Questions and Replies
02 October 2015 - NW3608
Lovemore, Ms AT to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1)With reference to her reply to question 3042 on 8 September 2015, (a) what steps still have to be taken in order to finalise the 2014 National Education Evaluation and Development Unit (NEEDU) report and (b) when does she expect to receive the specified report; (2) will she release the specified report to the public; if not, why not; if so, when does she anticipate to do so; (3) will the Regulations for the Establishment of the Office of Standards and Compliance for Basic Education be gazetted for public comment; if not, why not; if so, when; (4) (a) why and (b) on what legal basis has she approved draft regulations which do not make the publication of NEEDU or other reports presented to her mandatory?
Reply:
Question 1(a)
- In 2014, NEEDU evaluated 183 schools: 93 schools offering Grades 7-9 and 90 offering Grades 10-12, 25 districts and nine provinces. A total of 217 reports, one for every site visited, were prepared. These reports had to be collated into a national report. This entails extensive analysis of large volumes of both qualitative and quantitative data. The analysis of data took longer because, unlike in the previous evaluations, the 2014 systemic evaluations involved two phases: Senior and Further Education and Training (FET). Because NEEDU did not have the capacity to do complex statistical analysis of the quantitative data that was collected from schools, districts and provinces, a service provider was appointed to analyse data. The procurement process in appointing the service provider also added to the delays in finalising the 2014 Report. A draft report has been prepared. NEEDU is doing the final editing before it is submitted to the Department for comments.
Question 1(b)
- NEEDU will submit the draft report to the Department for comments on 30 September 2015.
Question 2
In terms of the NEEDU protocol, each site visited (including schools, districts, provinces and the national office) is given four to six weeks to comment on the NEEDU draft report before a report is finalised. This practice, which was followed before the 2012 and 2013 NEEDU Reports were finalised, will also be followed with regard to the 2015 Report. It is only after NEEDU has carefully considered all comments made by the Department that the report is finalised and submitted to the Ministry.
Upon receipt of the NEEDU Report, in line with the provision of section 7(1)(g) of the Regulations for the Establishment of the Office of Standards and Compliance for Basic Education (OSCBE), currently known as NEEDU, “the Minister may publish the report.” This provision empowers the Minister to publish NEEDU reports at her discretion.
Question 3
In 2012 the NEEDU Bill was gazetted for public comment. Comments from the public were received and changes were incorporated in the final draft. When, in 2013, the Department of Public Service and Administration advised NEEDU to abandon the Bill route in favour of establishing NEEDU as a “government component” called OSCBE, the NEEDU Bill was packaged into “Regulations for the establishment of OSCBE” without any changes. In other words, the Regulations for the establishment of OSCBE are not different from the final draft of the NEEDU Bill. In fact, the Regulations are nothing but euphemism for the already gazetted NEEDU Bill. Thus, the Regulations will not be gazetted for public comment for the second time.
Question 4
As with any legislation, the Regulations for the Establishment of OSCBE contain both peremptory and directory provisions. Giving the Minister the authority to use her discretion whether or not to make NEEDU reports public, as contemplated in Section 7(1)(g) in the Regulations for the Establishment of OSCBE, is one of the few directory provisions contained in the Regulations. Directory provisions are used in various pieces of legislation and policies and are not unique to the Regulations for the Establishment of OSCBE.
02 October 2015 - NW3347
Maynier, Mr D to ask the Minister of Finance
(1)In respect of the mandatory cost containment measures specified in the National Treasury Instruction 01 of 2013-14, by what (a) amount and (b) percentage did expenditure on (i) consultants, (ii) travel and subsistence and (iii) catering and events (aa) increase and/or (bb) decrease in each specified (aaa) department, (bbb) constitutional institution and (ccc) public entity listed in Schedule 2 and 3 of the Public Finance Management Act, Act 1 of 1999, (aaaa) in the (aaaaa) 2013-14 and (bbbbb) 2014-15 financial years and (ccccc) in the period 1 April 2015 up to the latest specified date for which information is available; (2) What is the total amount of the specified expenditure (a) in the 2013-14 financial year and (b) during the period 1 April 2015 up to the latest specified date for which information is available?
Reply:
- 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
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2012/2013 |
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Preliminary Outcome |
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Table 2:
Expenditure related to consultants, travel and subsistence and catering and events for the periods 1 April 2015 to 31 August 2015.
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295,309,972 |
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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.
02 October 2015 - NW3178
Esterhuizen, Mr JA to ask the Minister of Mineral Resources
With regard to his department’s new regulations that call upon surface mines to enhance safety for all trackless mobile machinery apart from reducing mining accidents how (a) effective will the specified regulations be and (b) will it reduce (i) capital expenditure and (ii) the cost of maintenance?
Reply:
The trackless mobile machinery accidents are also the major contributor of fatalities, disabilities and injuries in the mining sector. It is against this background that the Department has been implementing measures including reviewing the relevant legal provisions to protect the health and safety of the mineworkers.
(a) These regulations are expected to be effective and should result in decreased fatalities and injuries. The department will monitor the situation continuously.
(b)(i) and (ii)
Yes, it is envisaged that the prevention of accidents as a result of compliance to the regulations will ultimately reduce capital expenditure and cost of maintenance because there will be far less production interruptions and less money spent to repair vehicles that have collided. However, the loss of life is of utmost importance and cannot be equated to costs or profit at the mine.
02 October 2015 - NW3432
Lees, Mr RA to ask the Minister of Finance
(a) What were the (i) total amounts and (ii) breakdown of the specified amounts spent on the New Age newspaper by the SA Airways (SAA) Group in the (aa)(aaa) 2010-11, (bbb) 2011-12, (ccc) 2012-13, (ddd) 2013-14 and (eee) 2014-15 financial years and (bb) since 1 April 2015 and (b) what was the total amount spent on the New Age newspaper by the SAA Group (i) in the specified financial years and (ii) since 1 April 2015?
Reply:
(aa) SAA started buying The New Age newspaper in March 2011. SAA spent a total amount of R55,200.00 for the Financial Year 2010/11 on The New Age newspaper. During this period, the newspaper was only supplied onboard. The quantities were 24000 copies per month at a cost per copy of R2.30.
(bb) During the Financial Year 2011/12 SAA spent a total of R1, 864 560.00. For the period April to November 2011, the applicable quantities were 24000 copies per month at a cost per copy of R2.30 for onboard use only. For the remainder of the Financial Year, the quantities increased from 24000 per month to 154 000 copies per month at a cost per copy of R2.31 with the newspaper supplied to domestic onboard, Lounges and Airports.
(cc) During the Financial Year 2012/13 SAA total spend on The New Age newspaper was R4,268,880 00. The applicable quantities per month were 154 000 copies at cost per copy of R2.31.
(dd) During the Financial Year 2013/14, SAA total spend on the New Age newspaper was R4, 268 880.00. The applicable monthly quantities and cost per copy remained the same as the previous Financial Year.
(ee) During the 2014/15 Financial Year, SAA total spend was R2, 439 360.00 for the entire Financial Year. SAA spent R1067 220.00 for the first three months period (April to June 2014) of Financial Year 2014/15. For the second semester (July 2014 to March 2015) of financial year 2014/15, the quantities delivered to SAA reduced from 154 000 copies per month to 66000 per month with this newspaper being made available only onboard, as a complimentary item. A total spend of R1, 372 140.00 was incurred on The New Age newspaper for the July 2014 to March 2015 period at a cost per copy of R2.31
(i) The April 2015-March 2016 financial year to date spent as at end August 2015 is R762 300.00. The applicable monthly quantities are 66000 copies at cost per copy of R2.31.
01 October 2015 - NW3416
Msimang, Prof CT to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(a) What is the capacity of schools in rural areas to accommodate children who are (i) slow learners and (ii) mentally challenged and (b) does her department have any programmes in place to provide support to the specified learners in rural areas; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
(a) The capacity of schools to accommodate children who are (i) slow learners and (ii) mentally challenged is progressively developed across the spectrum of schools in the system without considering geographical location. However, there are 169 special schools for learners with intellectual disability in the country, to which learners in rural areas also have access, in the country.
(b) The Department of Basic Education is progressively implementing the following programmes to support learners who are experiencing barriers to learning of whatever form in schools:
- Implementation of the Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS) Policy to scale starting from 2015 through to 2018;
- Progressive Institutionalisation of Curriculum Differentiation; and
- The implementation of the Multi-grade Toolkit which started with the training of subject advisors in February 2015 and is being rolled out by Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) going forward.
01 October 2015 - NW3357
Chance, Mr R to ask the Minister of Small Business Development
With reference to the call for nominations of candidates for the National Small Business Advisory Council, published in the Sunday Times on 23 August 2015, (a) why has it taken 15 months since the establishment of her department for the call for nominations to be published, (b) how many council members does she intend appointing, (c) what proportion of council members will be appointed from (i) government, (ii) business and (iii) civil society, (d) who will make up the adjudication panel tasked with making the appointments, (e) when will the appointments be announced and (f) what amount will each council member be paid in addition to their travelling and accommodation expenses?
Reply:
(a) The Minister needed to be familiar with the programmes that migrated from the Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) and to assess how these would be integrated to the new mandate prior to making any decisions. The Minister also had to interact with various stakeholders at national, provincial and local level to understand the needs of small businesses which will enable her to then appoint relevant people to Advisory Council.
(b) The National Small Business Act allows the Minister to appoint up to 18 Council members.
(c) At this stage, the breakdown of Council members has not been determined, however, the practice has been that a big representation of members is selected from the business community in particular individuals or business owners with experience of small business development.
(d) The panel will be made up of the Director-General and three senior officials from the department.
(e) The appointments will be announced as soon as all the processes of appointing the members are concluded.
(f) Council members shall be remunerated in line with fees stipulated for their designated level in the schedule of categories, sub-categories and official designations for officials who are not in full–time service of the state. The designated level for the National Small Business Advisory Council is Category A and Sub-category A1 as recommended by National Treasury. Remuneration for Sub-category A1 ranges between R3 232.00 per day and R4 344.00 per day depending on the designation for officials who are not in the full-time service of the state.
01 October 2015 - NW3680
Atkinson, Mr P to ask the Minister of Trade and Industry
(1)With respect to the Nexus Forensic Services report into the Centurion Aerospace Village (CAV) in Gauteng, (a) which company was contracted to construct the ICT2 Building and (b) when did construction (i) commence and (ii) conclude; (2) (a) which (i) person(s) and/or (ii) companies have assumed tenancy of the ICT2 Building and (b) on which dates did the specified occupancy (i) begin and (ii) end in each specified case; (3) is (a) electricity, (b) water and/or (c) any other service supplied to the ICT2 Building by the CAV; if not, who supplies the ICT2 Building with the specified services; if so, when were the specified services established?NW4347E
Reply:
1.a) The company contracted to construct the ICT2 Building was Stefannuti Stocks/Timbela Joint Venture.
b) i) The site for the construction was handed over on 23 January 2011. The ‘Works Completion’ was on the 6 December 2011.
ii) The ‘Final Completion/Correction of Defects’ was on 5 December 2012. The official opening of the ICT2 building was on 29 November 2011 and official occupation was on 2 January 2012.
2.a) Occupation of the ICT2 building took place on the 2 January by the CAV staff and by Aerosud.
b) Aerosud and the CAV staff still occupy the building which is mainly used for innovation and training for the Ahrlac programme.
3.a) Electricity, water and sewer services to the ITC2 building was supplied by Aerosud from the commencement of construction as a temporary measure. This was also the case with respect to the provision of electricity to the construction activities for phase two of the CAV.
01 October 2015 - NW3440
Figg, Mr MJ to ask the Minister of Basic Education
How many schools were delivered in the Eastern Cape in the 2014-15 financial year?
Reply:
101 Schools were delivered in the 2014-15 financial year in the Eastern Cape. 46 Schools were delivered through the ASIDI Programme (Annexure A), and 55 (Annexure B) schools were delivered through the provincially driven programme. The delivered schools include new and replacement schools, refurbishments and additions.
01 October 2015 - NW3304
Mulaudzi, Adv TE to ask the Minister of Small Business Development
(1) (a)(i) What total amount did her department spend on her travel costs between Gauteng and Cape Town in the 2014-15 financial year and (ii) how many trips did she undertake between Gauteng and Cape Town in the specified financial year and (b) what total amount did her department spend on (i) hotel and (ii) residential or other accommodation for her in (aa) Cape Town and (bb) Pretoria in the 2014-15 financial year; (2) (a)(i) what total amount did her department spend on the Deputy Minister’s travel costs between Gauteng and Cape Town in the 2014-15 financial year and (ii) how many trips did the Deputy Minister undertake between Gauteng and Cape Town in the specified financial year and (b) what total amount did her department spend on (i) hotel and (ii) residential or other accommodation for the Deputy Minister in (aa) Cape Town and (bb) Pretoria in the 2014-15 financial year? NW3913E
Reply:
(1) (a) (i) The travel costs, between Gauteng and Cape Town, of the Minister of Small Business Development amounted to R159,353.32 in the 2014-15 financial year.
(ii) The Minister undertook 19 trips between Gauteng and Cape Town in the 2014-15 financial year.
(b) (i) (aa) The Minister’s hotel accommodation in Cape Town amounted to R47,354.20 in the 2014-15 financial year. This amount was incurred before the Minister’s accommodation arrangements, through the Department of Public Works, were finalised.
(ii) (bb) The department did not incur residential accommodation costs for the Minister in Pretoria during the 2014-15 financial year.
(2) (a) (i) The travel costs of the Deputy Minister of Small Business Development amounted to R104,937.00 in the 2014-15 financial year.
(ii) The Deputy Minister undertook 19 trips between Gauteng and Cape Town in the 2014-15 financial year.
(b) (i) (aa) The department did not incur hotel accommodation costs for the Deputy Minister in Cape Town and Pretoria during the 2014-15 financial year.
(ii) (bb) The department did not incur residential accommodation costs for the Deputy Minister in Cape Town and Pretoria amounted during the 2014-15 financial year.
