Questions and Replies

Reply:

(a) The N2 extends for roughly 190 km between Mthatha and Kokstad. On this section safe passing opportunities have been provided over approximately 150km, particularly between Mthatha and Mount Frere, and between Mount Ayliff and Kokstad. Between Mount Frere and the Ngcelweni river, 40km north of Mount Frere, the N2 is of an older standard but design is in progress to upgrade this section which will include the provision of passing opportunities.

(b) Fencing of the N2 reserve boundaries was upgraded during construction and thereafter maintained through routine maintenance projects. The South of Brooks Nek fencing has recently been upgraded as part of a construction project. Fencing between Qumbu and Mount Frere is being upgraded over 37km as part of a construction project. Furthermore, about 33 km of fencing will be upgraded under the future construction project in the Southern side of Qumbu.

Vandalism and theft of fencing components is an ongoing challenge, as is the control of the closure of gates. The non closure of gates results in the entry of animals into the road reserve and then being trapped in a fenced corridor. The Provincial Department of Transport have introduced rangers to patrol the roads for the purpose of controlling stray animals.

(c) The N2 is considered to be a mobility road and the location of trading facilities should be considered with caution as it introduces additional turning movements with the associated reduction of the safe operation of this high speed mobility road. Such facilities are best located on lower speed access roads which operate under lower traffic volumes and speeds. Additionally it should be noted that trading on public and national roads are controlled under legislation.

Reply:

1. The reintroduction of specialised units in the South African Police Service is determined by organisational priorities and is being considered annually. There is no intention in the Annual Performance Plan 2015/2016 to reintroduce any additional specialised units. Existing units are continuously being capacitated to enhance their capability to render an effective and efficient service.

The moment a need for the establishment of a specialised unit is identified, the need is analysed and investigated taking existing capacities and organisational priorities into consideration in order to address a specific need.

2.  No statement will be made at this moment in time.

Reply:

(a) Yes.

(b)  The current salary level of the specified person is: SMS Grade C (salary level 15).

(c) The rank is derived from the prescripts contained in Regulation 8 of the South African Police Service Act (Act No 68 of 1995), as promulgated in Government Gazette Notice No 9252, dated 1 April 2010.

(d) A total number of 23 other Lieutenant Generals (Deputy National Commissioners/Provincial Commissioners and Divisional Commissioners) are on the establishment of the South African Police Service.

 

Reply:

The matter is being dealt with.

Reply:

(a) The National Prosecuting Authority has reported the following numbers of prosecutions for human trafficking during the financial years requested:

1. 2010/11: 1;
2. 2011/12: 1;
3. 2012/13: 3;
4. 2013/14: 1; and
5. 2014/15: 19.

The NPA has added that several cases are currently under investigation and in order not to jeopardise these cases that are sub judice, the NPA is unable to provide any information regarding the said matters.

(b) How many of the specified cases were convictions?

1. 2010/11: 1;
2. 2011/12: 1;
3. 2012/13: 3;
4. 2013/14: 1; and
5. 2014/2015: 7 convictions.

Based on the information available at the time of this response, the NPA is only aware of two additional prosecutions on trafficking which resulted in an acquittal (both in the Western Cape. In the one matter the accused was convicted on minor charges and in the other case, the complainant refused to testify.

Progress in other matters: In eight (8) matters, the cases are partly-heard; in one case, the trial is to commence in October 2015; in one case, the trial date was set on 25 August 2015; and in two cases, bail applications will still be heard.

(c) (i) How many of the specified cases involved female victims?

Statistics regarding the gender of the victim was not captured and are therefore unavailable. However, based on experience, the NPA’s cases involve predominantly female victims.

(ii) What was the nationality of the victims identified in each case?

Statistics regarding the nationality of the victim was not captured and are therefore unavailable.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION AS RECEIVED FROM THE NATIONAL PROSECUTION AUTHORITY:

(a) How many cases of human trafficking was prosecuted in the financial years as indicated:

(i) 2010 – 2011

NAME	PROVINCE / DIVISION	DATE	STATUS
S v Eloff & Another	Free State	2009	CONVICTION – Trafficking in persons for sexual purposes, section 71 of Act 32/2007. Sentenced to 8 years imprisonment suspended for 5 years on conditions.

(ii) 2011 – 2012

NAME	PROVINCE / DIVISION	DATE	STATUS
S v Dos Santos	North Gauteng	2011	CONVICTION - Trafficking in persons for sexual purposes, section 71 of Act 32/2007 (4 charges). Sentenced to life imprisonment.

(iii) 2012 – 2013

NAME	PROVINCE / DIVISION	DATE	STATUS
S v Shembe	Western Cape	2012	CONVICTION - Trafficking in persons for sexual purposes, section 71 of Act 32/2007. Sentenced to 23 years imprisonment.
S v Ntonga & Bell	Eastern Cape	2013	CONVICTION - Trafficking in persons for sexual purposes, section 71 of Act 32/2007. Sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
S v Gwambe	Mpumalanga	2013	CONVICTION - Trafficking in persons for sexual purposes, section 71 of Act 32/2007. Sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

(iv) 2013 – 2014

NAME	PROVINCE / DIVISION	DATE	STATUS
S v Jezile	Western Cape	2014	CONVICTION - Trafficking in persons for sexual purposes, section 71 of Act 32/2007 and Rape section 3 of Act 32 / 2007. Sentenced to 22 years imprisonment (conviction and sentence confirmed on appeal).

1. 2014 – 2015

NAME	PROVINCE / DIVISION	DATE	STATUS
S v Allima	KZN	2014	CONVICTION - Trafficking in persons for sexual purposes, section 71 of Act 32/2007. Sentenced to life imprisonment.
S v Simelane	North Gauteng	2014	CONVICTION - Trafficking in persons for sexual purposes, section 71 of Act 32/2007 and Rape section 3 of Act 32/2007. Sentenced to 30 years imprisonment.
S v Mabuza	Mpumalanga	2014	CONVICTION - Trafficking in persons for sexual purposes, section 71 of Act 32/2007 (8 charges). Sentenced to life imprisonment on all 8 charges.
S v Wang	Western Cape	2014	CONVICTION - Trafficking in persons for sexual purposes, section 71 of Act 32/2007. Postponed for sentence.
S v Knoetze	Eastern Cape	2014	CONVICTION – Trafficking in persons for sexual purposes, section 71 of Act 32/2007. Sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
S v Uche & Others	KZN	2015	CONVICTION - Trafficking in persons for sexual purposes, section 71 of Act 32/2007. Postponed for sentence.
S v Palan & Another	KZN	2015	CONVICTION - Trafficking in persons for sexual purposes, section 71 of Act 32/2007. Sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.
S v Rugnath	KZN	2014	Partly heard
S v Mansaur	KZN	2014	Partly heard
S v Matini & Another	Eastern Cape	2014	Partly heard
S v Gudwana	Western Cape	2014	Partly heard
S v Tiki & Others	Western Cape	2014	Partly heard
S v Wellem & Others	Western Cape	2014	Partly heard
S v Agasi & Others	Western Cape	2014	Partly heard
S v Jooste	Western Cape	2014	Trial to commence in October 2015
S v Zweni	KZN	2015	Partly heard
S v Chijoko & Another	WC	2015	Trial date to be set on 25/08/2015
S v Mbene & Another	WC	2015	For bail application on 27/8/2015
S v Okoye & Others	WC	2015	For bail application on 28/9/2015

Several cases are currently under investigation, in order not to jeopardise these cases that are sub judice, we are unable to provide any information regarding the said matters.

(b) How many of the specified cases were convictions?

See schedule as per paragraph (a) supra. Based on the information available at the time of this response, the NPA is only aware of two additional prosecutions on trafficking which resulted in an acquittal (both in the Western Cape. In the one matter the accused was convicted on minor charges and in the other case, the complainant refused to testify.

(c) (i) How many of the specified cases involved female victims?

Statistics regarding the gender of the victim was not captured and are therefore unavailable. However, based on experience, the NPA’s cases involve predominantly female victims.

(ii) What was the nationality of the victims identified in each case?

Statistics regarding the nationality of the victim was not captured and are therefore unavailable.

Reply:

(1)(a), (b) and (2)(a) and (b)

The information requested is merely not readily available at the level of detail requested. Due to the number of transactions and various documentation to be analysed and consolidated it would be extremely time consuming and place an unreasonable burden on the resources of the Department to obtain the information requested.

Reply:

The matter has been reported to the NPA under Case Number 65/3/2012.  The matter is under investigation. CEF is not in the position to avail and/or request the content of the docket, such request should be directed to the NPA accordingly and a determination by the NPA in terms of their rules shall be made as to whether or not to avail such information on pending matters.

Reply:

1. The South African Police Service does not have a specific policy or guidelines for enforcing legislation on sex work and suspected sex workers. There are however generic policies and guidelines utilized by members instead of policy and guidelines for specific offences.

