are utilised by departments.

Expenditure information on consultants, travel and subsistence and catering and events is not available for constitutional institutions and public entities listed in Schedules 2 and 3 to the PFMA since these institutions utilise different entity controlled financial systems for their payments.

Table 1:

Expenditure related to consultants, travel and subsistence and catering and events for the periods 2012/2013, 2013/2014 and 2014/2015

Departmental Expenditure	Actual 2012/2013	Actual 2013/2014	Increase    Decrease   Stagnant
	Amounts R’ billions	Amounts R’ billions
Consultants	12,517,130.00	12,825,333.00	2%
Travel and Subsistence	9,612,468.00	9,861,580.00	3%
Catering, entertainment and venue rental	1,919,882.00	2,277,808.00	19%
Departmental Expenditure	Actual 2013/2014	Preliminary Outcome 2014/2015	%
	Amounts R’ billions	Amounts R’ billions
Consultants	12,825,333.00	12,461,082.00	-3%
Travel and Subsistence	9,861,580.00	9,290,305.00	-6%
Catering, entertainment and venue rental	2,277,808.00	1,202,054.00	-47%

Table 2:

Expenditure related to consultants, travel and subsistence and catering and events for the periods 1 April 2015 to 31 August 2015.

Departmental Expenditure	Total Expenditure for the period April to August 2015	April 2015	May 2015	June 2015	July 2015	Aug 2015
Consultants	1,732,426,679	297,622,187	468,593,838	276,016,927	295,309,972	394,883,755
Travel and Subsistence	3,257,077,554	423,396,914	599,404,614	721,937,277	776,152,420	736,186,328
Catering, entertainment  and venue rental	397,756,954	38,426,149	71,388,387	84,038,985	106,305,102	97,598,331
Total	5,387,261,187	759,445,250	1,139,386,839	1,081,993,189	1,177,767,495	1,228,668,414

 

2.The total expenditure in relation to consultants, travel and subsistence and catering and events for the 2013/2014 financial year amounts to R25 billion. Corresponding expenditure from 1 April 2015 to 31 August 2015 amounts to R5.4 billion.

 

Reply:

The provisions of paragraph 4 of the National Treasury Instruction 01 of 2013/3014 that relate to expenditure on the engagement of consultants, travel and subsistence, domestic hotel accommodation, hiring of vehicles, entertainment allowances and expenditure related to catering and the hosting of social events are mandatory. The areas contained in the Annexure to the Treasury Instruction are not mandatory for implementation and expenditures related thereto are not auditable.

Therefore information related to (i) the acquisition of air tickets using corporate air miles and (ii) the discontinuing of purchases related to newspapers and other publications are cost containment measures that are not mandatory and can only be obtained directly from the respective departments, constitutional institutions and public entities. The information on expenses related to (iii) team building, social functions and year end functions are specifically precluded from being financed from the budgets of departments. Information related thereto is thus not available from the National Treasury and can be obtained directly from the respective departments, constitutional institutions and public entities.

Reply:

KALAWE M R4 552 981.00

MEYER WH R3 661 080.00

KWINANA Y R753 522.15

MYENI DC R846 115.62

ROSKRUGE C R427 486.62

MPONDO B R553 089.69

MABIZELA A R285 181.10

NAITHANI R R272 480.29

LEPULE R R221 197.71

KHUMALO A R206 404.80

KUBEKA M R480 056.90

TAMBI J R200 590.92

DIXON AD R171 116.18

Reply:

 

(1) 28 farms

(2)(a),(b) Please refer to the table below.