01 October 2015 - NW3489
Bozzoli, Prof B to ask the Minister of Higher Education and Training
Was the EastCape Midlands Technical and Vocational Education and Training College aware that a certain person (name and details furnished) had left the previous position with several audit queries still pending; if not, why not; if so, why (a) was the specified person appointed and (b) is the specified person still a staff member at the specified college despite having been suspended in January 2013 after an audit by Pricewaterhouse Coopers?
Reply:
a) Mr Abdullah was initially placed at the Eastcape Midlands Technical and Vocational Education and Training College (EMC) in 2012 as a Support Chief Financial Officer by the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA). At that stage, neither SAICA nor the Department were aware of the alleged irregularities or outstanding audit queries emanating from his previous employer, i.e. Coega Municipality.
Subsequent to his deployment, SAICA and the Department were made aware of potential contractual irregularities at EMC. SAICA, as his employer, appointed Pricewaterhouse Coopers to investigate these irregularities.
Mr Abdullah resigned from SAICA before the disciplinary process could proceed and was subsequently appointed by the former Principal of EMC as a Senior Resources Manager at the College.
This alleged irregular appointment formed part of the scope of the initial forensic investigation, but due to the court verdict indicating that the Department could not apply section 8 of the National Treasury Regulations, expenditure management, but instead had to follow section 46 of the Continuing Education and Training Act of 2006, as amended, the outcome of the irregular appointment could not be confirmed.
b) Mr Abdullah is still in the employ of the College Council as a Senior Resource Manager. His alleged irregular appointment will form part of the Terms of Reference of the new forensic investigation that is planned to be initiated with the College Council, before the end of the 2015/16 financial year.
Compiler/Contact persons:
Ext:
DIRECTOR – GENERAL
STATUS:
DATE:
REPLY TO QUESTION 3489 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED
Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP
MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING
STATUS:
DATE:
01 October 2015 - NW3064
Mhlongo, Mr TW to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(a) How does (i) her department and (ii) entities reporting to her define red tape and (b) what (i) specific interventions and/or (ii) systems have been implemented to (aa) identify and (bb) reduce red tape in (aaa) her department and (bbb) the entities reporting to her? (a) How does the Minister define Red Tape and (b) what (i) specific interventions and/or (ii) systems have been implemented to (aa) identify and (bb) reduce Red Tape in your (aaa) Department and (bbb) the entities reporting to you? NW3605E
Reply:
The Department of Basic Education:
a) Red tape is not defined in any legislation but our understanding of Red tape is that is refers to rules, procedures and measures of a legislative of administrative nature that prevent or retard good administration, governance and service delivery.
b) The Department’s systems are fairly streamlined and there are no legislative or administrative measures that prevent or retard service delivery.
(bbb) Public Entities reporting to the Minister.
South African Council for Educators (SACE):
(a) "Red Tape", in the view of SACE, entails following rules, procedures and protocols appropriate to entities. It may, in some cases, be a time consuming process. Unless the rules are changed officially, processes cannot be speeded up. Therefore, a motivation is required for rule change consideration.
(b) (i)(aa) The Council has sub-committees which meet regularly (at least six times per annum) and make recommendations to the Executive Committee who takes decisions on behalf of the Council. The Executive decision is implemented unless revoked by Council.
(b)(ii)(bb) The Council has delegated the operational powers to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) who has delegated approval powers to the Chief Operations Officer and Chief Financial Officer to ensure immediate processing without delay. This allows Council to process all operational matters including procurements, filling of posts and payments immediately, when the need arises.
Umalusi:
(a) Failing a definition of “red tape”, Umalusi is not in a position to respond to the parliamentary question in a definitive way.
(b)(ii)(bb) As a quality assuror, Umalusi has its own policies and systems, and where it is found that policies or systems renders work cumbersome, then those policies and systems are reconsidered for amendment to ease the flow of work.
01 October 2015 - NW3679
Atkinson, Mr P to ask the Minister of Trade and Industry
Whether, with reference to the Nexus Forensic Services report into the Centurion Aerospace Village in Gauteng, any monies have been recovered or recouped from any specified (a) persons and/or (b) companies awarded (i) contracts or (ii) tenders without adhering to prescribed procurement processes; if not, why not; if so, (aa) what amounts, (bb) from which (aaa) persons and/or (bbb) companies and (cc) for what specified procurement?
Reply:
No monies have as yet been recovered from any:
a) persons or
b) companies, awarded
i) contracts.
ii) No tenders were adjudicated since the prescripts of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) were not applied.
This arises from the fact that legal processes to recover funds are still underway.
aa); bb); aaa); bbb) and cc) do therefore not apply.
01 October 2015 - NW3358
Chance, Mr R to ask the Minister of Small Business Development
Has she had any engagement with the Minister of Labour about amendments to the Labour Relations Act, Act 66 of 1995, to alleviate burdens on small businesses in respect of exemptions from (a) existing provisions on dismissing employees and (b) the extension of collective bargaining agreements to small businesses which were not party to the agreement in terms of section 32 of the specified Act; if not, why not; if so, what is her position with regard to such exemptions?
Reply:
(a) The Minister of Small Business Development has not had any engagement with the Minister of Labour about amendments to the Labour Relations Act, Act 66 of 1995, to alleviate burdens on small businesses in respect of exemptions from existing provisions on dismissing employees.
(b) The Minister of Small Business Development has not had any engagement with the Minister of Labour about amendments to the Labour Relations Act, Act 66 of 1995, to alleviate burdens on small businesses in respect of exemptions the extension of collective bargaining agreements to small businesses which were not party to the agreement in terms of section 32 of the specified Act.
The department, however, has established a task team at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (Nedlac) level to engage on small business policy issues. These however, are not related to the issues raised by the honourable member.
01 October 2015 - NW3681
Atkinson, Mr P to ask the Minister of Trade and Industry
With respect to the Centurion Aerospace Village (CAV) in Gauteng, has any (a) person(s) and/or (b) companies concluded a tenancy agreement with the CAV; if not, why not; if so, (i) what are their names, (ii) when did they conclude the specified agreement, (iii) when did they assume occupation of the building and (iv) when is the tenancy agreement with CAV set to be concluded?
Reply:
a) No tenancy agreement was signed. This was because the Occupancy Certificate was not issued. The Occupancy Certificate was not issued by the City of Tshwane because the bulk earthworks contract was terminated as a result of the forensic investigation which demonstrated that the contract was non-compliant with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) regulations. Urgent effort and a process is underway to reinstate the bulk earthworks programme and pave the way for the Occupancy Certificate.
b) i); ii); iii) and iv) do not therefore apply.
01 October 2015 - NW3497
Lovemore, Ms AT to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1)With reference to her reply to question 2550 on 31 July 2015, for each secondary school in the Graaff-Reinet education district, (a)(i) how many and (ii) what percentage of (aa) Grade 10, (bb) Grade 11 and (cc) Grade 12 learners are enrolled to study mathematics, (b) what are the reasons for the low uptake of mathematics in the specified district, (c) what action has been and/or will be taken to ensure that the specified district, in particular, improves the uptake of mathematics in its secondary schools and (d)(i) has and (ii) will the specified action include ensuring that each further education and training phase mathematics class is taught by a suitably qualified teacher; (2) with reference to her reply to question 310 on 13 March 2015, have the 174 mathematics teacher posts that were vacant at the time of her reply been filled; if not, (a) why not, (b) what progress has been made toward filling the specified posts and (c) when will the specified vacant posts be filled?
Reply:
(1) (a)(i) (ii) (aa) (bb) (cc) There are 1,696 Grade 10 learners taking Mathematics in Graaff-Reinet district, 1, 177 in Grade 11 and 896 learners in Grade 12 respectively. In terms of percentages, there are 80% learners in Grade 10, 73,3% in Grade 11 and 66,7% in Grade 12 respectively.
(b) The most common reasons for the schools not offering Mathematics in the specified district are:
- The unavailability of suitably qualified teachers;
- A perception by learners that Mathematical Literacy is an easier option than Mathematics;
- The perception by learners that Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy are the same;
- The inadequacy of career counselling and guidance Senior Phase;
- The move by principals to have more learners in Mathematical Literacy in order to improve the pass rate; and
- Schools in remote areas have greater difficulty than urban and peri-urban schools in terms of attracting appropriately qualified Mathematics teachers.
(c) The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has taken the following actions to ensure that the specified district, in particular, improves the uptake of Mathematics in its secondary schools:
- Circular S13 of 2014 was approved by the Council of Education Ministers (CEM), wherein it directed that schools not previously offering Mathematics were to reintroduce this subject to a Grade 10 level class in 2015, and sequentially to Grade 11 and 12 in 2016 and 2017 respectively;
- In late 2014, the DBE developed a plan, and began implementing it through the Reintroduction of Mathematics Project in 2015. The focus is on those schools that had stopped offering Mathematics;
- In Service Training has been provided to Grade 10 teachers from affected schools, covering topics that have been identified as being poorly taught, or not taught at all, because of teachers’ inadequate Mathematics content knowledge; and
- Additional (Learner Teacher Support Material) LTSM and physical resources such as textbooks, geometry sets and scientific calculators have been, and are being delivered to the identified schools needing such support.
(d) (i) Yes.
(ii) Yes. Posts will be profiled and advertised according to the established procedures.
(2) (a) The Eastern Cape Provincial Education Department has been working with the Provincial Treasury to secure additional funding to fill identified critical posts, hence the delay in the filling of posts.
(b) A total of 551 Deputy Principal and Heads of Department; and 308 Post Level 1 posts were advertised in an Open Bulletin in June and August 2015, respectively; and
(c) The Eastern Cape Provincial Education Department indicated that it is expected that the all the advertised posts will be filled on 01 November 2015.
01 October 2015 - NW3500
Mackenzie, Mr C to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1)What (a) number and (b) percentage of learners writing each subject in 2014 (i) applied for a remark of their Grade 12 National Senior Certificate examinations and (ii) had their marks (aa) adjusted upward, (bb) adjusted downward and (cc) remain unchanged; (2) what is the cost of securing a remark of an examination paper; (3) is there any mechanism in place to allow indigent candidates to have the fee for remarking waived; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
1)
Subject |
Total Re-mark |
% Re-mark |
Adjusted Upward |
% Upward |
Adjusted Downward |
% Downward |
Remain Unchanged |
% Unchanged |
Accounting |
2901 |
2.31 |
1561 |
53.81 |
698 |
24.06 |
642 |
22.13 |
Afrikaans First Additional Language |
3608 |
4.39 |
1973 |
54.68 |
827 |
22.92 |
808 |
22.39 |
Afrikaans Home Language |
2574 |
5.27 |
1731 |
67.25 |
355 |
13.79 |
488 |
18.96 |
Afrikaans Second Additional Language |
41 |
0.22 |
34 |
82.93 |
5 |
12.20 |
2 |
4.88 |
Agricultural Management Practices |
18 |
1.11 |
6 |
33.33 |
7 |
38.89 |
5 |
27.78 |
Agricultural Sciences |
254 |
0.33 |
178 |
70.08 |
42 |
16.54 |
34 |
13.39 |
Agricultural Technology |
15 |
2.13 |
5 |
33.33 |
2 |
13.33 |
8 |
53.33 |
Arabic Second Additional Language |
24 |
8.86 |
9 |
37.50 |
11 |
45.83 |
4 |
16.67 |
Business Studies |
3448 |
1.67 |
2158 |
62.59 |
788 |
22.85 |
502 |
14.56 |
Civil Technology |
137 |
1.49 |
74 |
54.01 |
33 |
24.09 |
30 |
21.90 |
Computer Applications Technology |
864 |
2.18 |
598 |
69.21 |
124 |
14.35 |
142 |
16.44 |
Consumer Studies |
576 |
1.51 |
256 |
44.44 |
155 |
26.91 |
165 |
28.65 |
Dance Studies |
18 |
3.31 |
9 |
50.00 |
1 |
5.56 |
8 |
44.44 |
Design |
56 |
2.62 |
42 |
75.00 |
1 |
1.79 |
13 |
23.21 |
Dramatic Arts |
181 |
2.20 |
98 |
54.14 |
12 |
6.63 |
71 |
39.23 |
Economics |
1494 |
1.09 |
916 |
61.31 |
390 |
26.10 |
188 |
12.58 |
Electrical Technology |
79 |
1.48 |
26 |
32.91 |
5 |
6.33 |
48 |
60.76 |
Engineering Graphics and Design |
974 |
3.67 |
398 |
40.86 |
184 |
18.89 |
392 |
40.25 |
English First Additional Language |
3559 |
0.82 |
2344 |
65.86 |
984 |
27.65 |
231 |
6.49 |
English Home Language |
5522 |
5.25 |
4355 |
78.87 |
674 |
12.21 |
493 |
8.93 |
French Second Additional Language |
37 |
7.26 |
4 |
10.81 |
5 |
13.51 |
28 |
75.68 |
Geography |
3144 |
1.34 |
2063 |
65.62 |
624 |
19.85 |
457 |
14.54 |
German Second Additional Language |
47 |
8.68 |
10 |
21.28 |
22 |
46.81 |
15 |
31.91 |
Hebrew Second Additional Language |
4 |
14.29 |
|
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
4 |
100.00 |
History |
1844 |
1.6 |
1313 |
71.20 |
321 |
17.41 |
210 |
11.39 |
Hospitality Studies |
144 |
1.71 |
77 |
53.47 |
19 |
13.19 |
48 |
33.33 |
Information Technology |
470 |
10.19 |
257 |
54.68 |
86 |
18.30 |
127 |
27.02 |
IsiXhosa First Additional Language |
16 |
0.78 |
11 |
68.75 |
|
0.00 |
5 |
31.25 |
IsiXhosa Home Language |
46 |
0.06 |
19 |
41.30 |
20 |
43.48 |
7 |
15.22 |
IsiXhosa Second Additional Language |
11 |
13.10 |
4 |
36.36 |
3 |
27.27 |
4 |
36.36 |
IsiZulu First Additional Language |
109 |
0.72 |
64 |
58.72 |
16 |
14.68 |
29 |
26.61 |
IsiZulu Home Language |
216 |
0.16 |
123 |
56.94 |
65 |
30.09 |
28 |
12.96 |
Latin Second Additional Language |
1 |
100.00 |
|
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
1 |
100.00 |
Life Orientation |
59 |
0.01 |
26 |
44.07 |
6 |
10.17 |
27 |
45.76 |
Life Sciences |
6564 |
2.33 |
3999 |
60.92 |
1795 |
27.35 |
770 |
11.73 |
Mathematical Literacy |
2059 |
0.66 |
1142 |
55.46 |
538 |
26.13 |
379 |
18.41 |
Mathematics |
9223 |
4.10 |
4904 |
53.17 |
2388 |
25.89 |
1931 |
20.94 |
Mechanical Technology |
91 |
1.43 |
40 |
43.96 |
8 |
8.79 |
43 |
47.25 |
Music |
89 |
5.10 |
44 |
49.44 |
27 |
30.34 |
18 |
20.22 |
Nautical Science |
1 |
5.26 |
1 |
100.00 |
|
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
Physical Sciences |
6828 |
4.08 |
3186 |
46.66 |
2099 |
30.74 |
1543 |
22.60 |
Portuguese Second Additional Language |
2 |
2.78 |
|
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
2 |
100.00 |
Religion Studies |
18 |
0.31 |
14 |
77.78 |
2 |
11.11 |
2 |
11.11 |
Sepedi First Additional Language |
3 |
0.71 |
3 |
100.00 |
|
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
Sepedi Home Language |
11 |
0.02 |
4 |
36.36 |
6 |
54.55 |
1 |
9.09 |
Sesotho Home Language |
48 |
0.17 |
39 |
81.25 |
7 |
14.58 |
2 |
4.17 |
Sesotho Second Additional Language |
6 |
3.45 |
4 |
66.67 |
1 |
16.67 |
1 |
16.67 |
Setswana First Additional Language |
1 |
0.46 |
1 |
100.00 |
|
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
Setswana Home Language |
63 |
0.18 |
43 |
68.25 |
14 |
22.22 |
6 |
9.52 |
Sport and Exercise Science |
4 |
14.29 |
4 |
100.00 |
|
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
Tourism |
487 |
0.42 |
299 |
61.40 |
101 |
20.74 |
87 |
17.86 |
Tshivenda Home Language |
1 |
0.01 |
|
0.00 |
|
0.00 |
1 |
100.00 |
Visual Arts |
252 |
3.66 |
159 |
63.10 |
11 |
4.37 |
82 |
32.54 |
Xitsonga Home Language |
9 |
0.05 |
3 |
33.33 |
2 |
22.22 |
4 |
44.44 |
Source: Education mainframe as per 2 March 2015.