Members of the South African Police Service carry out their functions and exercise their powers in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act No. 51 of 1977), including the lawful arrest of sex workers. The circumstances under which any arrest may be performed and the method of arrest is set out in Standing Order (General) 341 (Arrest and the treatment of an arrested person until such person is handed over to the community service centre commander).

The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and related matters) Amendment Act of 2007 (Act No. 32 of 2007) created an offence relating to the client of the sex worker (i.e engaging the sexual services of persons 18 years or older). National Instruction 3 of 2008 on Sexual Offences provides for the implementation of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007 (Act No. 32 of 2007). 

2.  SAPS members receive training in the following disciplines that also apply to law enforcement in respect of sex work:

• Human Rights in Policing
• Victim Empowerment
• Dealing with Vulnerable Groups
• Apprehension of Suspects

3.  The SAPS does not have specific training programmes that deal with the apprehension and searching of sex workers. The training provided is based in SAPS directives mentioned in par (1) above and applies to all individuals apprehended by the SAPS, irrespective of the alleged crime.

4.  SAPS is unfortunately not able to provide the details within the given time frame as the information is not readily available and must be obtained from the provinces. A request is hereby made for an extension in order for us to provide quality and correct information as soon as it is received.

Reply:

(a) Students who graduated from the University of South Africa (UNISA) with a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) before the programme’s accreditation status was changed to ‘not accredited’ by the Council on Higher Education (CHE) in June 2015, are not affected by the change. Therefore, only graduates in 2015 are affected but will be allowed to register with the South African Council on Social Service Practitioners. Students who are currently enrolled in the programme will be transferred to the new programme once accredited. The University has already commenced with the recurriculation of the programme and will submit the programme to CHE for accreditation before the end of 2015. No new enrolments in the BSW will be allowed at UNISA for 2016. Once new enrolments are allowed in 2017, current students will be transferred to the new accredited programme.

(b) The primary employer of BSW graduates is the Department of Social Development (DSD). The Department, DSD and UNISA met to discuss the implications of the de-accreditation. The primary employer is therefore aware of the processes going forward, with regard to the development and offering of a new accredited BSW at UNISA.

(c) Inadequacies are remedied through recurriculation. A communication and teach-out plan for current BSW students has been developed by UNISA. Transferring current students to other programmes, until the new BSW is accredited, is considered as an option. More resources will be allocated to the Department of Social Work at the University and additional staff will be headhunted.

(d) Sixteen BSW programmes were reviewed.

(e) Seven received full accreditation, five received accreditation with conditions, one with a notice of withdrawal, whilst three were de-accredited, including UNISA’s programme.

(f) The four primary concerns were about staff competencies, the theoretical underpinning and content of the programme, programme design, and the nature and extent of practical sessions in the programme.

 

 

Compiler/Contact persons:

Ext:

DIRECTOR – GENERAL

STATUS:

DATE:

REPLY TO QUESTION 3139 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED

Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

STATUS:

DATE:

Reply:

(a) Yes.

(b) Cabinet approved the new model for Solar Water Heaters on 24 June 2015. An Inter-Ministerial Committee on Energy will finalise the model.

Reply:

1. (a) No training provider appointed

(b) (i) The costs are not known at this stage

(ii) Under normal circumstances, the RPL process takes 12 months, but for this group the period has not yet been determined

(2) Same as (ii)

(3) The main aim of conducting RPL is to eliminate unnecessary repetitions and duplication in the training programme. The Masupatsela Youth Pioneers have already undergone some form of training. The SAQA guidelines on RPL clearly specify that it should be embedded within broader personal development and career path. It is for this reason that the Masupatsela Youth Pioneers will undergo the RPL process first before the commencement of training.

(4) As stated earlier, the main of conducing RPL is to provide the Masupatsela Youth Pioneers with accredited training to enhance their skills and knowledge, as well as improve career development and open access to better job opportunities even outside the social sector.

Reply:

Yes, my Department launched an investigation into the allegations made by the residents (complainants) of Masimong 4 Estate, in Welkom.

(a) The Department received the complaint in March 2015 and concluded its preliminary investigation on 28 May 2015. The preliminary investigation (assessment) of the complaint was conducted by the Department’s Legal Advisory Services and Rental Housing Development Units. It included, amongst others, engagement with the complainants and Amohela Property Management.

(b) (i) It is important to note that the initial complaint focused on allegations of rental dispute and illegal evictions. The allegation of rental dispute was confirmed and it was found that conflicting/ different monthly rental fee structures were issued by Amohela Property Management and the Free State Department of Human Settlement.

This resulted in the complainants claiming not to know the correct and/or valid monthly rental fee structure.

(ii) The allegation of illegal eviction could not be substantiated by the complainants. However, my department discovered that the complainants were (only) threatened with evictions following their dispute with Amohela Property Management on monthly rental to be paid by the tenants/ residents, due to conflicting/ different rental structure which was presented to them.

(iii) The allegations of irregularities regarding the management of Masimong 4 Estate were referred to the department in July of 2015.

(a) The outcome of the preliminary investigation recommended that the matter be referred for forensic investigation.

(b) The matter, particularly the alleged irregularities in the management of Masimong 4 Estate, is a subject of a forensic investigation that is currently underway and conducted by the department’s Special Investigations Directorate. A detailed forensic investigation report will be submitted once the investigation is finalized.

Reply:

The National Upgrading Support Programme (NUSP) provides technical assistance to municipalities for the development of Municipal Upgrading Strategies and Programmes, Community Capacity Building Programmes, Livelihood Strategies and Settlement Upgrading Plans. To date 987 informal settlements have been assessed and categorised, 135 informal settlements are in process of being assessed and categorised, 334 settlement plans have been developed, 242 settlement plans are in process of being developed, 35 municipal strategies / programmes have been completed and 6 municipal strategies/programmes are in progress. An upgrading manual for human settlements practitioners have been completed, a dedicated NUSP website (www.upgrading.support.org) is operational and a monthly newsletter is being produced. An investigation on tenure options on tribal land is currently being conducted.

A budget of R70 million is allocated to the NUSP in the 2015/16 financial year. In terms of the project allocation, R12.4 million is committed to signed contracts, R29.6 million is in the process of being committed on approved projects, R10 million has been allocated for Technical Support and an amount of R5 million earmarked for implementation of the Capacity Building Programme. The total amount committed or in procurement process is R57 million. An amount of R7.7 million has been spent to date.

Reply:

(1) (a) The centre has not yet been opened because the construction is still in progress.

(b) The initial planned budget for the construction of the centre was R96 410 237.86

(2) Yes, the building development exceeded the originally proposed costs.

(a) The building costs was exceeded by an amount of R4 157 810.84

(b) The reason of exceeding the originally proposed building costs was due to an approved variation order for the extension of time which had cost implications.

(3) It is expected that the project be completed in September 2015, and will start admitting service users from 1st of November 2015.

 

Reply:

(a) The RFP was not specific on the anticipated number of beneficiaries to be enrolled. However, the costing template which was attached as an Annexure stipulated the number of 9 082 251, and it was on this basis that the bidders costed the service. During the finalization of the bid, SASSA confirmed with the service provider that there was no charge for the enrolment of 9 082 251 beneficiaries. When the contract was implemented, it was realized that enrolment of all beneficiaries, procurators and children would require more time than initially expected. The enrolment had initially been planned for all grant collecting adults (the 9 082 251 quoted) but the decision was made to include the re-registration of all children and procurators since SASSA and the service provider would have face-to-face contact with each person collecting a grant. It would have created serious hardship for social grant beneficiaries had we completed the enrolment of the 9 082 251 beneficiaries, and then still expect the same beneficiaries to return at a later date to re-register their children and procurators. The extension and the inclusion of the children and procurators at the same time that enrolment was taking place was agreed to in a management meeting held in June 2012.

It would have not made any business sense for the Agency to appoint another service provider to render this service, as this would have resulted in SASSA having disparate databases, something which the re-registration and enrolment process sought to eliminate at the first place. It should also be noted that in the original RFP, consideration had always been given to paying a separate fee for the enrolment and re-registration of beneficiaries – it was not originally expected to be included within the capped fee of R16, 50 per transaction. However, the service provider, who had budgeted to absorb the cost of bulk enrolment within the service fee quoted, indicated that, with the extension of both time and numbers, there would be a cost for the service. This cost was to cover his direct costs related to the payment of staff, overtime, transport, leasing of re-registration venues and hiring of tents in areas where there was a need to do so.

(b) Given the foregoing, the payment in question cannot be regarded as a transgression of the contract. The re-registration of all beneficiaries, children and procurators was part and parcel of the long term plan. However, the ability to implement this within the set time frame and within budget was found to exceed the practical limits which had been set, and approval was therefore given for the extension of time and resources to complete the project, with as little disruption and inconvenience to social grant beneficiaries as possible. Yes, the implementation of this exercise came at a cost but in terms of the long term benefits and safeguarding the integrity of the social grant payment system, this exercise will provide the benefits will far outweigh the initial costs, as the Agency managed to accrue savings of R3.2 billion in the 2013/14 financial year for Government.