Project	Program	(a) Lease Agreement/ Caretakership/Owner	(b) Status
Mulderskraal	PLAS	Nelani, Tozi William	Productive.
Theo Schneider (Die Vlakte)	PLAS	Ilima Farming Trust	Allegations of sub-letting submitted to Property Management Unit.
Craig Gowan 1 (Krugers Post)	PLAS - AVMP	Cookhouse Stockowners Coop	Productive, croplands to be recapitalised. In process of appointing Humansdorp Coop.
Alleengelaaten	PLAS Recap	Siyahluma Coop	Productive, to be recapitalised.
Bethaven / Kommetjieshoek	PLAS Recap	Roundtop Trading (Pty) Ltd & Farm Workers Trust	Productive, to be recapitalised, shareholding being revisited.
Brakfontein	PLAS Recap	Saleni & son	Productive, to be recapitalised
DoornRivier	PLAS Recap	JFC Investments (Pty) Ltd	Productive, fencing upgrade needed
Draaihoek	PLAS Recap	Lume Agricultural CC	Productive, to be recapitalised
Elandsdrift	PLAS Recap	Sbewu Gatyeni (Pty) Ltd	Productive, to be recapitalised
Klipfontein Voernet	PLAS Recap	ECRDA	Dormant, feed factory
Krantzkloof	PLAS Recap	A Mehlo	Productive, to be recapitalised
Lenathal	PLAS Recap	A Draghoender	Productive, to be recapitalised
Liyaaqat James Enterprise	PLAS Recap	Liyaaqat James	Productive, recapitalised
Nuwerus	PLAS Recap	River Corner	Productive, to be recapitalised
Rocky Ridge	PLAS Recap	A Draghoender	Productive, to be recapitalised
Sidwell Mantile Family	PLAS Recap	Sidwell Mantile	Productive, recapitalised
Sonder	PLAS Recap	ZA Pitani	Productive, to be recapitalised
Soutvlei (Sout Vleij)	PLAS Recap	H Gxotiwe	Productive, to be recapitalised
Weltevreden	PLAS Recap	S Miners & wife	Productive, to be recapitalised
Westondale	PLAS Recap	W'dale Farming CC (Gxotiwe, P)	Productive, to be recapitalised
Karkotskraal (Zama Ukhupila)	State Land	Yose / Mafilika / Makana / Blignaut	Productive: Divided & allocated to 4 individual stockowners.
Zama Ukuphila Trust State Com (Siyazama)	State Land	Siyazama (Kosini,Julime)	Managed as commonage by Municipality
Masizame Trust	SLAG	SLAG beneficiaries	Productive, requires better management
Pearston Commonage	COM	Blue Crane Route Municipality	Commonage, owned & managed by municipality
Som East Commonage	COM	Blue Crane Route Municipality	Commonage, owned & managed by municipality
Houghamdale North	LRAD	LRAD beneficiaries	Productive joint venture
Middleton Ostrich Development	LRAD	LRAD beneficiaries	Requires better management and to resolve internal disputes
Nelsig Township Stockfarmers	LRAD	LRAD beneficiaries	Productive, Land Bank loan to be paid

Reply:

After more than 18 months of implementing Treasury Instruction 01 of 2013/2014, the National Treasury recognises that further savings could be realised by refining the cost containment applicable to institutions governed by the PFMA. For instance, conference expenditure has been identified as an area in which expenditure could be curtailed. Once the refined document has been through the approved processes it will replace the current one.

Reply:

(1) Information on whether (i) departments, (ii) constitutional institutions and (iii) public entities complied with the (a) mandatory and (b) additional cost containment measures specified in the National Treasury Instruction 01 of 2013/2014 is not available at the National Treasury.

(2) Information related to reasons on why there was (a) failure to comply with the mandatory and additional cost containment measures is not available at the National Treasury. Regarding (b), enforcement of the cost containment measures must be overseen firstly by the accounting officers of departments and constitutional institutions and by accounting authorities of public entities, secondly by the relevant arm of state and finally by the Auditor-General of South Africa to ensure compliance.

Reply:

When all laws, regulations and instruction notes issued by organ of state, compliance with the cost containment measures has to be enforced and overseen (i) firstly within each department, constitutional institution and public entity, (ii) secondly, by the relevant legislative arm of the state and (iii) finally, by the Auditor-General of South Africa.

Reply:

(a-b) No, the Smart ID Card remains the most highly secured form of identification ever produced with sophisticated security features that are not corruptible. No corruption cases have been detected during the roll out of Smart ID Card process.

i) None.

ii) Not applicable.

iii) The department does not issue fraudulent Smart ID Cards.