2
Process |
Amount |
Remarking |
R80 |
Rechecking |
R18 |
Viewing |
R160 |
3. According to the Regulations Pertaining to the Conduct Administration and Management of the National Senior Certificate Examination (Regulation Notice No 371 in Government Gazette NO 37651, dated 16 May 2014) it articulates the legislation regarding re-marking and it allows indigent candidates to be exempt from paying fees for remarking, re-checking and viewing of script/s.
Candidates who have been exempted from the payment of school fees or attended a no-fees school, are exempt from the payment of the re-mark, re-check or fees for viewing of scripts.
01 October 2015 - NW3505
Boshoff, Ms SH to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1)(a) How many and (b) what percentage of mainstream schools that have been classified as full service schools enrolled (i) learners with disabilities and/or barriers to learning and (ii) learners with autism in respect of each province and district as at the latest specified date for which information is available; (2) (a) how many and (b) what percentage of full service schools have employed nursing sisters to attend to the needs of learners with disabilities and/or barriers to learning in respect of each province and district; (3) (a) how many and (b) what percentage of educators employed at full service schools are adequately trained to teach both learners with disabilities and/or barriers to learning and learners without disabilities and/or barriers to learning in respect of each province and district; (4) how many full service schools are equipped with (a) ramps, (b) proper ablution facilities, (c) desks adapted to the needs of learners in wheelchairs and (d) assistive devices for the blind and deaf in respect of each province and district?
Reply:
1. (a) The number of full service schools that:
(i) have enrolled learners with disabilities and /or barriers to learning, as well as,
(ii) learners with autism, per province, per district is available in the annexure.
(b) The percentage of full service schools that:
(i) have enrolled learners with disabilities and /or barriers to learning as well as,
(ii) learners with autism, per province, per district is available in the annexure.
2. None of the Full Service Schools employ nursing sisters.
3. The (a) number of educators trained at full service schools and (b) the percentage of educators employed at full service schools who are adequately trained to teach both learners with disabilities and/or barriers to learning and learners without disabilities and/or barriers to learning in respect of each province is indicated in the table below:
Province |
Number of educators at full service schools |
a) Number of Educators trained |
b) Percentage |
Eastern Cape |
279 |
100 |
36 |
Free State |
1195 |
300 |
25 |
Gauteng |
2027 |
592 |
29 |
KwaZulu-Natal |
1610 |
646 |
40 |
Limpopo |
355 |
75 |
21 |
Mpumalanga |
2879 |
752 |
26 |
Northern Cape |
303 |
200 |
66 |
North West |
1760 |
420 |
24 |
Western Cape |
2851 |
200 |
7 |
4. The number of full service schools that have been equipped with (a) ramps, (b) proper ablution facilities for the Blind and the Deaf in respect of each province and district is represented in the table below:
Province |
Number of Full Service Schools |
Eastern Cape |
4 |
Free State |
2 |
Gauteng |
7 |
KwaZulu-Natal |
50 |
Limpopo |
11 |
Mpumalanga |
1 |
Northern Cape |
1 |
North West |
112 |
Western Cape |
14 |
Grand Total |
202 |
c) The number of full sevice schools that are equipped with desks adapted to the needs of learners in wheelchairs in respect of each province and district is not readily available.
d) The number of full sevice schools that are equipped with assistive devices for the Blind and the Deaf in respect of each province and district is not readily available.
01 October 2015 - NW3499
Van Dalen, Mr P to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1)With reference to the so-called 1+4 Intervention Model for Grades 8 and 9 Mathematics in each province and each district, what are the details of the scores obtained in the pre-training and post-training testing of the knowledge content of (a) teachers and (b) subject advisors; (2) whether her department takes any action in the event that a teacher or subject advisor does not obtain 80% in any post-training test; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
- (a) The pre/post-test scores differ according to the topics handled per week
in different clusters across the provinces. There is generally improved teacher performance after the topics are discussed during the cluster sessions.
(b) The pre/post-tests are mainly targeting teachers and not subject advisors.
(2) Teachers achieving less than 80% will be identified and support will be provided during the implementation during the week. Heads of Department in schools and Subject Advisors in districts are expected to assist these teachers through Classroom Support Visits to deepen their content knowledge to be provided that week.NW4161E
01 October 2015 - NW3607
Boshoff, Ms SH to ask the Minister of Basic Education
What actions have been taken to ensure that infrastructure projects are implemented speedily to ensure that available funds are used on time?
Reply:
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) constantly monitors progress on the implementation of its infrastructure projects and the associated expenditure.
For projects implemented under the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI) Programme, the DBE Project Managers, together with the Programme Support Unit (PSU) that consists of professionals from the built environment, review performance on a monthly basis through the National Steering Committee Meetings. The PSU, via its Provincial Co-ordinators, undertakes project site visits to assess progress, to view problems and gather information. Where needed, they facilitate meetings between project partners to provide advice where possible, share experiences/good practices and provide specialist advice about contract and construction management issues.
For schools implemented by Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) utilising the Education Infrastructure Grant (EIG) Funds and their Provincial Equitable Share, the DBE receives progress reports from each PED on a monthly basis and reviews them during the Infrastructure Heads of Education Department Committee (HEDCOM) Sub-com Meetings and provides guidance and assistance to PEDs on technical and project management matters so as to ensure timeous completion of their school infrastructure projects and to improve the expenditure of their allocated budget.
01 October 2015 - NW3676
Macpherson, Mr DW to ask the Minister of Trade and Industry
Whether, with reference to the Nexus Forensic Services report into the Centurion Aerospace Village, anyone has been charged in terms of Section 34 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, Act 12 of 2004; if not, why not; if so, what are (a) their names and (b) the relevant Crime Administration System number(s)?
Reply:
Flowing from the recommendations of the audits initiated by the dti one individual has been dismissed from the public service. Allegations of criminal activity with respect to this individual and companies alleged to be involved in fraudulent activities has been handed over to the South African Police Services. The decision whether to charge the individual under any one or more legal statutes is one which will be made by the National Prosecution Authority. The case number is CAS 647-12-2013.
A civil legal process is underway to recover public funds from this individual. The Legal Services section of the Department of Trade and Industry is following developments in this regard. The relevant case number is 27011/2013 at the Sunnyside Police Station.
.
a) Until the individuals has been charged in a court of law I am not at liberty to divulge the names of the individuals implicated in the allegations of criminal behaviour.
b) See above.
30 September 2015 - NW3258
Matiase, Mr NS to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform
What (a) total amount did his department spend on air travel between Gauteng and Cape Town for employees attending Parliament business in the 2014-15 financial year and (b) is the total number of trips that were undertaken; (2) What is the total amount that his department spent on (a) accommodation and (b) car rental in Cape Town for employees attending Parliament business in the specified financial year?
Reply:
(1) (a) R11 061 519.27
(b) 2006
(2) (a) R6 727 497.66
(b) R3 051 216.16
29 September 2015 - NW3296
Shivambu, Mr F to ask the Minister of Finance
(1)(a)(i) What total amount did the National Treasury spend on his travel costs between Gauteng and Cape Town in the 2014-15 financial year and (ii) how many trips did he undertake between Gauteng and Cape Town in the specified financial year and (b) what total amount did the National Treasury spend on (i) hotel and (ii) residential or other accommodation for him in (aa) Cape Town and (bb) Pretoria in the 2014-15 financial year; (2) (a)(i) what total amount did the National Treasury spend on the Deputy Minister’s travel costs between Gauteng and Cape Town in the 2014-15 financial year and (ii) how many trips did the Deputy Minister undertake between Gauteng and Cape Town in the specified financial year and (b) what total amount did the National Treasury spend on (i) hotel and (ii) residential or other accommodation for the Deputy Minister in (aa) Cape Town and (bb) Pretoria in the 2014-15 financial year?
Reply:
(1)(a)(i) |
(1)(a)(ii) |
(1)(b)(i)(aa) |
(1)(b)(i)(bb) |
(1)(b)(ii)(aa) |
(1)(b)(ii)(bb) |
R207 079.83 |
31 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
(2)(a)(i) |
(2)(a)(ii) |
(2)(b)(i)(aa) |
(2)(b)(i)(bb) |
(2)(b)(ii)(aa) |
(2)(b)(ii)(bb) |
R237, 593.25 |
52 |
R 6 383.79 |
R 153 430.59 |
- |
- |
29 September 2015 - NW3220
Basson, Mr LJ to ask the Minister of Water and Sanitation
(1)Why is the wastewater treatment plant in Cradock which is under the control of the Chris Hani District Municipality and polluting the Great Fish River in the Eastern Capenon-functional; (2) whether her department has taken any steps to stop the pollution; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (3) whether sampling of water has been done (a) at the plant and (b) downstream from the plant to ascertain e-coli levels for each month during the period 1 July 2012 to 30 July 2015; if not, why not; if so, what are the results for each month during the specified period; (4) whether there are any plans to upgrade the plant; if not, why not; if so, (a) when and (b) what is the estimated cost; (5) what is the (a) current capacity of the plant in megalitres per day and (b) inflow currently?
Reply:
(1) The non-functionality of Cradock Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) is attributed to the Water Service Authority functions transitioning from InxubaYeThemba Local Municipality to Chris Hani District Municipality, as it has been the case since 2014. This has been an inheritance of financial burdens which has adversely affected the whole operation and maintenance at the plant and at the sewage pump stations.Payments to maintenance service providers had been delayed as such some arms of the plant (motors, aerators, pumps, etc) that have since broken down and have not been repaired or replaced.
These are now attended to and the Cradock WWTWwill be fully repaired and will function at an optimum level in due course.
(2) My Department has taken steps to notify and request the Municipality to take corrective steps in rectifying the pollution of the Great Fish River water resource caused by the
non-functionality of Cradock WWTW and its associated sewer network infrastructure.
The following are amongst a number of steps taken by my Department:
- Firstly, my Department issued a non-complianceletteron 2 April 2013 informing the Municipality about the poor quality effluent discharged and the incorrect disposal of the sewage sludge from the Cradock WWTWs, copy of letter attached as Annexure A.
- Secondly, officials from my Department’s Provincial Office: Eastern Capeconducted aninvestigation on 1 August 2014 into the allegedpollution and it was revealed that pollution still persists. Therefore,myDepartment issuedanother non-compliance letter to the Municipalityon 11 August 2014 regarding pollution incidents entailing sewage spillages from manholes in Cradock, copy of letter attached as Annexure B/
- Thirdly, myDepartment also served the Municipality with non-compliance letter on 25 September 2014 following another site inspection that was conducted on
16 September 2014 informing the Municipality about poor quality effluent discharged by the Cradock WWTWs and requesting the Municipality to submit an action plan taken by the municipality in rectifying the situation within 14 days. - Thefourth interaction was a meeting that was held between Chris Hani District Municipality, Great Fish Water User Association,InxubaYeThemba Local Municipality and myDepartment at the Municipal Offices in Cradock on 10 February 2015 ,refer to attached Annexure C for minutes with actions and attendance register).
The aim was to further engage and persuade the Chris Hani DM as Water Services Authority to take action and correct the poor quality effluent being discharged by the Cradock WWTW into the Great Fish River. In this meeting the Municipality indicated the challenges (as mentioned in (1) above) promising to attend to the challenges with a detailed written response by 16 February 2015 as requested by myDepartment as was done even in previous communiqués, refer to attached Annexure D for the minutes of the .
It should be noted that there has not been any written response as yet from the Municipality after these engagements.
During the last inspection which was conducted on 12 August 2015, the presence of the Contractor on site was noted on site repairing some of the various arms of theWWTW.