Reply:

(1) Yes, the Water Tribunal has started with their work. There are no finalized cases. However, the Water Tribunal had its first hearing on the 22 July 2015 to 24 July 2015 and the cases were not finalised and were postponed to 27 August 2015 to 28 August 2015.

(2)(a) As at August 2012 when the Water Tribunal term of office came to an end a total of 124 cases were outstanding.

(2)(b) The Department currently has a total of 313 outstanding cases.

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Reply:

The Department initiated a sector-wide service delivery improvement process. This initiative enables the Department and its entities to engage directly with beneficiaries of its services. This will allow the Department and entities to identify any regulations that hinder the effective delivery of services on the ground and come up with plans to address such.

Reply:

National Treasury has not yet approved my Department’s request for rollovers of R1 600 899 000 for Programme 1, 2, 4 and 5; and R1 557 184 000 in respect of each economic classification from the 2014-15 to the 2015-16 financial year.

National Treasury will only communicate the outcome of the rollover process on or before 11 September 2015 through the approved allocation letters as per the Guidelines of 2015 Adjustment Estimates of National Expenditure.

The non-approval of the requested rollover funds will necessitate the need for my Department to reprioritise the existing allocations for 2015/16 financial year within the programmes. This will result in the rescheduling of some of the infrastructure projects earmarked for the current year.

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Reply:

The methodology for Tourism Satellite Accounts (TSA) is only developed to monitor the contribution of the tourism sector to the economy on a national level. Noting that tourism, and the management thereof, is of particular interest to policy makers and government structures on a sub-national level, the United Nation’s World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) embarked on a process to develop Tourism Economic Accounts (TEA) that will allow for similar information on a lower level of geographic disaggregation.

This will take a number of years as there is no agreed international framework or standard. The development of provincial TEA is driven by UNWTO which produced a provisional set of concepts and definitions in May 2015. This is currently open for global consultation until September 2015.

Reply:

1. The nine provincial substance abuse fora; are situated at each provincial Department of Social Development (in nine provinces of the country); which are: Eastern Cape (Bisho), Gauteng (Johannesburg), Free State (Bloemfontein), Northern Cape (Kimberly), Mpumalanga (Nelspruit), Kwa-Zulu Natal (Pietermaritzburg), Northwest (Mafikeng), Limpopo (Polokwane) and Western Cape (Cape Town) provinces. The Secretariat function of all the nine Substance Abuse fora resides within the Department of Social Development as it leads the coordination of the forums.
2. Yes, the Central Drug Authority (CDA) has a plan of action to encourage the

Government departments, private institutions, Provincial Substance Abuse Forums and Local Drug Action Committees to compile strategies to address substance abuse in line with the goals of the National Drug Master Plan 2013 – 2017 (NDMP). The CDA has on an ongoing basis guided the above mentioned structures to develop and implement strategies to address the scourge of substance abuse within respective areas of operation. These strategies focus on Demand Reduction, Supply Reduction and Harm Reduction. The CDA has also visited Provincial Legislatures in some provinces (Eastern Cape and Gauteng) in order to solicit political support in the implementation of the National Drug Master Plan 2013-2017. CDA is still awaiting the response of other provinces in this regard.

Government departments, Provincial Substance Abuse Forums and the Local Drug Action Committees submit their six monthly and annual reports to the CDA in accordance with their Drug Master Plans.

3. In 2011, the CDA held the 2nd Biennial Summit which was preceded by provincial summits and a house- hold survey. CDA used the information and facts gathered together with resolutions of the summit to develop the National Drug Master Plan 2013-2017. The resolutions of the summit were further used to develop an Integrated Anti-Substance Abuse Programme of Action. Subsequently, the CDA focused on the preparation for the 3rd Biennial Anti-Substance Abuse Summit, which is envisaged to take place in the 2015/2016 financial year. This planned summit will review the past resolutions.

An evaluative study was conducted on Ke Moja education and awareness programme, and the findings were used to review this programme. CDA held a Substance Abuse Treatment Symposium, with a view of developing treatment strategy which will guide the development and implementation of standardized treatment programmes. Community Based Services Model, After Care and Reintegration Model, Anti-Substance Abuse Prevention Model for adults and Treatment Model; were developed based on the current situation in the country. Annually CDA compile a report to inform government interventions to combat substance abuse.

Reply:

Requesting the Honourable Member to refer the question to the Minister of Corporative Governance and Traditional Affairs who is in a better position to respond to issues relating to the eThekwini Municipality.

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Reply:

(a) The Department currently has a total 984 invoices from private contractors that are unpaid for longer than 30 days.

(b) Refer to the attached Annexure A for a detailed list.

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Reply:

The Honourable Member must refer to my previous replies to questions 727 on 30 April 2015 and questions 952, 1011 and 1596 on 26 May 2015. Partnerships for Social Development present many opportunities. They allow different sectors of society to have access to the comparative advantages of their partners. Again, international cooperation is becoming increasingly important in development because of growing trans-border challenges and major population movements.

The Department is therefore involved in a number of bilateral and multilateral engagements where South Africa is both a partner and a member. The country and Department in particular benefits from these international partnerships through capacity building, development support and information exchanges. The Department regularly conducts an overall assessment of partnership arrangements which focus on long-term view that goes beyond short-term financial goals Partnership often exact large costs in time, energy and financial inputs otherwise known as high transaction costs. Given the importance and desirability of foreign partnerships, high transaction costs are often unavailable. The Department while engaging with partners fully considers benefits on costs, short term versus long-term implications and potential impact of social development.

 

Reply:

(a) Raw and untreated sewerage is caused by many factors such as skills shortages in municipalities, aging and overloaded infrastructure and lack of maintenance. My Department is responding to this threat by implementing programmes such as Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant, Municipal Water Infrastructure Grant and Accelerated Community Infrastructure Programme. In addition, the Green and Blue Drops reports are compiled annually to provide an indication on the level of compliance of wastewater treatment works and whether conditions of authorisation are met. Furthermore, my Department provides the necessary support for the implementation of the recommendations in the reports. The discharge of raw or partially treated sewage into the water resource is treated as a pollution incident and my Department has enforcement measures that are taken in order to ensure that mitigation measures are implemented by the wastewater treatment owner to address and minimise the pollution.

(b) Yes, for the period in question, my Department had and continues to maintain stringent measures for the protection of water resources (and the general environment) from mining, agricultural and industrial impacts. In this regard, my Department has invoked principles of the National Water Act, 1998 (Act 36 of 1998) to ensure that mines, agriculture and industries take measures to ensure unauthorised mining, agricultural and industrial-impacted discharges are terminated or treated to a suitable standard before discharging to the environment. Furthermore, my Department has implemented mega civil projects to ensure that mine water (acid mine drainage) in Gauteng is mitigated. My Department’s ongoing regulation and enforcement measures will ensure that any current and future mining, agricultural and industrial impacts on the water resources are adequately addressed.

With regard to Agriculture, my Department has during this period embarked on continuous compliance monitoring for agricultural water use activities and annual targets are set on the Annual Business Plans; furthermore my Department through water use authorisations instructs agricultural water users to exercise good farming practices such as using strip vegetation within a 50 year flood line of the river to prevent run-off with pesticides or fertilisers from polluting the resources.

My Department also instructs water users to comply with all water use license conditions, which include conditions for the prevention of contaminants from polluting streams, rivers and groundwater, as set in the respective entitlements through audits.

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Reply:

(1)(a) A total of 800 persons have started receiving training in July 2015 and as from September a further 2200 persons will start receiving training.

(1)(b) The trained persons will start working after completion of their 36 months / 3 years training programme .Water Agents that will be trained will complete their training after ten months and could start working thereafter.

(2)(a) Below is the breakdown of the15000 to be trained in the financial year 2015-16:

15000
Trades and quantities	Plumbers	Artisans	Water agent
	7500	5000	2500

(2)(b) Below is the breakdown of the 3000 to be trained in the financial year 2015-16:

3000 Phase 1 FY – 2015/16
Trades and quantities	Plumbers	Artisans	Water agent
	1500	1000	500

-2-

(3)(a) The unemployed young people will be trained at various EWSETA accredited training institutions, TVETS(Technical Vocational Education and Training), municipalities and water boards in the nine provinces.

(3)(b) Artisans will be trade tested Artisans at the end of the training period, Water Agents will receive a qualification that is comprised of unit standard bearing credits to enable them to build up this basic qualification into a higher qualification. Plumbers will receive formal plumber qualifications from the respective accreditation bodies.

(4) My Department will fund this project over the 5 year project period through the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF).

(5) Yes, my Department has other plans to curb the high level of water losses in the country. There are initiatives such as the following:

  (a)The “No Drop” regulatory programme, which serves as a guideline for municipalities to develop strategies, plans to reduce water demand, water losses and non-revenue water.

  (b)  Campaigns to educate the public on the scarcity of water and also to encourage water conservation and demand management.

   (c) Training programme for councilors to institutionalise water conservation and demand management within the municipalities.

  (d) Municipal Self-Assessment System, which the municipalities use to conduct self-assessment in various areas including water conservation and demand management.

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Reply:

(a)  The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality does not have plans to upgrade the Eikenhof informal settlement because of the dolomitic soil conditions in the area, which makes not suitable for development.

(b) The City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality resolved in 2005 that the qualifying beneficiaries of Eikenhof informal settlement will be relocated to the Lehae project. From 2012/13 a total of 175 beneficiaries from Eikenhof have been allocated houses and subsequently relocated to Lehae. As more houses are completed, beneficiaries will be relocated to Lehae.

Reply:

(a) The department does not define red tape but certainly believes in business efficiency. With regard to business process management, the Department and SA Tourism regularly review business processes to introduce improvements where necessary.

(b)(i)(aa)(aaa) Not applicable

(b)(i)(aa) (bbb) Not applicable

(b)(ii)(bb) (aaa) Not applicable

(b)(ii)(bb)(bbb) Not applicable

Reply:

Currently the office of the Chief Procurement Officer does not have a record of all procurement disputes. Therefore it is not possible to quantify the amount lost through procurement disputes.

As part of our Public Sector Supply Chain Management Reforms, a reporting framework is being developed. Disputes, among many other reporting requirements, will be published periodically. This will be progressively implemented in the next two years. However, starting from the end of September 2015, basic SCM reporting will be introduced quarterly.

Reply:

1. As per the response to question 2633, the camera equipment installed on the GFIP system complies with the technical requirements of SANS 1795, Part 5 on data capturing and recording devices for road traffic law enforcement.
2. In terms of Section 22 of Legal Metrology Act, Act 9 of 2014, the Minister is referring to the vehicle classification system as stated in the previous response

Reply:

Section 3 of the Public Audit Act (hereinafter referred to as “PAA”) provides that the Auditor-General (hereinafter referred to as “AG”):

• Is the supreme audit institution in the Republic;
• Has full legal capacity, is independent and is subject only to the Constitution and the law, including the PAA;
• Must be impartial and must exercise the powers and perform the functions of the office without fear, favour or prejudice; and
• Is accountable to the National Assembly.

From the above, it is abundantly clear that the AG is an independent institution which performs its functions in terms of the PAA and is accountable to the National Assembly. It would therefore be appropriate for this question to be addressed to the National Assembly or the AG directly.

The Municipal Finance Management Act (hereinafter referred to as the “MFMA”) places the responsibility on a municipality to disclose information correctly and to ensure that there is transparency when it comes to the financial affairs of the municipality. Specifically, section 61(1)(a) of the MFMA places a fiduciary responsibility on the accounting officer to act with fidelity, honesty, integrity and in the best interest of the municipality in managing its financial affairs. Section 122(1) of the MFMA also provides that every municipality and every municipal entity must prepare annual financial statements (AFS) for each financial year which amongst others, disclose the information required in terms of sections 123, 124 and 125 of the Act. Section 125 (2)(d) of the MFMA requires the municipality to disclose particulars in the notes to its AFS of “any material losses and any material irregular or fruitless and wasteful expenditures, including in the case of a municipality, any material unauthorised expenditure, that occurred during the financial year, and whether these are recoverable.” From the legislation it is clear that the responsibility to make the necessary disclosure vests with the municipality and any non-disclosure of material amounts in the AFS should be explained by the municipality concerned.

Reply:

(a) Minister had undertaken 6 international trips since Minister’s appointment until 3 August 2015.

(b) 

(i) London, Gaborone, Swaziland, Mozambique, USA and China

(ii) South African Airways

(iii) 2 economy and 4 business class flights

 

 

MR NN MUNZHELELE

DIRECTOR GENERAL [ACTING]

DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE:

MS AF MUTHAMBI (MP)

MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS

DATE

Reply:

Responses provided by the Department of Home Affairs, Government Printing Works and Electoral Commission are given below:

(i)  Department of Home Affairs

(a) Red tape is defined as the excessive bureaucracy or procedures marked by complexities of processes which in most cases result in delays or failure to take any action.

(b)(i-ii) The department has put in place policies, guidelines and standard operating procedures to ensure smooth operations in compliance with the laws and mandate of the department.

(aa-bb) The department’s audit coverage plan focuses on various auditable areas with a sole purpose of identifying weaknesses in the internal control environment and reduces bottlenecks.

(ii) According to the Government Printing Works

(a) The Government Printing Works (GPW) might define red tape as bureaucratic processes that hinder and slow the work of the organisation. However it is not a term that the GPW uses in its business processes as it is very imprecise.

(b)(i-ii) As a government-owned manufacturing concern, the GPW does not encounter much “red tape” in its work, and has not needed to devise specific processes to deal with such red tape.

(iii) According to the Electoral Commission

(a) The Electoral Commission does not use a peculiar definition of red tape. It applies the common use of the term based on the South African Concise Oxford Dictionary. This dictionary defines the term as follows: “excessive bureaucracy or adherence to rules, especially in public business”

(b)(i-ii) In terms of the Regulations on Party Liaison the Electoral Commission has established Party Liaison Committees (PLC’s) in the three spheres of government. The primary function of the PLC’s is a consultations mechanism with political parties. These structures also provide crucial feedback on the efficacy on the systems and processes of the Electoral Commission. Based on some of these feedback legislative and operational policies are amended to reduce red-tape.

Ahead of elections the Electoral Commission commissions a Voter Participation Survey. This survey, on a representative sample basis, collects the views of South African citizens on the forthcoming elections. A special area of focus in this survey is the barriers to participation. Based on the outcome of the survey appropriate adjustments are made to the programmes of the Electoral Commission in order to ameliorate barriers to voter participation.

Furthermore on Election Day, a Voter Satisfaction Survey is commissioned on a representative sample of voting stations. This survey collect the vies of voters on their experiences of the voting process including assessing areas such as coercion to voting or voting for a particular political party, the simplicity of the voting process, the secrecy of the vote, the helpfulness of voting staff etc. The results of the voting satisfaction survey are used in planning subsequent electoral events including by elections.

Reply:

1. 9821 marriages.
2. For accurate information the Honourable Member is referred to the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development who is the custodian of finalising divorces.
3. No.

Reply:

1. (a) (i) (ii) (b) (i) (ii) (aa) (bb)

Residential accommodation for the Minister in Cape Town and Pretoria is provided for by the Department of Public Works therefore there are no additional costs relating to hotel or other accommodation.

Travel Cost	Number of Trips	Hotel Accommodation in Cape Town	Hotel Accommodation in Pretoria
R 75,372.00	15	R 0	R 0

(2) (a) (i) (ii) (b) (i) (ii) (aa) (bb)

Residential accommodation for the Deputy Minister in Cape Town and Pretoria is provided for by Department of Public Works therefore there are no additional costs relating to hotel or other accommodation.

Travel Cost	Number of Trips	Hotel Accommodation in Cape Town	Hotel Accommodation in Pretoria
R 119,175.00	20	R 0	R 0

Reply:

(1) According to the department’s travel records, officials undertook 769 official trips to Cape Town in the 2014/15 financial year, amounting to R3 567 438.00. The trips included the attendance of Parliamentary business as well as to attend other official engagements and duties. The department’s travel records do not differentiate between Parliamentary business and other official business. All costs incurred for air travel, car rental and accommodation was in line with National Treasury’s cost containment measures.

(2) For the 769 official trips the total amount spent on accommodation is R764 926.85 and the amount spent on car rental is R226 819.12.

 

 

Reply:

1. The turnaround time to issue and process a first time application is 54 working days and 47 working days for a re-issue of an identity document applied for.
2. There is no discrepancy in time-periods. Sometimes there are internal processes of verifying the authenticity of supporting documents submitted that may impact on the time-period eg. verification of the authenticity of the Permanent Residence Permit.

Reply:

As the Honorable Member is most probably aware, SAA currently reports to National Treasury. The Honorable Member is thus advised to redirect her question to the Minister Finance.

 

Reply:

The information regarding investigations of testing stations and their operation lies at Provincial and local level, therefore the Department has requested such information from the relevant authorities, which is herewith submitted in response to the question.