(3) Table 1below is the summary of the effluent quality discharged by the (a) Cradock Wastewater Treatment Works and the (b) Great Fish River, downstream of the discharge point from the Cradock Works:
Table 1
Sampling Dates |
|
|
July 2012 |
0 cfu/100ml |
58 cfu/100ml |
August 2012 |
66 cfu/100ml |
128 cfu/100ml |
September 2012 |
7 500 cfu/100ml |
86 cfu/100ml |
October 2012 |
0 cfu/100ml |
400 cfu/100ml |
January 2013 |
2 cfu/100ml |
7 000 cfu/100ml |
March 2013 |
10 cfu/100ml |
3 400 cfu/100ml |
April 2013 |
0 cfu/100ml |
4 400 cfu/100ml |
May 2013 |
7 200 cfu/100ml |
420 000 cfu/100ml |
June 2013 |
520 cfu/100ml |
164 cfu/100ml |
May 2014 |
0 cfu/100ml |
24 000 cfu/100ml |
June 2014 |
0 cfu/100ml |
24 000 cfu/100ml |
September 2014 |
35 000 cfu/100ml |
1 900 cfu/100ml |
December 2014 |
37 000 cfu/100ml |
40 000 cfu/100ml |
February 2015 |
390 000 cfu/100ml |
710 cfu/100ml |
June 2015 |
4 600 000 cfu/100ml |
42 000 cfu/100ml |
August 2015 |
108 cfu/100ml |
294 cfu/100ml |
It should be noted my Department also done water sampling in August month for both Cradock WWTWs and the Great Fish River, downstream of the discharge point from the Cradock Works and the results are 108 cfu/100ml and 294 cfu/100ml respectively.
(4) No, the Department has not taken any plans to upgrade the WWTWs. The dysfunctional elements of the WWTWsare largely due to the lack of operation and maintenance at the WWTW and reticulation infrastructure, which if properly managed will render the works effective in its treatment of the sewage received.
The Upgrading of the WWTW would not seem to benecessary at this point unless further major developments are anticipated in the area. However, the Water Service Authority is currently attending to these repairs.
(4)(a) Falls Away.
(4)(b) Falls Away.
(5)(a) The current capacity of the plant is 8.3 mega litres per day.
(5)(b) The currently inflow is 5.6 mega litres per day average.
---00O00---
29 September 2015 - NW3536
Paulsen, Mr N M to ask the Minister of Science and Technology
(1)In a view of the National Treasury's Budget Review stating that an estimated R5 billion in tax revenue was forgone during the period 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2012 due to the tax allowance under section 11D of the Income Tax Act, Act 58 of 1962, can the benefits of the tax incentive be quantified in terms of the (a) development of new products; and (b)number of (i) jobs and (ii) job opportunities that were created?
Reply:
(1) (a) 1 062 new products were launched during the period November 2006 to February 2014. No data is available for the period before November 2006.
(b) (i) Since inception to February 2014 there were 25268 personnel directly employed by companies applying for the R&D tax incentive in conducting R&D..
(ii) Data is not available for the number of job opportunities created during the period 1st April 2005 to 31 March 2012. This is not one of the reporting parameters set by section 11D(17) whicht states that the Minister of Science and Technology must annually submit a report to Parliament advising Parliament of the direct benefit of the research and development in terms of economic growth, employment and other broader government objectives and the aggregate expenditure in respect of such activities without disclosing the identity of any person. Furthermore section 11D(13) states that a taxpayer carrying on research and development approved under subsection (9) must report to the committee annually with respect to the progress of the research and development and the extent to which that research and development requires specialized skills.
29 September 2015 - NW3221
Basson, Mr LJ to ask the Minister of Water and Sanitation
(1)Whether there has been an improvement of service and fewer water interruptions since the Chris Hani District Municipality became the water service provider in the municipality from 1 July 2014; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (2) whether her department will assist the specified municipality with ageing and inadequate infrastructure; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (3) whether her department will assist with the non-functioning new standby generator at the main pumping station; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (4) will her department intervene to improve the water service in the specified municipality; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (5) what is the latest Blue Drop score for the purification plant in the specified municipality?
Reply:
- Yes, the Blue Drop System does show that during the period when InxubaYethemba Local Municipality (LM) was in control, the number of samples which were taken were higher (430 per year) than when Chris Hani DM was in control (122 samples per year). The quality compliance improved though in terms of turbidity (from 47,1% to 85,1%) and ecoli(from95% to 100%) since Chris Hani DM took over. The challenge currently is on the billing system as users have not been getting their accounts on services of the InxubaYethemba LM since Chris Hani DM took over the Water Services Provider (WSP) function. The turnaround time to repair leaks is still a challenge, but there is constant intervention from the Department through the Rapid Response Unit(RRU). Unfortunately, it cannot be said that the water service has improved since the Chris Hani DM took over.
- There is currently no funding dedicated for the aging and inadequate infrastructure but the technical support is provided.
- The Chris Hani DM purchased standby generators for both main water and main sewer pump stations which are currently the subject of the dispute with the service provider. According to Chris Hani DM, the dispute is on the verge of being resolved with the service provider.
- Yes, there are ongoing interventions on a call down basis through the RRU and Operation and Maintenance O&M technical support.
- The latest Blue Drop score is 71%.
--00O00---
29 September 2015 - NW3340
More, Ms E to ask the Minister of Finance
Whether the National Treasury meets the Government’s employment equity target of 2% for the employment of persons with disabilities that was set in 2005; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
National Treasury currently has 1.2% of employees disclosed as persons with disabilities against the total staff compliment.
In some instances, the Department is experiencing challenges with existing employees not willing to register their status, in that not every employee who is a person with a disability is comfortable to disclose such. There is an initiative in the Department to encourage disclosure and remove the stigma.
In addition, the National Treasury engages various organisations supporting persons with disabilities and has forwarded vacant positions to be included in their newsletters and / or websites to encourage applications from the target group. The Department’s engagement with tertiary institutions has also highlighted that there is a limited number of persons with disabilities studying in the fields required by the Department.
29 September 2015 - NW3002
Lekota, Mr M to ask the Minister of Finance
Whether the Government has a clear strategy to identify policies, regulations and failures that were impacting negatively on (a) economic growth, (b) direct fixed investments, (c) implementation of the National Development Plan, (d) job preservation and (e) job creation enterprises, with a view to addressing these obstacles vigorously and thereby clearing the path to rapid and sustainable economic growth; if not, why not; if so, what (i) impediments has the Government identified for vigorous attention and (ii) time frames and goals did it establish to achieve a rapid turnaround?
Reply:
Government has in place a clear performance monitoring system, which is headed by the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. This system seeks to identify progress towards implementation of the NDP through the goals operationalized in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, and the key obstacles to achieving these goals. Cabinet receives regular report backs from the Clusters in order to highlight performance against targets and where interventions are necessary.
Government also recognises the importance of consultation in order to identify policies and regulations which are negatively impacting on economic growth and job creation. The Presidential Business Working Group (PBWG), which consists of senior Government and Business representatives, to promote the identification of problems and finding solutions in areas such as: regulatory impact on investment; education and skills development; labour market; infrastructure; and inclusive growth.
The work of the PBWG has led to improved turnaround times at the Company and Intellectual Property Commissions; implementation of the Socio-Economic Impact Assessment (SEIAS), development of a set of regulatory principles, implementation of One Environmental System, alignment of water licensing regime with environmental impact assessment and mining licensing regime among other achievements.
The introduction of SEIAS, which came into effect as of 1 July 2015, will seek to proactively address problems. The SEIAS process seeks to improve the quality of legislation; reduce the unintended consequences of new laws and regulations; and better align regulations with Government’s priorities such as inclusive growth, social cohesion and poverty alleviation.
A set of regulatory principles that will define and characterise all regulations in South Africa has been developed. These will be implemented once approved by Cabinet. This would include ensuring that the objectives and purposes of regulation are clear and unambiguous, maximise efficiency and effectiveness, reduce the cost of doing business, and that regulation is administered in a manner which minimises unnecessary cost, complexity and duplication. The regulatory principles will complement the SEIAS in improving the quality and implementation of legislation.
Engagement are ongoing and concerted efforts are being put in place to address some of the key challenges affecting investors such as immigration regulations, challenges with energy supply and policy uncertainty in the mining sector. Government remains committed to ensuring that South Africa remains attractive for investment and the regulations and polices do not negatively affect the country’s developmental aspirations envisioned in the NDP.
29 September 2015 - NW2918
Lekota, Mr M to ask the Minister of Finance
(1)Whether the Government was proactively utilising the slide of the rand to its lowest level against the dollar in 15 years to stimulate (a) manufacturing, (b) mining, (c) agriculture, (d) agri-processing, (e) exports, (f) internal and external tourism and (g) methanol production to supplement liquid fuels; if not, why not; if so, (i) what exactly is the Government doing to use the weakness of the rand to spur real economic growth and (ii) how far is the Government succeeding in achieving the specified objective; (2) what is the impact of the current state of weakness of our national currency on the economy?
Reply:
1) A floating exchange rate is an important part of the design of macroeconomic policy which allows the economy to adapt to changing global circumstances. A weaker currency can stimulate exports. The speed with which exports can grow in response to a weaker rand, however, is influenced by how high and how quickly domestic costs rise in response to the weaker rand, the pace of growth in major markets and supply side factors.
In an environment of weaker economic growth, it is imperative that policy supports the competitiveness of local business. The inflation targeting framework helps to anchor inflation expectation in the face of volatility. Continued government investment in infrastructure aims to lower the cost of doing business and increase the competitiveness of South African business. Furthermore, Government has a range of incentives in place to support economic growth and exports. The Department of Performance Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) and / or the specific ministries involved (DTI, DMR, DAFF, EDD, DoT) can provide further details.
2) As South Africa is a price taker in international markets, there’s no evidence that the weakness of the rand has affected the terms of trade at this stage. The rand’s weakness is providing support to exports. To date, the knock-on impact of higher imported goods prices on inflation has been relatively low, although this remains a risk that the South African Reserve Bank is monitoring closely as it follows its mandate to keep inflation within the target band.
29 September 2015 - NW3222
Basson, Mr LJ to ask the Minister of Water and Sanitation
(1)Whether her department is monitoring the quality of the water in the Great Fish River; if not, why not; if so, (a) how is this being done and (b) how often; (2) whether the Great Fish River is part of the River Health Scheme; if not, why not; (3) whether her department has put any measures in place to prevent the pollution of bulk water schemes downstream of the Cradock Wastewater Treatment plant; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (4) whether she can provide the latest Green Drop status of the Cradock Wastewater Treatment plant; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (5) whether any action was taken by the Chris Hani District Municipality in response to her department’s notice to comply within 14 days which expired on 11 February 2015; if not, what action did her department take in response to this; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
(1) Yes ,my Department is monitoring the quality of water in the Great Fish River.
(1)(a) Through sampling of the water quality.
(1)(b) Monitoring is conducted on a quarterly basis.
(2) Yes, it is part of River Health Programme.
(3) My Department has issued a number of regulatory actions to the polluters. Action such as Non compliance notice and Pre-Directive are issued. Whilst Chris Hani District
Municipality (CHDM) did attend to some of the issues and did provide an action plan, this plan was not detailed enough to address the non compliances.
(4) The last compliance inspection was conducted on 16 September 2014 and was not in good condition. A non-compliance letter and a pre-directive were issued. Further meetings were held to discuss the status of the system.
(5) At the July 2015 site visit it was observed that repairs were being conducted to a horizontal aerator and to one of the two circular clarifiers. Two of the vertical shaft aerators were in operation and eleven of the horizontal shaft aerators were defunct and in various states of disrepair. The two inclined screw pumps were out of order and appeared to be partly dismantled or under repair. NW3823E
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28 September 2015 - NW3572
Figg, Mr MJ to ask the Minister of Trade and Industry
(1) Considering the usefulness of visiting other countries and learning lessons from their practices and experiences, (a) how many days has he spent out of the country in (i) 2014 and (ii) since 1 January 2015, (b) which countries did he visit and (c) what useful lessons did he learn; (2) (a) have any of the useful lessons learnt been implemented in South Africa and (b) did the specified lessons yield positive results; if not, why not in each case; if so, what were the results in each case? NW4239E
Reply:
(1) and (2) After years of international isolation because of Apartheid policies, South Africa was accepted into the global community with the onset of democracy in 1994. Responding to these new opportunities was a strategic imperative of the new democratic government in order to build mutually beneficial regional and global relations to advance South Africa’s trade, industrial policy and economic development objectives. All the working visits detailed below in Annexure A were undertaken in support of this strategic imperative; which in turn yielded a number of notable outcomes.
For further detailed information regarding the working visits and these outcomes, the Honourable Member is advised to consult the dti Annual Report 2013/2014 and several previous Parliamentary Questions on the same matter.
28 September 2015 - NW3503
Schmidt, Adv H to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform
When does he intend to issue regulations in terms of section 52 of the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act, Act 16 of 2013?
Reply:
The final Regulations to the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act, 2013 were gazetted on 23 March 2015 as per Regulation Gazette Notice No 10397. As required in terms of Regulation 37, the commencement date for the regulations will be published in the government gazette.
28 September 2015 - NW3461
Walters, Mr TC to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform
What proactive measures are in place to ensure that the state fulfils its constitutional duties in terms of section 26(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, read together with chapter 2 of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act, Act 62 of 1997, when his department and local municipalities are notified of the statutory prescribed form of the intended eviction proceeding in terms of section 9(2)(d)(ii) and (iii) of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act, Act 62 of 1997?
Reply:
Through district offices, the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform (DRDLR) on receipt of such notifications always attempts to negotiate a settlement using internal capacity by calling upon affected parties and stakeholders such as relevant Municipalities to find a solution. If these internal interventions fail, external assistance through the Land Rights Management Facility is sought either for further mediation and or litigation. Depending on the outcome, DRDLR may negotiate an on or off farm settlement for occupiers in terms of section 4 of the Extension of Security of Tenure Act, 1997 (Act No. 62 of 1997).
28 September 2015 - NW2944
Lotriet, Prof A to ask the Minister of Science and Technology
(1)Whether her department is in any way involved in research regarding the new nuclear build programme in the country; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?”
Reply:
The Department is not involved in research regarding the new nuclear build programme in the country since the nuclear technology option/choice is yet to be decided on. However, there are existing initiatives in support of nuclear energy industry that the Department of Science and Technology (DST) is involved in for the development of know-how and technologies in the nuclear technologies fields.