Table 1 deals with response to questions (i) aa), bb) and cc), d) and f)

Table 2 and 3 deals with the responses to questions in (c) and e). Table 4 deals with the response to question (b)

EASTERN CAPE

EC Table 1

Nature of investigations	Financial year	Number of Investigations per year	Number of investigations pending for year	Number of persons charged as result of investigations per year
Vehicles passed without being present at testing station	2012-13	None	None	N/A
	2013-14	None	None	N/A
	2014-15	None	None	N/A
Testing stations that passed a vehicle that was failed by another testing station	2012-13	None	None	N/A
	2013-14	None	None	N/A
	2014-15	None	None	N/A
Examiners of vehicles that pass a vehicle that is not roadworthy	2012-13	None	None	N/A
	2013-14	None	None	N/A
	2014-15	None	None	N/A
Other investigations	2012-13	None	None	N/A
	2013-14	None	None	N/A
	2014-15	None	None	N/A

EC Table 2

Conclusion of Investigations	Number of instances per Financial year
	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Testing station registration suspended	None	None	None
Testing station registration cancelled	None	None	None
Examiner registration suspended	None	None	None
Examiner registration cancelled	None	None	None
Examiner resigned before completion of investigation	None	None	None
Other testing station staff - fired	None	None	None
Vehicles retested	N/A	N/A	N/A
Other:	-	-	-

EC Table 3

No	Nature of Charges (Short summary)
1	N/A

EC Table 4

Persons/Organisations that conducted investigations	Involved in Investigation Yes / No	Number of Instances
Special Investigations Unit (SIU)	N/A	-
South African Police Service	N/A	-
HAWKS	N/A	-
Inspectorate of Testing stations	N/A	-
Provincial Monitoring Units	N/A
Other (specify):	-	-

FREE STATE

FS Table 1

Nature of investigations	Financial year	Number of Investigations per year	Number of investigations pending for year	Number of persons charged as result of investigations per year
Vehicles passed without being present at testing station	2012-13	-	-	-
	2013-14	-	-	-
	2014-15	-	-	-
Testing stations that passed a vehicle that was failed by another testing station	2012-13	-	-	-
	2013-14	-	-	-
	2014-15	-	-	-
Examiners of vehicles that pass a vehicle that is not roadworthy	2012-13	-	-	-
	2013-14	1	1	1
	2014-15	-	-	-
Other investigations	2012-13	-	-	-
	2013-14	-	-	-
	2014-15	-	-	-

FS Table 2

Conclusion of Investigations	Number of instances per Financial year
	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Testing station registration suspended	-	-	-
Testing station registration cancelled	-	-	-
Examiner registration suspended	-	-	-
Examiner registration cancelled	-	-	-
Examiner resigned before completion of investigation	-	-	-
Other testing station staff - fired	-	-	-
Vehicles retested	-	-	-
Other:	-	-	-
	-	-	-

FS Table 3

No	Nature of Charges (Short summary)
1	Examiners of vehicles Mr. TA Tau & MR Minnie of Welkom VTS was departmentally charged for declaring unroadworthy vehicle at Welkom VTS during August 2013. The matter was reported to Departmental Employee Relations Section on the 1st of September 2013 but nothing materialised ever since.

FS Table 4

Persons/Organisations that conducted investigations	Involved in Investigation Yes / No	Number of Instances
Special Investigations Unit (SIU)	-	-
South African Police Service	-	-
HAWKS	-	-
Inspectorate of Testing stations	-	-
Provincial Monitoring Units/Provincial Inspectorate Unit	Provincial Inspectorate Unit: Free State	1

GAUTENG

GP Table 1

Nature of investigations	Financial year	Number of Investigations per year	Number of investigations pending for year	Number of persons charged as result of investigations per year
Vehicles passed without being present at testing station	2012-13	10	0	26
	2013-14	0	0	0
	2014-15	0	0	0
Testing stations that passed a vehicle that was failed by another testing station	2012-13	0	0	0
	2013-14	0	0	0
	2014-15	0	0	0
Examiners of vehicles that pass a vehicle that is not roadworthy	2012-13	10	0	26
	2013-14	0	0	0
	2014-15	2	0	0
Other investigations	2012-13	0	0	0
	2013-14	0	0	0
	2014-15	0	0	0

GP Table 2

Conclusion of Investigations	Number of instances per Financial year
	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Testing station registration suspended	4	0	0
Testing station registration cancelled	0	0	0
Examiner registration suspended	0	0	0
Examiner registration cancelled	0	0	7
Examiner resigned before completion of investigation	0	0	0
Other testing station staff - fired	0	0	0
Vehicles retested	0	0	0
Other:	0	0	0

GP Table 3

No	Nature of Charges (Short summary)
1	Fraud – certified vehicles road worthy while the vehicles were not at the testing station

GP Table 4

Persons/Organisations that conducted investigations	Involved in Investigation Yes / No	Number of Instances
Special Investigations Unit (SIU)	-	-
South African Police Service	Yes	26
HAWKS	-	-
Inspectorate of Testing stations	-	-
Provincial Monitoring Units	Yes	2
Other (specify):National Task Team	Yes	26

KWAZULU-NATAL

KZN Table 1

Nature of investigations	Financial year	Number of Investigations per year	Number of investigations pending for year	Number of persons charged as result of investigations per year
Vehicles passed without being present at testing station	2012-13	-	-	-
	2013-14	-	-	-
	2014-15	-	-	-
Testing stations that passed a vehicle that was failed by another testing station	2012-13	1	1
	2013-14	-	-	-
	2014-15	-	-	-
Examiners of vehicles that pass a vehicle that is not roadworthy	2012-13	5	1	-
	2013-14	7	3	-
	2014-15	1	3	-
Vehicle Testing Stations that pass a vehicle that is not roadworthy	2012-13	2	-	-
	2013-14	5	-	-
	2014-15	1	1	-
Other investigations	2012-13	-	-	-
	2013-14	1	1	-
	2014-15	-	1	-

KZN Table 2

Conclusion of Investigations	Number of instances per Financial year
	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Testing station registration suspended	-	-	1
Testing station registration cancelled	-	-	-
Examiner registration suspended	-	-	-
Examiner registration cancelled	-	2	1
Examiner resigned before completion of investigation	-	-	-
Other testing station staff - fired	-	-	-
Vehicles retested	-	-	-
Other:	-	-	-

KZN Table 3

No	Nature of Charges (Short summary)
1	Examiner of vehicles not present at VTS when vehicles were being passed – CAS886/9/2013
2	Entrapment operation – CAS 504/12/2013 & CAS 506/12/2013

KZN Table 4

Persons/Organisations that conducted investigations	Involved in Investigation Yes / No	Number of Instances
Special Investigations Unit (SIU)	-	-
South African Police Service	-	-
HAWKS	-	-
Inspectorate of Testing stations	YES	9
Provincial Monitoring Units	YES	5
Other (specify):RTMC	YES	1

LIMPOPO

LIM Table 1

Nature of investigations	Financial year	Number of Investigations per year	Number of investigations pending for year	Number of persons charged as result of investigations per year
Vehicles passed without being present at testing station	2012-13	0	0	0
	2013-14	0	0	1
	2014-15	0	0	0
Testing stations that passed a vehicle that was failed by another testing station	2012-13	0	0	0
	2013-14	0	0	0
	2014-15	0	0	0
Examiners of vehicles that pass a vehicle that is not roadworthy	2012-13	2	2	2
	2013-14	2	2	2
	2014-15	3	2	3
Other investigations	2012-13	0	0	0
	2013-14	0	0	0
	2014-15	0	0	0

LIM Table 2

Conclusion of Investigations	Number of instances per Financial year
	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Testing station registration suspended	0	0	0
Testing station registration cancelled	0	0	0
Examiner registration suspended	0	0	2
Examiner registration cancelled	0	0	0
Examiner resigned before completion of investigation	0	1	2
Other testing station staff - dismissed	0	0	1
Vehicles retested	0	0	0
Other:	0	0	0

LIM Table 3

No	Nature of Charges (Short summary)
1	2012-13: - 2 (two) Examiners of vehicles were suspended for issuing roadworthy certificates without testing the vehicles. Their cases are still under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Unit under the Limpopo Department of Transport (LDoT).
	2013-14: - 2 officials, both Management Representatives (Management Reps.) were charged with the case of issuing roadworthy certificates without testing the vehicles under Polokwane CAS 145/09/2013 Fraud: Issuing of certificate of road worthiness without testing the vehicle and Project Organised Crime SAPS as per Enquiry Number 02/05/2014 Disciplinary enquiry.
	2014-15: - 2 officials, 1 (one) Examiner and 1 (one) Management Rep. were charged with the case of issuing certificates of roadworthiness vehicles without such vehicles being in a roadworthy condition or ever being presented for roadworthy tests CAS Number 142/03/2015 Northam SAPS and CAS Number 145/03/2015 Northam SAPS. The two officers resigned but the station proceeded with disciplinary hearings resulting in the Examiner receiving a no guilt verdict and the Management Rep. a guilty verdict and dismissed. The case of the third official, i.e. an examiner who is alleged to have issued a certificate of road worthiness without testing the vehicle is still under investigation.
2	Contravening Regulations 140(1) and 141of the National Road Traffic Act, 1996 (Act No. 93 of 1996) read together with the Code of Practice SABS 10047.

LIM Table 4

Persons/Organisations that conducted investigations	Involved in Investigation Yes / No	Number of Instances
Special Investigations Unit (SIU)	No	0
South African Police Service	No	0
HAWKS	No	0
Inspectorate of Testing stations	No	0
Provincial Monitoring Units	Yes	1
Other (specify): National Traffic Anti-Corruption Unit (NTACU)	Yes	1
Anti-Corruption Unit under Limpopo Department of Transport	Yes	5

MPUMALANGA

MPL Table 1

Nature of investigations	Financial year	Number of Investigations per year	Number of investigations pending for year	Number of persons charged as result of investigations per year
Vehicles passed without being present at testing station	2012-13	0	0	0
	2013-14	1	0	1
	2014-15	1	1	1
Testing stations that passed a vehicle that was failed by another testing station	2012-13	0	0	0
	2013-14	0	0	0
	2014-15	0	0	0
Examiners of vehicles that pass a vehicle that is not roadworthy	2012-13	0	0	0
	2013-14	2	0	2
	2014-15	1	1	1
Other investigations	2012-13	-	-	-
	2013-14	-	-	-
	2014-15	-	-	-

MPL Table 2

Conclusion of Investigations	Number of instances per Financial year
	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Testing station registration suspended	0	1	0
Testing station registration cancelled	0	0	0
Examiner registration suspended	0	0	0
Examiner registration cancelled	0	0	0
Examiner resigned before completion of investigation	0	0	0
Other testing station staff - fired	0	0	0
Vehicles retested	0	0	0
Other: Two eNaTis end users resigned before investigation was completed	0	1	0

MPL Table 3

No	Nature of Charges (Short summary)
1	Piet Retief Cas: 33/09/2013 (Fraud) Withdrawn by the court as a results of insufficient evidence..
2	Contravening Regulation 140(1) of the National Road Traffic Act 93 of 1996

MPL Table 4

Persons/Organisations that conducted investigations	Involved in Investigation Yes / No	Number of Instances
Special Investigations Unit (SIU)	No	-
South African Police Service	Yes	2
HAWKS	No	-
Inspectorate of Testing stations	No	-
Provincial Monitoring Units	Yes	3
Other (specify):	None	-

NORTH WEST

NW Table 1

Nature of investigations	Financial year	Number of Investigations per year	Number of investigations pending for year	Number of persons charged as result of investigations per year
Vehicles passed without being present at testing station	2012-13	1	1	-
	2013-14	1	-	-
	2014-15	2	-	6
Testing stations that passed a vehicle that was failed by another testing station	2012-13	-	-	-
	2013-14	-	-	-
	2014-15	-	-	-
Examiners of vehicles that pass a vehicle that is not roadworthy	2012-13	1	1	-
	2013-14	1	-	-
	2014-15	2	-	-
Other investigations	2012-13	-	-	-
	2013-14	-	-	-
	2014-15	-	-	-

NW Table 2

Conclusion of Investigations	Number of instances per Financial year
	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Testing station registration suspended	-	-	-
Testing station registration cancelled	-	-	-
Examiner registration suspended	-	-	-
Examiner registration cancelled	1	-	-
Examiner resigned before completion of investigation	1	-	1
Other testing station staff - fired	-	-	-
Vehicles retested	-	-	-
Other:	-	-	-

NW Table 3

No	Nature of Charges (Short summary)
1	Issuing a roadworthy certificate without testing the vehicle
2	Vehicles passed without being present at testing station

NW Table 4

Persons/Organisations that conducted investigations	Involved in Investigation Yes / No	Number of Instances
Special Investigations Unit (SIU)	Yes	1
South African Police Service	Yes	1
HAWKS	-	-
Inspectorate of Testing stations	Yes	2
Provincial Monitoring Units	Yes	1
Other (specify):	-	-

NORTHERN CAPE

NC Table 1

Nature of investigations	Financial year	Number of Investigations per year	Number of investigations pending for year	Number of persons charged as result of investigations per year
Vehicles passed without being present at testing station	2012-13	-	-	-
	2013-14	-	-	-
	2014-15	1	-	-
Testing stations that passed a vehicle that was failed by another testing station	2012-13	-	-	-
	2013-14	-	-	-
	2014-15	-	-	-
Examiners of vehicles that pass a vehicle that is not roadworthy	2012-13	-	-	-
	2013-14	-	-	-
	2014-15	1	-	-
Other investigations	2012-13	-	-	-
	2013-14	-	-	-
	2014-15	-	-	-

NC Table 2

Conclusion of Investigations	Number of instances per Financial year
	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Testing station registration suspended	-	-	-
Testing station registration cancelled	-	-	-
Examiner registration suspended	-	-	-
Examiner registration cancelled	-	-	1
Examiner resigned before completion of investigation	-	-	-
Other testing station staff - fired	-	-	-
Vehicles retested	-	-	-
Other:	-	-	-
	-	-	-

NC Table 3

No	Nature of Charges (Short summary)
1	FRAUD

NC Table 4

Persons/Organisations that conducted investigations	Involved in Investigation Yes / No	Number of Instances
Special Investigations Unit (SIU)	-	-
South African Police Service	YES	1
HAWKS	-	-
Inspectorate of Testing stations	-	-
Provincial Monitoring Units	YES	1

WESTERN CAPE

WC Table 1

Nature of investigations	Financial year	Number of Investigations per year	Number of investigations pending for year	Number of persons charged as result of investigations per year
Vehicles passed without being present at testing station	2012-13	Cannot confirm	-	-
	2013-14	-	-	-
	2014-15	-	-	-
Testing stations that passed a vehicle that was failed by another testing station	2012-13	Do not have stats. Report on eNaTIS?	-	-
	2013-14	-	-	-
	2014-15	-	-	-
Examiners of vehicles that pass a vehicle that is not roadworthy	2012-13	2	-	-
	2013-14	3	-	-
	2014-15	Cases under investigation	-	-
Other investigations	2012-13	-	-	-
	2013-14	-	-	-
	2014-15	-	-	-

WC Table 2

Conclusion of Investigations	Number of instances per Financial year
	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15
Testing station registration suspended	0	0	0
Testing station registration cancelled	0	0	0
Examiner registration suspended	0	3	0
Examiner registration cancelled	2	0	0
Examiner resigned before completion of investigation	0	0	0
Other testing station staff - fired	0	1	0
Vehicles retested	0	0	0
Other:	2 cases pending	25 cases pending	3 cases pending

WC Table 3

No	Nature of Charges (Short summary)
1	MOST CASES ARE CORRUPTION

WC Table 4

Persons/Organisations that conducted investigations	Involved in Investigation Yes / No	Number of Instances
Special Investigations Unit (SIU)	-	-
South African Police Service	Y	13
HAWKS	Y	16
Inspectorate of Testing stations	-	-
Provincial Monitoring Units	-	-
Other (specify):	-	-

Reply:

1. The proposed rule amendments, which have been approved by the Board of Trustees of the Transnet Second Defined Benefit Fund and the Transnet Sub Fund of the Transport Pension Fund as well as the Transnet Board of Directors, are currently being considered by myself and the Minister of Finance.

(2) The ex gratia payments made by Transnet to qualifying pensioners of the Transnet Second Defined Benefit Fund and the Transnet Sub Fund of the Transport Pension Fund are discretionary amounts. No decision has been taken by Transnet to make a payment in the 2015 calendar year.

(3)(a) Travel benefits/concessions available for trips by (aa) train and (bb) aircraft for pensioners belonging to the Transnet Second Defined Benefit Fund and the Transport Pension Fund, are, to the extent provided for, contained in each individuals service conditions with Transnet at date of retirement.

(b) The travel benefits/concessions of retired employees of Transnet have not been amended. Employees on Management levels in Transnet relinquished their travel benefits/concessions in lieu of a percentage remuneration adjustment from approximately October 2006 until April 2007, when their remuneration was changed from a basic pay plus benefits dispensation to a total cost to company approach. As their conditions of employment had changed they were required to sign new contracts of employment. Thus, from the date of conversion, they also no longer qualified for travel benefits/concessions after retirement. Management level employees who joined Transnet from 2007 onwards were not entitled to free travel benefits. Despite these changes, employees on Non-Management levels have retained their travel benefits/concessions, both during their employment and upon retirement and these benefits have not been amended.

 

Reply:

(1)(a) A total of 27 (twenty seven) substations have been impacted, at some substations incidents occurred more that than once, in total there have been 49 (forty nine) incidents in the past five years.