These include the Nuclear Engineering Research Chair at North West University; Carbon Materials and Technology Chair at the University of Pretoria; Advanced Materials Initiative (AMI); South African Nuclear Human Asset Research Programme (SANHARP); Masters in Accelerator and Nuclear Science (MANUS) and Masters in Material Science (MatSci) programme, involving the University of Zululand, the University of the Western Cape and iThemba Labs.
The focus of the work is as follows:
- Nuclear safety, which includes radiation effects of mining and routine discharges of Koeberg nuclear power station and also radiation standards and regulations;
- Nuclear materials beneficiation;
- Carbon technologies research with emphasis on nuclear graphite technology to support nuclear power generation;
- Reactor technology research on modelling and simulation of nuclear reactors and their associated power plants and process applications. These models are applied in the analysis, design and optimisation of pressurised water reactors and high temperature reactors;
- Nuclear project management, nuclear energy economics; and
- Collaborative research on system analysis of passive safe small modular high temperature gas cooled reactors.
28 September 2015 - NW3395
Boshoff, Ms SH to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1)What percentage of learners at schools have been (a) threatened with violence, (b) assaulted, (c) sexually abused and (d) exposed to corporal punishment by a person at the relevant school in each (i) province and (ii) district in the 2013-14 financial year; (2) which schools in each (a) province and (b) district have implemented the Early Warning System which is a guide and management tool that was designed by her department in conjunction with the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention for school management teams, school governing bodies and teachers and learners to identify and report on risks and threats at schools; (3) which schools in each (a) province and (b) district are still aligned to the Safety in Education Partnership Protocol between her department and the SA Police Service signed in 2011 to reduce crime and violence in schools and in communities; (4) which schools in each (a) province and (b) district are utilising the SA School Administration and Management System to report on behavioural transgressions, crimes and violence; (5) how many schools in each (a) province and (b) district have established Safe School Committees?
Reply:
1. Extrapolated from the National School Violence Study of 2012 (released in 2013) amongst randomly selected secondary schools from all provinces (of which the sample comprised of 5939 learners, 121 principals and 239 educators),
(a) 12, 2% had been threatened with violence by someone at school;
(b) 6. 3% have been assaulted;
(c) 4, 7% had been sexually assaulted or raped;
(d) in terms of the National School Violence study of 2012, an overall of 49,8% of learners claimed to have been caned or spanked by an educator or principal.
Provincial rates of corporal punishment ranged from 22.4% to 73.7%, with the highest levels of corporal punishment observed in KwaZulu-Natal (73.7%).
When assessing the rates per province, the data shows increases as well as decreases in the rates of corporal punishment by schools across the country.
Increases in the use of corporal punishment over the past four years were noted for Mpumalanga (rates increased from 43.6% in 2008 to 63.5% in 2012), the Eastern Cape (rates increased from 58.5% in 2008 to 66.9% in 2012), KwaZulu-Natal (rates increased from 48.7% in 2008 to 73.7% in 2012) and the Western Cape (rates increased from 17.1% in 2008 to 22.4% in 2012).
The most significant decrease in the rates of corporal punishment reported by learners was observed for Gauteng, with rates dropping from 61% in 2008 to 22.8% in 2012.
The use of corporal punishment as a means of discipline was also less frequently reported in Limpopo, the Free State, the North West and the Northern Cape in the 2012 wave of the study.
While the difference between male and female learners was not significant, males (50.4%) did report fractionally higher levels of corporal or physical punishment than female (49.4%) learners
(2) The Early Warning System (currently referred to as the National School Safety Framework) was approved in April 2015 and the training of Provincial Master Trainers commenced on 1 June 2015 and was completed on 27 August 2015. The roll out of school-based training workshops by the trained Provincial Master Trainers will commence in January 2016. Therefore no statistical data is available regarding implementation in (a) provinces and (b) district.
(3) The Partnership Protocol between Department of Basic Education and South African Police Services (SAPS) is still valid and schools linked to local police stations are collaborating with police officials in terms of combatting crime and violence in schools.
(4) Training workshops conducted by Information Management Systems are currently underway (a) in provinces and (b) districts on the utilization of the South African School Administration and Management System (SA-SAMS) to report on behavioural transgressions, crimes and violence.
(5) As part of the Partnership Protocol between the Department and SAPS 16603 (verified data) schools have been link to local police stations and established School Safety Committees.
28 September 2015 - NW3417
Msimang, Prof CT to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1)Whether she has found that teacher training programmes equip them with the capacity to deal with cases of (a) gender-based violence and (b) rape in schools; (2) whether her department has any plans in place to employ social workers in schools to deal with the learners who are the victims of gender-based violence and rape; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (3) what other mechanisms does her department have in place in order to inform learners and teachers about steps to take in instances where rape or sexual assault by a fellow learner or learners takes place?
Reply:
1. Whether teachers have the capacity to deal with cases of (a) gender-based violence and (b) rape in schools;
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has several programmes that coalesce to provide a comprehensive response to gender-based violence. These programmes have been institutionalised in the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) in the Life Orientation Curriculum across all grades and bands. The Department uses a human rights-based approach to address gender-based violence. Following are some of the programmes that the Department is undertaking in its response in dealing with gender based violence:
The Bill of Responsibilities (BOR): “Building a culture of humanity and accountability in schools”
This programme, which is captured as Rights and Responsibilities in the Life Orientation Curriculum, includes gender rights. The programme is supported by a Bill of Responsibilities that is premised on the Bill of Rights that each right comes with corresponding responsibilities. The programme is further supported by a teacher training manual that provides the content and activities for teachers to teach about rights and responsibilities. The programme has been supported by other Departments and many of our partners, including Faith-Based Organisations. Thus far all provinces have received training in the Bill of Responsibility.
Training of Master Trainers on Gender-Based Violence
During 2014/15, the Department undertook a national training programme targeting master trainers. The purpose of this training was to enable them to identify and respond to Violence against Women (VAW) and Violence against Children (VAC), including Gender-Based Violence (GBV), using the revised training manual called Opening Our Eyes. About 400 master trainers were reached. The training touched on the following topics:
• Gender-based violence: an introduction;
• Dealing with hate crimes at schools;
• Responding to situations of sexual abuse;
• Recognising harassment and taking action;
• Gender and HIV – the link;
• Educators as facilitators of healing;
• A school policy on GBV; and
• A whole school approach on GBV.
Challenging Homophobic Bullying in Schools
The Challenging Homophobic Bullying in Schools guide explains what homophobic bullying is and what teachers, parents and learners can do to make schools safer for all learners. It provides clear and simple steps that teachers and learners can take in challenging homophobic bullying in schools. Distribution of the manual has been done to all provinces, with the purpose to further deliver to schools.
The Department has completed training provincial master trainers on the roll out of the National School Safety Framework. The master trainers will cascade the training to schools.
2. Whether her department has any plans in place to employ social workers in schools to deal with the learners who are the victims of gender-based violence and rape; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
Currently a limited number of social workers and psychologists have been employed by some Provincial Education Departments at district level. The Department of Basic Education is in the process of developing integrated norms for funding, staffing and infrastructure for inclusive education, including psycho-social support. These norms are aimed at ensuring an equitable distribution of these scarce resources in each district to serve the needs of learners with specialised needs in ordinary, full-service and special schools. It is recommended that support services be based at district level. These services will include support to victims and survivors of violence, including gender-based violence, in schools. The Department plans to complete the norms by March 2016 for incremental implementation up to 2019.
(3) What other mechanisms does her department have in place in order to inform learners and teachers about steps to take in instances where rape or sexual assault by a fellow learner or learners takes place?
Speak Out Against Abuse
The Department has developed an advocacy programme for learners that inform them of their rights and the course of action if they are sexually harassed or raped. The advocacy programme is supported by a comprehensive and learner friendly handbook entitled “Speak Out” Youth report sexual abuse-A handbook for learners, on how to prevent sexual abuse in public schools. The advocacy programme utilises school dialogues and role-playing to address gender-based violence in schools.
Prevent Violence in Schools Training focuses on enabling and supporting learners to take action to prevent violence in their own schools. About five hundred (500) master trainers have been trained across all provinces and they will, in turn, train learners. The following were the topics covered during training:
• Introduction to prevent violence in schools;
• Understanding violence;
• Gender Based Violence;
• Analysing violence;
• Reporting violence;
• My school, my reality; and
• Taking action.
28 September 2015 - NW3460
Walters, Mr TC to ask the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform
Whether, with regard to a certain law firm (name furnished) that deals with eviction issues on behalf of his department, (a) his department funds the specified law firm entirely with regard to litigation in eviction matters, (b) how many cases have been handled by the specified law firm since its appointment, (c) what amount has been spent by his department on average in respect of each case and (d) how many of the specified cases were successful in the sense that the court ruled against landowners in claims for eviction in terms of (i) the Extension of Security of Tenure Act, Act 62 of 1997 and (ii) the Land Reform Act, Act 3 of 1996; (2) on what basis does his department exclude persons from being represented by the (a) specified law firm and/or (b) approved members of the panel of the specified law firm; (3) what criteria does his department utilise to determine who qualifies for legal support that is provided by the specified firm; (4) does his department have an agreement that the specified law firm must appoint private law firms to represent land occupiers; if so, (a) what are the reasons for allowing the specified appointments at the Government’s expense and (b) on what relevant legislative provision does his department rely when it allows the specified appointments to be made; (5) does his department have an agreement that the specified firm appoint branches of the Legal Aid Board to represent land occupiers; if so, on what legislative provisions does his department rely when it allows the specified appointment to be made?
Reply:
(1) (a) Yes.
(b) 1145
(c) R57 284.34
(d) (i) 134
(ii) 0
(2)(a),(b) If persons do not meet the definition of the relevant legislation and or if they fall outside the qualifying threshold of R5000.00 gross income in terms of ESTA Regulations or a Means Test.
(3) Same response as Question 2 above.
(4) Yes.
(a) Same response as in Question 2 above.
(b) The Department relies on the judgement of Nkuzi Development Association and the Government of the Republic of South Africa.
(5) No.
28 September 2015 - NW3634
Esterhuizen, Mr JA to ask the Minister of Trade and Industry
(1)In view of our outbound foreign direct investment which grew by 17% this year, in contrast to foreign direct investment into the country which has fallen by 24%, can he provide an explanation as to why there seems to be an overarching desire by South African businesses to grow offshore than to invest locally; (2) what steps is his department taking in order to foster an environment which will attract foreign capital investment in the country? NW4211E
Reply:
(1) According to the World Investment Report released by United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in June 2015 aggregate global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows declined by 16% in 2014 as a result of the continued uneven and weak recovery of the global economy after the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. Not surprisingly, South Africa was also impacted and FDI inflows slowed from US$8.3 billion in 2013. The fdi report 2015 by fdi intelligence which tracks investment projects also reports a decline in greenfield fdi projects globally.
Nevertheless, South Africa still attracted a substantial US$ 5.7 billion in 2014. By comparison, Nigeria attracted US$ 4.6 billion, Mozambique US$4.9 billion, Kenya US$ 900 million and Mauritius US$ 418 million. In 2014, South Africa was again the largest recipient of FDI on the African continent. South Africa remains an attractive investment destination as per the latest Ernest and Young attractive destination survey launched in June 2015. According to the EY survey South Africa remains the top destination in Africa for fdi projects. Over the past five years South Africa received twice as many fdi projects as any African country. Multinationals have affirmed South Africa as a regional manufacturing hub and have retained and expanded their investments in new plants. Companies such as Unilever have invested R 4 billion in expansions, upgrades and new plants in South Africa.
In addition to South Africa being a destination for FDI, we are now also a leading source of FDI on the African continent. As this Government has stated on many occasions, our domestic market is simply too small to – on its own – sustain high economic growth rates over the long-term. The African continent is now widely acknowledged as the next growth frontier and South Africa is in the fortunate position of having identified the growth opportunities in Africa many years ago already.
This is why our trade policy prioritises regional development through the Southern African Development Community (SADC); the Tripartite Free Trade Area (T-FTA) signed in June 2015 in Sharm el-Sheikh and the Continental Free Trade Area (C-FTA).
These Agreements do not only open the door to South African exporters. They also provide investment opportunities for companies owned by South Africans or domiciled in South Africa.
Companies such as Vodacom, MTN, SAB-Miller, Standard Bank, Pick n Pay, Shoprite-Checkers, Woolworths, Nando’s and mining companies are just a few of the many South African brands which have become instantly recognisable across Africa. These investments partly account for FDI outflows from South Africa and show the extent to which South African entrepreneurs and companies have become serious participants in the global economy. In most cases, these outward investments draw on their South African value-chains, expertise and financial resources.
These outward investments are positive and should be celebrated. Market opportunities are arising as Africa’s population urbanises and consumer demand grows off a low base in many African countries. We encourage our firms to seize these opportunities, noting that their ability to do so is precisely because they are able to leverage off the financial resources and market successes in South Africa.
Such investments by South African companies contribute to Regional Integration, Infrastructure Development and Industrialisation of the African such as Scaw Metals investment in Ghana.
(2) President Zuma during the State of the Nation Address (SONA), 12th February 2015 announced a nine point plan to push the economy forward, ignite growth and create jobs. Government is also committed to improving the investment climate and ease of doing business. Also announced during the SONA was the establishment of a one stop Inter-Departmental Clearing House to attend to investor complaints and problems. the dti has given effect to the Inter- Departmental Clearing House and has established a dedicated division for investment promotion, facilitation and aftercare. Specialised capacity is been added that will fast track, unblock and reduce red tape in Government. Investors are encouraged to contact the dti investment unit for this clearing house service.
28 September 2015 - NW3396
Boshoff, Ms SH to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1)In respect of each province and each district, (a) how many identified Provincial Master Trainers have been trained on the National School Safety Framework and (b) when will these trainers train (i) school governing bodies, (ii) senior management teams and (iii) other relevant educators and support staff; (2) in respect of each province and each district, (a) what are the minimum standards for safety at schools and (b) who determines what these standards should be; (3) in respect of each province and each district, (a) how many schools conduct risk assessments twice per annum and (b) are these reports (i) forwarded to the relevant provincial education departments, (ii) provided to her department and (iii) available to the public?
Reply:
1. Training workshops for provincial master trainers on the National School Safety Framework (NSSF) have been conducted in all nine provinces in collaboration with the Centre for Justice and Crime Prevention (CJCP), supported by UNICEF. These workshops started on 27 June and were completed on 27 August 2015;
In respect of each province and each district, (a) Provincial Coordinators for School Safety were responsible for the identification and selection of the relevant trainees at provincial and district levels. The Trained Master Trainers are obligated to roll out school-based training workshops in all schools (b) starting at the beginning of 2016, which will (i) include training for school governing bodies, (ii) senior management teams and (iii) other relevant educators and support staff;
2. The NSSF is located within a range of international and national laws and policies that recognize the safety of learners and educators as a prerequisite for quality teaching and learning. In terms of provinces and districts the following minimum standards have been identified (a) minimum school-level policies and procedures are implemented and enforced; safety audits are undertaken annually; safety plans are formulated, adopted, submitted and revised annually; consistent engagement with community structures and actors; school safety teams are established and functional; Codes of conduct have been formulated, adopted and implemented; reporting and response systems are developed, utilised, and reviewed continuously; and referral systems and networks are established and functional,
3. In terms of the NSSF risk assessments have to be conducted at school-level after which school safety plans have to be drawn up and executed. As mentioned the roll out of the NSSF will commence in 2016 and with respect to provinces and districts, (a) schools must conduct risk assessments twice per annum to be used internally to identify risks and threats in terms of violence in schools and to draft a school-based Safety Plan (b) and forward these School Safety Plans (i) to the relevant district (School Safety Coordinator) and provincial (School Safety Coordinator), (ii) it is expected that from the school safety plans provinces will be able to identify the prevalence and trends of incidences of violence and work collaboratively with schools, districts and all relevant stakeholders to address violence in schools. (ii) the risk assessments implemented at a school-based level and are internally used to determine risks and threats and to develop programmes to address specific issues related to violence. .
NW4055E
28 September 2015 - NW3599
Robinson, Ms D to ask the Minister of Trade and Industry
Is his department currently working on any (a) financial and/or (b) economic empowerment initiatives in collaboration with the Department of Women in The Presidency; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details of the specified initiatives?
Reply:
- The dti fully recognises the challenges that women face in society and in the economy. The department recognises that women tend to face more barriers that hinder them from contributing meaningfully and effectively to the country’s economic aspiration of becoming a globally competitive industrial economy. It is for this reason that one of the objectives of our industrial policy is to promote increasing participation of previously marginalised citizens and regions in the mainstream industrial economy.
- Currently, the dti does not have any collaboration or joint projects with the Department for Women in the Presidency. The department is, however, open to such collaborations should the opportunity arise.
- The dti continues to provide a wide range of measures aimed at supporting women entrepreneurs and increasing their participation in the economy. Our wide range of incentives provides support to entrepreneurs and industrialists, including women. These incentives include those that support women entrepreneurs (e.g. Export Marketing and Investment Assistance Scheme, National Exporter Development Programme, Film, Incubation), women students and researchers (THRIP and SPII) and job placement of women graduates (ITUKISE). Some selected achievements include the placement of 645 women graduates in jobs through ITUKISE Programme in 2015; employment of over 14 700 women through the Business Processing Services incentives in 2015; supporting 574 women-owned companies through EMIA between 2011 and 2014; supporting 351 women-owned companies through the Exporter Development Programme between 2013 and 2015. To date, THRIP has supported 585 female students and 335 women researchers. However, the dti recognises that more can be done and, indeed, more will be done.
- When the President established the Department for Small Business Development, some of the functions of the dti were transferred to the new Department. Women and Gender Programmes, together with all responsible officials and business units, were also transferred.
- However, the dti has since established a new Women Empowerment Chief Directorate to drive women empowerment. A Chief Director has been appointed and has started to develop women empowerment programmes and initiatives. Once these programmes and initiatives have been finalised and concretised, we will gladly share them with you and the public.
28 September 2015 - NW3391
Lovemore, Ms AT to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1)How many applications by (a) educators and (b) non-teaching staff employed by each provincial department of education are still awaiting processing for (i) incapacity leave and (ii) retirement on the grounds of ill-health; (2) with reference specifically to employees of each provincial department of education, what is the (a) average and (b) maximum time that lapses between the date of application and the date of processing the application for (i) incapacity leave and (ii) retirement on the grounds of ill-health; (3) (a) why is there a backlog in respect of the processing of incapacity leave and applications for retirement on the grounds of ill-health, (b) what is being done to address the backlog in each province and (c) by when will the backlog be cleared; (4) has she made the Minister of Public Service and Administration aware of the backlogs; if not, why not; (5) has the Minister of Public Service and Administration communicated any action that he has taken in respect of the specified backlogs; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
(1) How many applications by (a) educators and (b) non-educators employed by provincial departments of education are still awaiting processing for (i) incapacity leave and (ii) ill-health retirement in each province?
1 (a) (b) (i) and (ii)
The table below captures the number of educator and non-educator applications for i) incapacity and ii) ill health retirement per province.
Outstanding Incapacity Leave and Ill-Health Retirement Applications- Jan 2006 - May 2015 |
||||
PED |
Educators |
Non-teaching Staff |
||
Incapacity Leave |
Ill-Health Retirement |
Incapacity Leave |
Ill-Health Retirement |
|
EC |
12 375 |
126 |
2 924 |
8 |
FS |
1 682 |
11 |
577 |
0 |
GP |
140 |
1 |
35 |
2 |
KZN |
6 929 |
6 |
1 556 |
2 |
LIM |
1 943 |
6 |
219 |
1 |
MP |
3 198 |
96 |
498 |
5 |
NC |
1 579 |
8 |
631 |
0 |
NW |
873 |
5 |
191 |
4 |
WC |
2 444 |
4 |
443 |
5 |
(2) with reference specifically to employees of each provincial department of education, what is the (a) average and (b) maximum time that lapses between the date of application and the date of processing the application for (i) incapacity leave and (ii) retirement on the grounds of ill-health;
Details on the turnaround times regarding the processing of applications are currently not available nor collected in the normal process of monitoring by the Department. This information will be requested from the provinces and will be provided accordingly.
(3) (a) why is there a backlog in respect of the processing of incapacity leave and applications for retirement on the grounds of ill-health, (b) what is being done to address the backlog in each province and (c) by when will the backlog be cleared;
(a) The processing and finalisation of an application for incapacity leave involves many steps and procedures and involves various entities, that is, the employer, the employee, the Health Risk Manager and Health Practitioners. It also involves the submission of various documentation. Delays, mainly administrative, can happen at any stage of the process thus leading to backlogs.
b) The Department of Basic Education (DBE) decided, as part of the plan to address underlying pressures that affect quality teaching and learning, that the nature and extent of backlogged PILIR cases be examined and resolved through direct involvement with Provincial Education Departments (PEDs). The DBE visited all PEDs to discuss the nature and extent of backlogged PILIR cases; discussed challenges and possible ways of resolving the blockages and formulated a management plan to resolve the backlogged PILIR cases. Subsequently, the DBE draws reports from PERSAL to monitor whether the management and administration of PILIR is improving. These reports are shared with the PEDs.
(c) The administrative and infrastructure complexities within Provinces prevent the PEDs from providing a definitive deadline as to when all backlogs will be cleared. This is a continuing process that has the commitment of all PEDs.
(4) has she made the Minister of Public Service and Administration aware of the backlogs; if not, why not;
The Minister of Basic Education has been communicating regularly with the Minister of Public Service and Administration (MPSA) since January 2013, informing her of the growing backlogs and their impact on the sector. This included explaining that, due to the imperative that there must be a teacher in every classroom, the PEDs have to appoint substitute teachers whilst teachers were sick for long periods, and this was exerting further pressure on already stretched compensation budgets.
(5) has the Minister of Public Service and Administration communicated any action that he has taken in respect of the specified backlogs; if so, what are the relevant details?
No direct response to the Minister of Basic Education has been received from the Minister of Public Service and Administration with respect to PILIR backlogs. However, the Department of Public Service and Administration communicates regularly with all government departments on PILIR matters through circulars to all Heads of Department.
28 September 2015 - NW3393
Lovemore, Ms AT to ask the Minister of Basic Education
Whether, since her reply to question 1404 on 25 September 2014, the Southern and East African Consortium for Monitoring Education Quality IV assessment report has been made available to her; if not, when does she expect to receive this report; if so, (a) why has it not been made available to the public and (b) when will it be available to the public?
Reply:
(a) No, the Southern and East African Consortium for Monitoring Education Quality (SACMEQ) IV assessment report has not been received by the Minister from the SACMEQ Coordinating Centre (SCC) which manages the release of scored data for each participating country.
(b) The SACMEQ IV achievement results will be made available to the public once the SACMEQ Ministers, the managing structure of SACMEQ, have received and endorsed the assessment reports at the Tenth Session of the SACMEQ Assembly of Ministers on 27 November 2015 in Botswana.
25 September 2015 - NW3219
Mileham, Mr K to ask the Minister of Human Settlements
(1)Whether her department has withheld or caused to be withheld any grants to (a) local, (b) district or (c) metropolitan municipalities (i) in the 2014-15 financial year and (ii) since 1 April 2015; if so, in respect of each specified case, (aa) what amount was withheld, (bb) what were the reasons for withholding the grant and (cc) in terms of which legislation and/or regulations was the grant withheld; (2) whether her department consulted with the National Treasury in respect of each specified case; if not, why not; if so, what was the National Treasury’s advice in this regard; (3) whether her department notified the affected municipalities properly of her department’s intentions; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
The Department of Human Settlements transfers the allocations for grants to nine Provinces and eight Metropolitan Municipalities. The Department does not transfer allocations for any grant to district municipalities as implied in the Honourable member’s question.
During the 2014/15 financial year, the department withheld the Municipal Human Settlements Capacity Grant (MHSCG) to six metropolitan municipalities until such time that Metropolitan Municipalities had demonstrated that they had spent this conditional grant for the purpose for which it was intended as envisaged in the relevant prescripts, in particular the Division of Revenue Act (DORA).
In actual fact Honourable member, the grant referred to in the question is not the only one giving my MECs and I sleepless nights. The misuse of the Urban Settlement Development Grant (USDG) is also worrisome. We need to review the grants framework to address serious anomalies. To illustrate my point, the USDG was introduced as a conditional grant to ensure the provision of bulk connector, link and internal services; well-located land and public amenities because we realised that these plagued the optimum performance of the human settlements sector. Metropolitan municipalities spend the USDG on other things such as roads, street lighting and social facilities when there are still bulk infrastructure constraints. This is frustrating to say the least.
The Honourable should be interested how this grant is used by the City of Cape Town allocated the USDG funds for 2014/15 financial year as indicated below:
Description |
Allocated Budget |
% Total Available Funds |
Spent by Municipality |
% Spent |
Variance |
% Unspent |
R’00 |
R’00 |
R’00 |
||||
Electricity |
231 698 |
14.1 |
189 286 |
81.7 |
42 412 |
18.3 |
Solid Waste Management |
50 000 |
3.0 |
50 000 |
100.0 |
|
0.0 |
Water and Sanitation |
195923 |
11.9 |
182 885 |
93.3 |
13 038 |
6.7 |
City Parks |
30 595 |
1.9 |
24 797 |
81.0 |
5 798 |
19.0 |
Sport, Recreation and Amenities |
41 636 |
2.5 |
34 423 |
82.7 |
7 213 |
17.3 |
Library and Information Services |
23 644 |
1.4 |
23 644 |
100.0 |
|
0.0 |
Assets Management and Maintenance (Transport) |
262 765 |
16.0 |
195 118 |
74.3 |
67 647 |
25.7 |
City Health Sub Districts |
7 467 |
0.5 |
7 391 |
99.0 |
76 |
1.0 |
HS Development & Delivery |
120 608 |
7.3 |
97 695 |
81.0 |
22 913 |
19.0 |
HS Planning and National Housing Programmes Development |
419 900 |
25.5 |
416 727 |
99.2 |
3 173 |
0.8 |
Public Housing and Customer Services |
42 674 |
2.6 |
27 853 |
65.3 |
14 821 |
34.7 |
HS Urbanisation |
92 332 |
5.6 |
79 003 |
85.6 |
13 329 |
14.4 |
Disaster Risk Management |
5 500 |
0.3 |
5 492 |
99.9 |
8 |
0.1 |
Spatial Planning and Urban Design |
1 230 |
0.1 |
1 230 |
100.0 |
|
0.0 |
Provincial Allocation |
49 048 |
3.0 |
49 048 |
100.0 |
|
0.0 |
Project Pre-Planning |
68 405 |
4.2 |
24 964 |
36.5 |
43 441 |
63.5 |
Human Settlements - Title Deeds |
500 |
0.0 |
343 |
68.6 |
157 |
31.4 |
Project Managemnet |
1 500 |
0.1 |
|
|
1 500 |
100.0 |
VAT |
|
|
72 031 |
|
- 72 031 |
|
Total |
1 645 425 |
100.0 |
1 481 930 |
90.1 |
235 526 |
14.3 |
In summary, the table indicates the following:
- From the R1.6 billion total allocated budget, Human Settlements Planning is allocated a larger portion of R419.9 million or 25.5% whereas 99.2% of those funds were spent. The expenditure is attributable to land purchase amounting to R416.7 million.
- The second highest allocation is on Assets Management and Maintenance at R262.8 million or 16% of the total allocated budget of which only 74.3% of those funds were spent.
- At least four of the services spent 100% of their budget at year end i.e. Solid Waste Management, Library/Information Services, Spatial Planning/Urban Design and Provincial Allocations.
We are required intervene to ensure that we provide the much needed houses for our people. I will certainly not abdicate my responsibilities by not acting when funds are not spent in line with the DORA. Not a cent from the USDG should be used for amenities or stadium construction while housing infrastructure is lacking or in some cases is non-existent.