(b)

Incident no	Site / Scene of Crime	Total actual losses
1	Orkney, munic substation	R 1 000.00
2	Orkney, munic substation	R 800.00
3	Zandpan Shaft 1	R 150 000.00
4	Zandpan Shaft one 88 kv DS	R 6 500.00
5	Zandpan shaft on	R 10 000.00
6	Zandpan	R 300000.00
7	Stilfontein town substation	R 3 000.00
8	Buffels Pioneer	R 2 500.00
9	Harties no 8	R 10 000.00
10	Harties no 5 D.S	R 18 000.00
11	Western Reefs 4 D.S	R 8 990.00
12	Buffels East D.S	R 22 000.00
13	Western Reefs 4 D.S	R 35 000.00
14	Harties no 5 , 88kv D.S.	R 22 000.00
15	Harties Vent	R 400 000.00
16	Buffels Pioneer	R 11 000.00
17	Western reefs 4	R 30 000.00
18	Vaal Reefs 2	R 60 000.00
19	Western reefs 4	R 90 000.00
20	Harties 8 substation	R 2 500.00
21	Buffels Orangia	R 90 000.00
22	Buffels Mill	R 51 750.00
23	Buffels Mill	R 50 000.00
24	Harties 5 substation	R 80 000.00
25	Kanana substation	R 3 000.00
26	Stilfontein town substation	R 500 000.00
27	Harties no 8	R 5 000 000.00
28	Harties no 8	R 300 000.00
29	Harties no 8	R 2 250.00
30	Buffels Pioneer 88kv D.S.	R 70 000.00
31	Buffels Pioneer 88kv D.S.	R 12 612.00
32	Hartebeest sub station	R 17 000.00
33	Pioneer Substation	R 2 000.00
34	Buffels Pioneer 88kv D.S.	R 30 000.00
35	Buffels Pioneer	R 7 000.00
36	Scott shaft D.S	R 15 000.00
37	Buffels Mill 88 kv D.S	R 7 000.00
38	Orkney munic substation	R3 500 000.00
39	Matlosana Mall substation	R 40 000.00
40	Harties 4	R 15 000.00
41	Orkney Munic Substation	R 5 000.00
42	Harties Mill 88/11kw	1 200 000.00
43	Buffels Mill	R 8 000.00
44	Buffels Mill	R 1 726.00
45	Harties shaft	R 30 000.00
46	Harties mill	R 800 000.00
47	Matlosana mall substation	R 500 000.00
48	Buffels Pioneer	R 5050.00
49	Harties shaft 4	R 10 000.00
	TOTAL LOSS	R13 513 678.00

(2) Yes, 49 (forty nine) cases were reported to the South African Police Services.

(3) Yes, 95 (ninety five) arrests were made.

 

(4) The criminal prosecution in this regard is the jurisdiction of Ministry of Police and have been reported as such.

Reply:

(a)  There is an already existing partnership with the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) which is co-ordinated by the Chief Directorate on Special Programmes Office (SPO) in the Department of Social Development (DSD). Provincial Education Departments utilise unemployed matriculations to assist in schools as:

    (i) Administrative Staff; and

   (ii) Teacher Aides.

(b) Less qualified persons are part of the PEDs as:

  (i) Gardeners;

  (ii) Cleaners; and

 (iii) Maintenance Staff.

In addition to the programmes above, the following programmes are part of the Expanded Public Works Programme:

 (i) Early Childhood Development (ECD): The ECD programme provides ECD practitioners with the necessary skills to increase their capacity to generate an income while providing education and care to young children in ECD centres.

(ii) Kha Ri Gude: Volunteers are paid a stipend to provide illiterate adults an opportunity to learn to read and write; and

(iii) The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP): This programme which employs community members as volunteer food handlers to provide food to children from needy families and thus addressing malnutrition, it employs gardeners to tend school gardens, and also Administrative Assistants and unemployed youth, who do financial tracking and data capturing in schools.

Regular sector meetings are held to monitor and support implementation.

Reply:

The post of Director-General was advertised and filled on 13 August 2015.

Reply:

(A)   The Department of Trade and Industry (the dti) has a constitutional mandate to develop the agro-processing, sector with primary agricultural production the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF). Discussions regularly take place between the two departments and other stakeholders with respect to the supply and security of supplier of feed-stocks into agro-processing value-chains. To the best of the Departments knowledge no existing or future projected security supply concerns have been raised by stakeholders in this regard.

(b)  i and ii) Since the matter of ‘land capping’ is a constitutional mandate of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, member D W Macpherson should address his question to the appropriate Minister.

Reply:

(a) The most prevalent water weeds found in the Umdloti River are Water Lettuce and Hyacinth.

(b)  Upstream from the Hazelmere Dam the prevalence is negligible, whereas on the downstream portion the coverage of Water Lettuce is approximately 50% and that of Hyacinth is about 30%.

(c) The impact of the aquatic weed has very little to insignificant impact, especially since it is controlled.

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Reply:

(a)  the dti and its entities define red tape as rules, regulations, and / or bureaucratic procedures and processes which are excessively complex and which impose unnecessary delay(s), inaction and / or costs which exceed their benefits, and / or is no longer effective in achieving the purpose for which they were originally created. Red tape results in undesirable economic, business and / or social impacts or outcomes as a result of negatively impacting on productivity. Red tape involves excessive, or unevenly enforced, regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant or bureaucratic and hinders or prevents effective action or decision-making (Source: the dti & CoGTA Guidelines for Reducing Municipal Red Tape, 2012)

(b)  In the area of reducing regulatory constraints, the dti launched a red tape reduction programme in collaboration with the Department of Co-operative Governance to target local municipalities so that they could reduce administrative processes and regulations on small businesses. The programme has initially targeted 12 municipalities across the country. It is aimed at addressing unnecessary regulatory burdens in order for SMMEs to fully take advantage of business opportunities emanating from local Municipalities and beyond.

In addition, the Companies Act, 2008 has simplified the company regime in that it allows for a one man business to register as a private company and to then grow towards a big corporation or public company without the burden of re-registering.

Private companies are no longer required to file audited financial statements. Audits are only required from companies that have an economic impact due to the number of employees, turnover and extent of the business activities. Private companies can now file independently reviewed statements. Independent review is a quality assurance mechanism that is less stringent than a full scale audit which is more costly.

The Companies Act has also decriminalised compliance transgressions. The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) can now issue compliance notices in instances that were just defined as criminal offences under the previous companies Act of 1973.

the dti is also working on the integrated registration system which will be co-ordinated with SARS, and Statistics SA. Registration must be at one point and all entities that play a role must automatically access information from one central point.

(aa) These guidelines have been informed by the results of the 2011/2012 National Red Tape Reduction Piloting involving 12 municipalities and funded by the dti and CoGTA and with support from SALGA.

(bb) The SMME Payment Assistance Hotline facilitated payments to small businesses exceeding R350 million. This function has been transferred to the Department of Small Business.