25 September 2015 - NW3399
Lekota, Mr M to ask the Minister of Human Settlements
Whether, in the period 1 July 2009 to 30 June 2015, her department had (a) to contend with any community-organised housing protests either in demand for houses and/or to draw attention to corrupt practices or shoddy construction, (b) substantially addressed the accommodation needs of backyarders, especially in townships where congestion was so acute as to make fire hazards and disease a serious and constant danger, (c) done anything substantial to address the accommodation needs of people living in informal settlements and/or at the very least provided such communities with proper planning and adequate services, (d) worked harmoniously and co-operatively with provincial and municipal governments in each province to accelerate housing delivery and (e) worked in partnership with the private sector to develop affordable housing for the working class where income did not exceed a certain threshold; if not, why not in each case; if so, what are the relevant details in each case?
Reply:
(a) The National Department in terms of the Constitution as well as relevant policies and legislation is not directly responsible for the programme and project planning, prioritisation and implementation of National Housing Programmes, as contained in the National Housing Code.
The mandate to plan and implement human settlements and housing projects in terms of the various National Housing Programmes vests with the nine Provincial Governments and the Municipalities. The various community organised protests, as they may be related to human settlements and housing, are therefore by and large organised and directed to local municipalities and/or the provincial departments. There are isolated cased community protests that are directed to national department offices.
(b) Each human settlement development project is unique and requires tailored and specific planning and design to meet the prevailing circumstances and housing specific needs and priorities. The Provinces and Municipalities endeavour to follow a balanced, integrated and developmental approach in the targeting of the most vulnerable households that require housing assistance. This means that projects will, where possible and required, be designed to accommodate predetermined percentages of households from the diversity of the housing backlog in an area, including households residing in informal backyard rental units, who wish to relocate to permanent ownership housing financed properties when such becomes available.
(c) The upgrading, relocation and redevelopment of informal settlements remains a priority developmental objective of Government. The Provinces allocate the majority of the annual Human Settlement Development Grant (HSDG) allocation for informal settlement upgrading projects and the Government remains committed to improve the lives of our communities who are residing in these areas on a priority basis. In the case of the Metropolitan Municipalities, the Department during the 2011/12 financial year introduced the Urban Settlements Development Grant with the object of prioritisation of funding allocations for land development and servicing aimed at households residing in informal settlements. The first phase intervention under the National Housing Programme for the Upgrading of informal Settlements is the identification of provision of emergency services needs and the design and deployment of such emergency services to curtail any health and life threatening situations.
A fundamental objective of the Informal Settlement Upgrading Programme is the participation, involvement and consultation with targeted communities in all aspects of the planning and implementation of their housing development solutions.
(d) The Department and the nine provincial human settlement departments and the metropolitan municipalities are collaborating in the planning and implementation of priority development areas. The Department is furthermore conducting quarterly performance reviews in collaboration with the provinces and municipalities to ensure that planned targets are pursued and to address any constraints where such is encountered.
(e) The Department has recently initiated an enhanced housing programme for the provision of assistance to households who are able to access mortgage finance and the rollout of the programme was aided by the important role that was fulfilled by the National Housing Finance Corporation as the National Programme Management Agent. The Department is furthermore continuously monitoring the implementation of the National Housing Programme in collaboration with the private sector and further enhancements to the programme are already in an advance stage of development.
25 September 2015 - NW3083
21 AUGUST 2015Mr S M Gana to ask the Minister of Human Settlements
(a) How does (i) her department and (ii) entities reporting to her define red tape and (b) what (i) specific interventions and/or (ii) systems have been implemented to (aa) identify and (bb) reduce red tape in (aaa) her department and (bbb) the entities reporting to her?
Reply:
(i) & (ii) The Department and the entities who report to the Minister of Human Settlements define red tape to, inter alia, include:
- Excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that are bureaucratic, and hinder or prevent action or decision-making. This includes the collection or sequence of forms and procedures required to gain bureaucratic approval for something, that is complex and time-consuming, to be addressed as per prescribed procedures
- Series of actions or complicated tasks that seem unnecessary but that a government or organization requires you to do in order to get or do something;
- Processes that are onerous to navigate when one is trying to get some service, usually from Government.
- Certain legislative and policy compliance aspects and processes being too excessive when dealing with various compliance matters which are aligned to and is complemented by founding legislation and organisational policies governing specific processes of Government.
(b)(i)(aa) &b (ii)(bb) The following specific interventions and/or systems have been implemented to identify and reduce red tape in the department and the entities reporting to the Minister and include:
- The Department and entities interact with officials and have meetings with those especially involved in transactions. The minutes are kept of these meetings as a record of discussions and resolutions taken; when excessive problems are apparent they are escalated to senior management or even to board members;
- Entities including NHFC utlilize their own internal qualified personnel, but also has access to external resources when required. They have efficient administrative processes to avoid delays; they also communicate with the officials within the Department and National Treasury to get clarity on what is required (where applicable) if there is uncertainty; others utilise processes that are prescribed in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999) and the Treasury Regulations to address matters if they are unnecessarily protracted;
- The CSoS utilizes a dispute Resolution Model to receive and resolve complaints on an end-to-end basis. They also make use of an Enterprise Resource Planning system which includes facilities for self-service / self-tracking of complaints lodged. This system allows citizens to keep track or the progress on their particular cases and complaints, monitor the turn-around times, as well as register and escalate complaints where the service provided is slower than promised;
- The EAAB continuously embarks on stakeholder awareness activities and educational programmes, they have optimised certain processes by creating online options and electronic means for stakeholders to use in their interactions with the entity; other processes employed to protect the interests of the consumer, include internal control measures, regulations, policy and other procedures as defined by legislative and policy prescripts;
- The SHRA support in capacitating Social Housing Institution’s and making social housing projects ready for awarding the Restructuring Capital Grant is regarded as an intervention in identifying and reducing red tape.
- The HDA has all the necessary policies and procedures in place to ensure the smooth, complaint and on-going delivery of targets, systems as envisaged in the Public Finance Management Act and complementary legislation are employed.
23 September 2015 - NW3098
Jooste, Ms K to ask the Minister of Health
(a) How many GeneXpert instruments have been rolled out across the country and (b) where are the specified instruments situated?
Reply:
a) A total of 309 Xpert instruments of varying sizes (GX4: 110; GX16:190; GX48: 3; GX80:8) have been placed in 221 sites. The placement includes seven Correctional Service facilities and six mobile vans.
b) The Table 1 below reflects the details in this regard
Province and District |
GX4 |
GX16 |
Infinity GX48 |
Infinity GX80 |
Total |
Eastern Cape |
15 |
27 |
2 |
44 |
|
Alfred Nzo |
4 |
4 |
|||
Amathole |
3 |
6 |
1 |
10 |
|
Cacadu |
3 |
1 |
4 |
||
Chris Hani |
3 |
5 |
8 |
||
Nelson Mandela Bay Metro |
2 |
1 |
3 |
||
O.R Tambo |
3 |
4 |
7 |
||
O.R. Tambo |
3 |
3 |
|||
Ukhahlamba |
3 |
2 |
5 |
||
Free State |
8 |
10 |
1 |
19 |
|
Fezile Dabi |
2 |
2 |
|||
Lejweleputswa |
6 |
1 |
7 |
||
Motheo |
2 |
1 |
3 |
||
Thabo Mofutsanyane |
6 |
6 |
|||
Groenpunt Correctional Facility |
1 |
1 |
|||
Gauteng |
12 |
28 |
2 |
42 |
|
City of Johannesburg |
5 |
8 |
1 |
14 |
|
City of Tshwane |
3 |
8 |
11 |
||
Ekurhuleni |
2 |
3 |
1 |
6 |
|
Sedibeng |
3 |
3 |
|||
West Rand |
6 |
6 |
|||
Westrand |
2 |
2 |
|||
Kwazulu-Natal |
34 |
49 |
1 |
1 |
85 |
Amajuba |
1 |
2 |
3 |
||
eThekwini |
9 |
13 |
1 |
23 |
|
iLembe |
2 |
4 |
6 |
||
Sisonke |
4 |
3 |
7 |
||
Ugu |
4 |
4 |
|||
uMgungundlovu |
1 |
6 |
7 |
||
Umkhanyakude |
4 |
4 |
8 |
||
Umzinyathi |
4 |
4 |
|||
Uthukela |
3 |
3 |
6 |
||
Uthungulu |
8 |
2 |
1 |
11 |
|
Zululand |
2 |
4 |
6 |
||
Limpopo |
15 |
25 |
40 |
||
Capricorn |
1 |
7 |
8 |
||
Greater Sekhukhune |
1 |
5 |
6 |
||
Mopani |
3 |
4 |
7 |
||
Sekhukhune |
2 |
2 |
|||
Vhembe |
2 |
5 |
7 |
||
Waterberg |
6 |
4 |
10 |
||
Mpumalanga |
4 |
14 |
1 |
19 |
|
Ehlanzeni |
2 |
6 |
1 |
9 |
|
Gert Sibande |
2 |
3 |
5 |
||
Nkangala |
5 |
5 |
|||
North West |
6 |
16 |
22 |
||
Bojanala Platinum |
3 |
4 |
7 |
||
Dr Kenneth Kaunda (Southern) |
2 |
5 |
7 |
||
Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati (Bophirima) |
1 |
3 |
4 |
||
Ngaka Modiri Molema (Central) |
4 |
4 |
|||
Northern Cape |
3 |
3 |
|||
Frances Baard |
2 |
2 |
|||
John Taolo Gaetsewe (Kgalagadi) |
1 |
1 |
|||
Nothern Cape |
2 |
3 |
5 |
||
Namakwa |
2 |
2 |
|||
Pixley ka Seme |
1 |
1 |
|||
Siyanda |
2 |
2 |
|||
Western Cape |
16 |
13 |
1 |
30 |
|
Cape Winelands |
4 |
4 |
|||
City of Cape Town |
11 |
5 |
1 |
17 |
|
Eden |
3 |
3 |
6 |
||
Karoo |
1 |
1 |
|||
West Coast |
2 |
2 |
|||
Grand Total |
112 |
188 |
1 |
8 |
309 |
END.
23 September 2015 - NW3106
James, Dr WG to ask the Minister of Health
(1)What is the brand name of the rapid HIV test kits provided by each of the suppliers who were awarded a contract by his department; (2) whether the specified test kits provided by the different suppliers are from the same manufacturer; if so, why was there no attempt to diversify the types of HIV test kits that were made available in the country?
Reply:
- (a) ADVANCED QUALITY ONE STEP ANTI-HIV (1&2) Test (InTec Products Inc): Used for screening;
(b) ABON HIV 1/2/O Tri-Line Human Immunodeficiency Virus Rapid Test (ABON Biopharm Hangzhou Co., Ltd): Used for confirmatory;
2. No, the specified test kits are not from the same manufacturer as specified below:
ADVANCED QUALITY is used for screening and ABON is used for is used for confirmatory. ADVANCED QUALITY is supplied by 2 suppliers because it is used for screening and needed in large quantities, while ABON is supplied by another different supplier and is from a different manufacturer.
END.
23 September 2015 - NW3380
James, Dr WG to ask the Minister of Health
(1)What is the estimated timeline for the appointment of a permanent chief executive officer (CEO) for the National Health Laboratory Service; (2) whether a certain official of his department (name and details furnished) was or is in any way involved with the appointment process; if so, what is the extent of the specified official’s involvement; (3) whether the specified official (a) attended any of the interviews for the vacant CEO position and/or (b) gave any instruction to the selection interview panel; if so, (i) why and (ii) what are the relevant details?
Reply:
1. Ms. Joyce Mogale was appointed as the full-time CEO of the NHLS on the 28th of August 2015.
2. Three officials were involved with the recruitment process, namely Mr Andre Venter and Dr Devanand Moonasar – in their capacity as Members of the Board of the NHLS, and Ms Malebone Precious Matsoso in her capacity as an independent technical expert;
3. Ms. Matsoso attended the second round of interviews, but provided no instruction to the Selection Panel. Ms. Matsoso as the Director-General: Health did not participate in any discussion or process that resulted in a preferred candidate being identified.
The process of appointing the CEO of the NHLS was as follows:
The NHLS placed an advert in the Mail and Guardian for a CEO on a 5-year contract in November 2015. The NHLS board determined that a selection panel would oversee the recruitment process, from the short-listing through to interviews and making a recommendation to the NHLS board on a preferred candidate. Mr. Andre Venter as the chair of the Finance Committee of the NHLS and a NHLS Board member was appointed as a member of the selection panel.
Both Mr. Venter and Dr Moonasar participated in the shortlisting process. During the shortlisting 8 candidates were identified as meeting the requirements as advertised.
A first round of interviews was conducted. The panel established constituted the selection panel as well as any other board members who were available. Both Mr. Venter and Dr Moonasar participated in the first round of interviews.
The result of the first round of interviews was that the top 4 candidates were called in for a second round of interviews. In addition to the selection panel members, any NHLS board member who was available was invited to participate in the interviews.
In the second round, the Director-General: Health (Ms MP Matsoso) was the only official from the NDOH that participated. Mr Venter (due to ill health) and Dr Moonasar (prior commitments) did not attend.
Ms Matsoso’s role was only to provide an external assessment of the candidates, and upon completion of the interviews she excused herself from the process. The Selection panel, after the departure of Ms Matsoso, consolidated the scores of each candidate.
The selection panel made a recommendation to the NHLS Board, that the top 2 candidates are subject to a proficiency assessment. Following which, a teleconference was convened to inform all those present during the second round interviews of the outcome of the proficiency testing. Ms Matsoso and Mr. Venter participated in this teleconference.
Following the disclosure of the results of the proficiency test, Ms. Matsoso informed the NHLS chairperson, that her role was complete and asked to be excused. The Chairperson thanked Ms Matsoso for her contribution and confirmed that she was excused. Once Ms Matsoso was excused, the selection panel deliberated on the interview and proficiency results. A recommendation was then drafted and tabled to the NHLS board at the meeting held on the 29th of July 2015. Mr. Venter participated in the in drafting of the recommendation.
The NHLS board mandated the NHLS Chairperson to inform the Minister of Health of the outcome of the selection process. Both Mr. Venter and Dr Moonasar participated in the Board meeting in their capacity as Board Members of the NHLS.
The Minister of Health duly noted the outcome and was satisfied that the Board had followed a fair and rigorous process. As such, the Minister supported the recommendation of the NHLS Board to appoint Ms. Mogale as the CEO of the NHLS on a 5-year contract.
END.
23 September 2015 - NW3094
Volmink, Mr HC to ask the Minister of Health
How many nurses qualified at each type of training institution in each province in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013 and (e) 2014?
Reply:
The production of nurses and midwives are provided in the template below indicating the Public Colleges, Universities and Private Colleges from 2010-2014.
OUTPUT 4-YEAR PROGRAMME (2010-2014) NURSING COLLEGES
OUTPUT 4YEAR PROGRAMME(2010-2014)UNIVERSITIES
|
END.
23 September 2015 - NW3095
Kalyan, Ms SV to ask the Minister of Health
(1)(a) What are the categories of specialty for nurses in South Africa and (b) how many registered nurses are there in each category; (2) which training institutions offer nurses training in each category of specialty; (3) whether nurses specialising in neonatal care are trained at any type of institution; if not, why not; if so, (a) at which institutions and (b) how many nurses specialising in neonatal care have been trained since 1 January 2009?
Reply:
- (a), (b) and (2)
The categories of nurse and midwife specialists and production is covered in the template provided below depicting Universities and Public Colleges that offered such specializations.
UNIVERSITIES
|
|||||||
NURISNG EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS |
PROGRAMME |
YEAR OBTAINED
|
|||||
|
|
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
TOTAL |
CPUT |
Clinical Nursing Science, Health Assessment, |
15 |
12 |
1 |
12 |
1 |
41 |
|
Treatment and Care |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Occupational Health Nursing |
28 |
21 |
28 |
21 |
0 |
98 |
|
Oncology |
12 |
6 |
0 |
12 |
6 |
36 |
|
Nursing Administration |
39 |
20 |
0 |
20 |
39 |
118 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA |
Nursing Education |
6 |
10 |
19 |
10 |
19 |
64 |
|
Nursing Administration |
8 |
23 |
84 |
25 |
78 |
218 |
|
Community Nursing |
28 |
43 |
117 |
28 |
100 |
316 |
|
Operating Theatre Nursing |
10 |
3 |
14 |
3 |
12 |
42 |
|
Nursing Science: Neonatal Nursing |
0 |
|
27 |
0 |
0 |
27 |
|
Advanced Psychiatric Nursing |
7 |
3 |
8 |
9 |
8 |
35 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UNIVERSITY OF STELLEBOSCH |
Advanced Psychiatric Nursing |
14 |
13 |
14 |
12 |
13 |
66 |
|
Nursing Administration |
8 |
61 |
18 |
12 |
25 |
124 |
|
Clinical Nursing Science, Health Assessment, |
58 |
142 |
58 |
34 |
45 |
337 |
|
Treatment and Care |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Nursing Education |
42 |
26 |
59 |
42 |
36 |
205 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TUT |
Occupational Health Nursing |
62 |
99 |
25 |
35 |
24 |
245 |
|
Oncology |
23 |
10 |
14 |
13 |
20 |
80 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 |
|
Nursing Administration |
54 |
25 |
46 |
34 |
|
159 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UNIVERSITY OF VENDA |
Nursing Administration & Community Health |
23 |
16 |
15 |
23 |
26 |
103 |
|
Psychiatric Nursing |
15 |
31 |
73 |
34 |
13 |
166 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UNISA |
BA Cur Health Science Education & community |
18 |
63 |
164 |
45 |
32 |
322 |
|
Specializing in Occupational Health |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BA Cur Health Science Education & Health Service |
7 |
36 |
42 |
48 |
23 |
156 |
|
Management |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Health Science Education, Community Health Nursing |
58 |
48 |
36 |
40 |
41 |
223 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
WITS UNIVERSITY |
Nephrology Nursing |
6 |
10 |
13 |
10 |
8 |
47 |
|
Nursing Education |
1 |
2 |
10 |
5 |
7 |
25 |
|
Nursing Administration |
5 |
1 |
8 |
5 |
6 |
25 |
|
Trauma & Emergency Nursing |
|
|
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
Occupational Health |
11 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
15 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
KZN UNIVERSITY |
Clinical Nursing Science, Health Assessment, |
3 |
24 |
70 |
68 |
73 |
238 |
|
Treatment and Care |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nursing Administration |
55 |
42 |
25 |
38 |
40 |
200 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DURBAN UNIV OF TECHNOLOGY |
Clinical Nursing Science, Health Assessment, |
3 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
8 |
20 |
|
Treatment and Care |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NELSON MANDELA METROPOLITAN |
Nephrology Nursing |
9 |
11 |
15 |
14 |
19 |
68 |
UNIVERSITY |
Nursing Education |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
|
Critical Care Nursing |
4 |
5 |
7 |
6 |
3 |
25 |
|
Advanced Midwifery& Neonatal Nursing Science |
4 |
8 |
7 |
9 |
5 |
33 |
|
Clinical Nursing Science, Health Assessment, |
2 |
5 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
33 |
|
Treatment and Care |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advanced Psychiatric Nursing |
1 |
3 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
12 |
|
Nursing Administration |
5 |
8 |
9 |
5 |
12 |
39 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UNIVERSITY OF FREE STATE |
PSYC (880) |
6 |
5 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
29 |
|
PSYC (212) |
3 |
7 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
18 |
|
Occupational Health Nursing |
32 |
26 |
29 |
24 |
23 |
134 |
|
Clinical Nursing Science, Health Assessment, |
80 |
25 |
44 |
45 |
40 |
234 |
|
Treatment and Care |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Child Nursing Science |
12 |
14 |
2 |
8 |
12 |
48 |
|
Critical Care |
8 |
4 |
4 |
6 |
5 |
27 |
|
Advanced Midwifery& Neonatal Nursing |
7 |
17 |
9 |
9 |
6 |
48 |
|
Operating Theatre |
17 |
14 |
5 |
7 |
9 |
52 |
|
Nursing Administration |
81 |
15 |
22 |
26 |
23 |
167 |
|
Nursing Education |
10 |
15 |
10 |
15 |
17 |
67 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
POTCHEFSTROOM UNIVERSITY |
Nursing Management |
50 |
141 |
21 |
34 |
22 |
268 |
|
Nursing Education |
82 |
23 |
23 |
26 |
25 |
179 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Diploma: Clinical Nursing Science, Health Assessment, |
13 |
10 |
9 |
13 |
15 |
60 |
|
Treatment and Care |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advanced Midwifery & Neonatal Nursing Science |
2 |
14 |
7 |
3 |
6 |
32 |
|
|
12 |
35 |
26 |
19 |
20 |
112 |
|
Occupational Health Nursing |
22 |
35 |
31 |
25 |
32 |
145 |
|
Nursing Administration |
13 |
38 |
16 |
17 |
20 |
104 |
|
Nursing Education |
12 |
14 |
15 |
18 |
16 |
75 |
|
Community Health Nursing |
5 |
6 |
1 |
8 |
5 |
25 |
|
Medical & Surgical Nursing Science Critical care |
1 |
1 |
5 |
7 |
6 |
20 |
|
Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing Science |
2 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
11 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NURSING COLLEGES
NURSING EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS |
PROGRAMME |
YEAR OBTAINED |
|||||
|
|
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
TOTAL |
NET CARE EDUCATION |
Critical Care Nursing: General |
12 |
6 |
7 |
13 |
10 |
48 |
|
Operating Room Nursing |
8 |
9 |
11 |
11 |
14 |
53 |
|
Trauma and Emergency Nursing |
14 |
17 |
4 |
4 |
18 |
57 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SG LOURENS NURSING COLLEGE |
Psychiatric Nursing Science |
15 |
17 |
19 |
32 |
10 |
93 |
|
Clinical Nursing Science, Health Assessment |
32 |
29 |
28 |
89 |
45 |
223 |
|
Treatment & Care |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BARAGWANATH NURSING SCIENCE |
Nephrology Nursing Science |
12 |
10 |
3 |
25 |
15 |
65 |
|
Child Nursing Science |
12 |
12 |
6 |
30 |
30 |
90 |
|
Critical Care Nursing: General |
|
35 |
8 |
43 |
34 |
120 |
|
Ophthalmic Nursing Science |
16 |
13 |
5 |
34 |
15 |
83 |
|
Trauma and Emergency |
21 |
13 |
3 |
37 |
22 |
96 |
|
Oncology Nursing Science |
6 |
12 |
2 |
20 |
13 |
53 |
|
Operating Theatre Nursing Science |
17 |
20 |
2 |
39 |
17 |
95 |
|
Orthopeadic Nursing Science |
17 |
10 |
6 |
33 |
28 |
94 |
|
Clinical Nursing Science, Health Assessment |
45 |
23 |
5 |
73 |
56 |
202 |
|
Treatment & Care |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Advanced Midwifery & Neonatal Nursing |
35 |
25 |
16 |
76 |
23 |
175 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FREE STATE COLLEGE |
Critical Care Nursing |
11 |
12 |
10 |
15 |
15 |
63 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
MCCORD HOSPITAL SCHOOL OF NURSING |
Clinical Nursing Science, Health Assessment |
45 |
38 |
43 |
42 |
36 |
204 |
|
Diagnosis, Treatment & Care |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LILITHA COLLEGE OF NURSING |
Ophthalmological Nursing Science |
9 |
12 |
10 |
10 |
16 |
57 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Orthopeadic Nursing Science |
12 |
8 |
13 |
11 |
14 |
58 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LIFE COLLEGE |
Operating Theatre Nursing |
6 |
4 |
9 |
13 |
8 |
40 |
|
Emergency Nursing |
19 |
13 |
10 |
29 |
12 |
83 |
|
Critical Care Nursing: General |
5 |
14 |
10 |
19 |
13 |
61 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
KZN COLLEGE OF NURSING |
Critical Care Nursing Science |
15 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
75 |
|
Child Nursing Science |
14 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
70 |
|
Orthopeadic Nursing Science |
15 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
75 |
|
Midwifery & Neonatal Nursing Science |
24 |
24 |
24 |
24 |
24 |
120 |
|
Child Nursing Science |
16 |
16 |
16 |
16 |
16 |
80 |
|
Ophthalmic Nursing Science |
15 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
75 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
ANN LATSKY NURSING COLLEGE |
Clinical Nursing Science, Health Assessment |
61 |
59 |
44 |
53 |
41 |
258 |
|
Treatment & Care |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
GA-RANKUWA |
Midwifery & Neonatal Nursing Science |
35 |
32 |
36 |
23 |
20 |
146 |
|
Child Nursing Science |
30 |
21 |
20 |
12 |
23 |
106 |
|
Operating Theatre Nursing |
20 |
18 |
12 |
12 |
16 |
78 |
|
Critical Care Nursing: General |
18 |
12 |
12 |
16 |
15 |
73 |
|
Clinical Nursing Science, Health Assessment |
18 |
16 |
27 |
30 |
23 |
114 |
|
Treatment & Care |
|
|
|
|
|
|
SUMMARY PRODUCTION OF SPECIALIST NURSES: NURSING COLLEGES
PROGRAME |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
Advanced Midwifery& Neonatal Nursing Science |
94 |
77 |
76 |
123 |
67 |
Advanced Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing Science |
15 |
17 |
19 |
32 |
10 |
Child Nursing Science |
72 |
63 |
62 |
54 |
62 |
Clinical Nursing Science Health Assessment Treatment & Care |
201 |
165 |
147 |
287 |
201 |
Community Nursing Science |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Critical Care General |
61 |
94 |
69 |
121 |
108 |
Critical Care Trauma |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Critical Care Trauma & Emergency |
14 |
17 |
4 |
4 |
18 |
Nephrology Nursing Science |
87 |
36 |
16 |
81 |
55 |
Nursing Administration |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Nursing Education |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Occupational Health Nursing Science |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Oncology Nursing Science |
6 |
12 |
2 |
20 |
13 |
Operating Theatre Nursing |
51 |
51 |
34 |
86 |
100 |
Ophthalmological Nursing Science |
24 |
27 |
25 |
25 |
72 |
Orthopaedic Nursing Science |
27 |
23 |
28 |
26 |
73 |
SUMMARY PRODUCTION OF SPECIALIST NURSES: UNIVERSITIES
PROGRAME |
2010 |
2011 |
2012 |
2013 |
2014 |
Advanced Midwifery& Neonatal Nursing Science |
13 |
39 |
50 |
21 |
17 |
Advanced Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing Science |
48 |
63 |
110 |
68 |
48 |
Child Nursing Science |
12 |
14 |
2 |
8 |
12 |
Clinical Nursing Science Health Assessment Treatment & Care |
169 |
219 |
182 |
238 |
176 |
Community Nursing Science |
62 |
73 |
136 |
84 |
126 |
Critical Care General |
13 |
10 |
16 |
19 |
14 |
Critical Care Trauma |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Critical Care Trauma & Emergency |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
Nephrology Nursing Science |
15 |
21 |
28 |
24 |
27 |
Nursing Administration |
290 |
366 |
260 |
225 |
263 |
Nursing Education |
162 |
125 |
218 |
139 |
136 |
Occupational Health Nursing Science |
155 |
185 |
113 |
105 |
79 |
Oncology Nursing Science |
35 |
16 |
14 |
25 |
26 |
Operating Theatre Nursing |
27 |
17 |
19 |
10 |
21 |
Ophthalmological Nursing Science |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Orthopaedic Nursing Science |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
(3) (a) Yes, the University of Johannesburg and University of Pretoria;
(b) A total of 310 since 1 January 2009, however, this programme has been discontinued after it was identified that there were no Regulations related to the offering of such programme. It should also be noted that candidates who underwent such training were duly registered based on Council resolution.
END.
23 September 2015 - NW2902
Volmink, Mr HC to ask the Minister of Health
Whether the country will meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goals 4, 5 and 6 relating to health this year; if not, (a) which of the goals and/or targets will not be met, (b) why will the specified goals and/or targets not be met, (c) who will be held accountable for the missed goals and/or targets and (d) what measures has he implemented to ensure that missed goals and/or targets are met?
Reply:
(a), (b), (c) and (d) Honourable Member, the final target for MDGs is end of September 2015. The United Nations General Assembly is meeting then to finalise and release the final results for each country. You may have to be a bit patient until that final moment. But generally the United Nations is of the view that MDGs 4, 5 and 6 are going to be included in the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
END.