Response from the Entities

Entity	(ii)(b)(i)	(ii)(b)(ii)(aa)	(ii)(b)(ii)(bb)
Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC)	Partnering with banks to offer integrated company registration and bank account services which enable customers to perform both activities through one process. To date company registration inclusive of Bank account openings have gone live with FNB and Standard Bank
Export Credit Insurance Corporation (ECIC)	The ECIC has implemented processes to ensure that there are efficient processes to allow for quick turnaround times in order to implement the mandate	Process reviews are initiated whenever bottlenecks are identified, there is currently a process underway to review the procurement process, delegation matrix and there are initiatives that are underway such as ERP system to improve business processes.
National Credit Regulator (NCR)	The NCR has a delegation matrix which outlines approval/authority limits. The limits are limited to the Accounting Authority; CEO; Executive Committee; CFO and Managers. This matrix helps with expediting decision making and implementation.
National Consumer Tribunal (NCT)	The NCT assesses applications filed with it against the filing requirements contained in its rules to ensure that filings meet the requirements as set and advises filing parties if any requirements were not met. This ensures that matters adjudicated on by the Tribunal, meets the filing requirements and that the matters can be dealt with at a hearing. In addition, the NCT conducts regular workshops with all its stakeholders to ensure that all parties are aware of the specific requirements set by legislation to assist in speedy resolution of cases. The NCT does not enforce any other processes over and above what is required by legislation.	Not applicable, as the NCT does not enforce any process over and above filing requirements set by legislation in order for matters to be adjudicated on, therefore no additional red tape created.	Not applicable, as the NCT does not enforce any process over and above filing requirements set by legislation in order for matters to be adjudicated on, therefore no additional red tape created.
National Empowerment Fund (NEF)	As a national development finance institution the NEF was established to be a driver and thought leader in promoting and facilitating black economic participation through the provision of financial and non-financial support to black empowered businesses, as well as to promote a culture of savings and investment among black people. In its quest for excellence the NEF has adopted a Strategy referred to as the NEF Power of 3, which strives to achieve and is anchored on answering telephonic enquiries within 3 rings; returning client calls within 3 hours; attending to walk-in clients within 3 minutes; taking up to a maximum of 3 months to fully assess applications for funding from application to disbursement of funds to clients; resolving complaints within 3 days and acknowledging receipt of all applications within 3 days.	The NEF identifies the market failures that confront black entrepreneurs as follows: Limited own capital; Limited management skills, including financial, marketing and technical expertise; Limited access to affordable capital; Lack of accurate and reliable financial information; Challenges with compiling good-quality business plans; Lower bargaining and strong competition from established businesses with entrenched market dominance, and Lack of access to local and international markets.	The NEF continuously reviews its application processes to see how it can help reduce what is commonly referred to as turn-around times. In pursuit of the quest for excellence management has been given delegation of authority by the Board of Trustees to introduce a number of interventions that will enable entity to reduce red tape, namely: Introduction of a Credit Committee that sits daily/weekly depending on the number of applications to be considered for approvals ranging from R250,000 up to R1.5 million; Greater empowerment to senior managers heading business units to decide on due diligences on deals at a higher threshold. For example Managers can perform due diligences on deals up to R10 million, whereas in the past this was limited to R3 million; The Investment Committee that constitutes Senior Managers chaired by EXCO members [Fund Management Investment Committee (FMIC)] convenes on a weekly basis and can approve transactions of up to R5 million; The EXCO Investment Committee, which is chaired by the CEO, meets weekly and can approve up to R15 million deal sizes; The Post-Investment Monitoring Committee, chaired by the General Counsel (EXCO member), has the delegated authority to approve “head-room” facilities equivalent to 10% of total approved amounts into existing investee companies. These amounts will ensure that where businesses face a cash-flow crunch, these amounts can be deployed immediately to address challenges faced by entrepreneurs on a daily basis as they are unable to attract private sector short-term facilities from commercial banks, such as overdraft and bridging facilities by virtue of them lacking a trading history. Finally, in compliance with Treasury Regulation 8.2.3 which requires public entities to unless specifically provided in contract with a service provider, pay creditors within 30 days of the invoice being presented. The NEF conducts regular interactions with both staff and service providers to train them on the NEF’s internal process requirements. The NEF further conducts annual audits aimed at determining progress in ensuring that creditors are paid within 30 days. Based on the latest internal audit findings, the NEF’s control framework was found to have been satisfactorily applied through the period to ensure that creditors are paid on time.
National Gambling Board (NGB)	Rules and regulations are in place within the NGB. The understanding is that actions and decisions taken by public officials are subject to oversight through monitoring adherence to rules and regulations so as to guarantee that there is reporting and accountability to demonstrate that Government initiatives are met.	Internal controls are in place within the NGB to ensure that the various pillars of Governance are in place.	Areas of non- compliance with rules and regulations will give rise to adverse audit finding by the office of the Auditor General. On this basis no specific interventions have been implemented to reduce red tape or to do away with any rules and regulation
National Lotteries Commission (NLC)	The amendment of the Lotteries Act allows for the allocation of differentiated grants. This means that organisations applying for smaller grants will have fewer and less stringent requirements to be met in order to be considered for a grant from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (NLDTF). The amended Act also makes provision for full time Distributing Agencies, appointed for a period of five years, to adjudicate on applications for funding. This is envisaged to improve turnaround times. The Lotteries Act also requires the process from application to adjudication to be a maximum of 150 days. The National Lotteries Commission can only put this to the test once the full time Distributing Agencies have been appointed. The National Lotteries Commission is committed to pay all grants within the prescribed 60 days of receiving duly compliant grant agreements. In recent years, the NLC has engaged with its stakeholders through its National Indabas, and Provisional Workshops and Help Desks by interacting and educating prospective applicants on the application process. It is also an opportunity to learn of the challenges faced by stakeholders. This has resulted in the doubling of the applications received by the NLC in the last call for applications. The NLC has established offices in each of the provinces to give greater access to applicants and beneficiaries.
National Metrology Institute of South Africa (NMISA)	In the case of NMISA there is no deliberate implementation of red tape. The organisation is structured as a flat organisational structure with clear delegations of authority to enhance efficiency in operations and eliminate complexity. This is especially emphasised for areas where there is direct contact with the clients at service delivery points such as the signature of calibration certificates to industry. This is delegated to divisional directors and experts. The accreditation the quality standard ISO 17025 and ISO Guide 34 ensures that red tape is avoided when dealing with the public and clients.
National Regulator For Compulsory Specifications (NRCS)	There are procedural guidelines in various business units to deal with the processing of applications.	Applications for various forms of authorization are recorded upon receipt and when finalised.	When the backlog is identified, manpower is increased by using field inspectors and overtime is offered to all inspectors available to work.
South African Bureau of Standards (SABS)	The SABS has 5 main service delivery programmes. Standards Development and Promotion Certification Testing Training Academy, and SABS Design Institute	An improvement request query (IRQ) system is used to systematically manage customer feedback and complaints regarding the accessibility and quality of the SABS services; Customer satisfaction surveys are occasionally commissioned to assess the customer experience; Deloitte Fraudline that customers use to report issues that point to red tape; and The SABS internal audit process, which includes the management of accreditation for conformity assessment services.	The SABS has is in the process of implementing a number of systems to improve productivity and through these processes, the opportunities to reduce red tape are implemented. The systems include: The Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) for managing laboratory testing processes; e-Committee for management of standards development committees and projects; and The Automation of Certification Business Process. In addition, the SABS is embarking on a modernisation programme (through ICT) whose roadmap is currently under review at the Board.
South African National Accreditation System (SANAS)	As accreditation requires strict compliance to international standards, the lack of clearer communication was identified as the main contributor to perceived red tape. In this regard, SANAS conduct annual Communication meetings with its customers as well as increased its print communication to monthly and quarterly reports.	Identification comes through Internal Audits as well as international peer reviews.	The second phase of the SANAS Shanduka project aimed at automating the accreditation administration process through ICT, will contribute towards minimising the time and information required to apply for accreditation.
National Consumer Commission (NCC)	The NCC has revised its strategy during the latter part of 2012 with a view to improving service delivery in line with its legislative mandate. Internal controls, policies, standard operating procedures, delegations of authority and charters have been put in place relating to compliance with applicable legislation, policies, directives and decision making.	Delivery as per the annual performance plan is monitored regularly at which monthly performance and financial reports are canvassed. Executive Committee meetings are held at least once every quarter at which management committee reports, amongst other things, are canvassed. Moreover, regular meetings are held with stakeholders. Decisions impacting on the public are disseminated via the various media. Internal controls, policies, standard operating procedures, delegations of authority and charters are revised regularly in order to improve operations and service delivery.	The NCC has recently developed its Service Delivery Improvement Programme (SDIP) which provides for turnaround times for the majority of services. This is monitored on an ongoing basis by the management and executive committees of the NCC.
Companies Tribunal (CT)	The requirements and procedures for filing of applications and complaints are determined by the Companies Act 71 of 2008 and Companies Regulations made in terms of the Act. Companies Tribunal produced the Practice Guidelines for filing of applications for adjudication and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) complaints to simplify the procedures.

 

Reply:

(a) There are no bucket toilets located in the formal areas of each municipality in Gauteng.

(b) There are no bucket toilets located in the informal areas of each municipality in Gauteng. Informal areas utilise chemical toilets as a form of sanitation.

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Reply:

Neither me, the Deputy Minister of Water and Sanitation, nor any officials of my Department travelled to China during the 2014-2015 financial year.

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Reply:

The City of Johannesburg is the Water Service Authority which provides services to the Eikenhof informal settlement in the southern part of Johannesburg. The City of Johannesburg through the Joburg Water is providing the following basic water and sanitation services:

• 6 Communal stand-pipes for water; and
• 500 Ventilated Improved Pit-latrines (VIP’s).

The City of Johannesburg/ Joburg Water has plans in place to install 400 VIP in the current 2015/16 financial year.

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Reply:

(1)(a) The total amount spent to end July 2015 is R41 713 943 (excl. VAT).

(1)(b) The relevant detail of expenditure is as follows:

DESCRIPTION	EXPENDITURE TO END JULY 2015 (excl. VAT)
ENVIRONMENTAL	R 399 319
LAND MATTERS	R 11 815 024
DESIGN AND SUPERVISION	R 23 216 748
CONSTRUCTION
- Dam	R 0
- Demolition of Buildings	R 6 282 853
TOTAL (excl. VAT)	R 41 713 943

(2)(a) The Hazelmere Dam has indicated an average of 0.72% increase in sedimentation over a 36 year period.

(2)(b) The storage capacity has been reduced from 23,94 million m3 to 17,675 million m3

(2)(c) Increased erosion in the catchment combined with increased sand-mining activities.

(3) Unlawful water uses through sand mining activities that contribute to sedimentation have been investigated on the Mdloti River upstream and downstream of the dam; and enforcement actions taken. A Catchment Management Forum also exists to deal with issues and concerns raised by water users within the catchment.

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Reply:

1. My Department has not been informed of the water crisis in Greenville Village, in Mthatha which has allegedly been without water for more than four weeks.
2. Upon receiving of this question, my Department’s Provincial Office: Eastern Cape investigated the matter and found out that water supply to Greenville Village was deliberately switched off by the O R Tambo District Municipality due to non-payment of water bills and there is nothing wrong with the water supply system. This area consists of government properties with some informal dwellings built around the houses. However, the OR Tambo District Municipality is carting water to the informal settlement of Kwa-Mpuku which is adjacent to the formal settlement. They have since put two Jojo tanks which are filled timeously. It will be further investigated if the houses are occupied legally which would enable Public Works to pay for the services rendered.

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