Questions and Replies

Reply:

1. The African Union Convention on Cyberspace Security and Protection of Personal Data was adopted by the 23rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union which was held in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on 26 and 27 June 2014.

South Africa has not ratified the African Union Convention on Cyberspace Security and Protection of Personal Data because South Africa has not yet signed as she is awaiting the official document from the African Union Commission to be dispatched through diplomatic channels.

The Convention has not yet been signed.

2.  The provisions of the AU Convention on Cyber Security and Personal Data Protection

(a)  Will have to be studied by the relevant department and authorities, as part of the process of ratification to ensure that it is consistent with our domestic law and not in conflict with any of South Africa’s international law obligations and that procedurally South Africa is in a position to ratify the Amendment. This will be done by the Office of the Chief State Law Adviser of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, and Office of the Chief State Law Adviser - International Law of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

(b)  No information is available, awaiting the study and legal opinion.

(i) Not applicable

(ii) Not applicable

Reply:

1. Yes
2. These reports on the payment model are being discussed at SASSA executive management level.
3. Currently there are no planned international trips but this does not preclude the Agency or the Department to do so when the need arises.

Reply:

(1) (a) (i) 2010 = 3 train accidents

(ii) 2011 = 2 train accidents

(iii) 2012 = 3 train accidents

(iv) 2013 = 11 train accidents

(v) 2014 = 6 train accidents

(b) 7 train accidents.

(2 ) (a) (i) * 2010 = 3 employee injuries

* 2011 = no injuries

* 2012 = no injuries

* 2013 = 7 employee injuries

* 2014 = no injuries

since 1 January 2015 = 58 injuries (3 employee injuries and 55 3rd party injuries)

(ii) * 2010 = 6 employee fatalities

* 2011 = 2 employee fatalities

* 2012 = no fatalities

* 2013 = 3 employee fatalities

* 2014 = no fatalities

since 1 January 2015 = two 3rd party fatalities

(b) See annexure A

(c) See annexure A

(3) No, the Minister will not make a statement on the matter.

 

Reply:

Research studies undertaken in other economies and the experience of a number of countries have established strong and positive relationships between internet access, job creation and economic development.

The benefit of internet access is clear for individuals and enterprises.

For individuals, the internet provides access to a vast array of information through which citizens and workers can become more productive and effective at their workplaces. Businesses are often dependent on the opportunities that can be accessed through the internet inter alia to access information or market, buy or sell their products (e-commerce) and through improving business processes that enhances productivity. The benefits are not confined to large enterprises: many small companies are able to cut costs and improve their product offerings through access to the internet.

A study by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) of the impact of broadband on the economy noted the following

"The economic impact of broadband manifests itself through four types of effects.

The first effect results from the construction of broadband networks. In a way similar to any infrastructure project, the deployment of broadband networks creates jobs and acts over the economy by means of multipliers. The second effect results from the “spill-over” externalities, which impact both enterprises and consumers. The adoption of broadband within firms leads to a multifactor productivity gain, which in turn contributes to growth of GDP. On the other hand, residential adoption drives an increase in household real income as a function of a multiplier. Beyond these direct benefits, which contribute to GDP growth, residential users receive a benefit in terms of consumer surplus, defined as the difference between what they would be willing to pay for broadband service and its price. This last parameter, while not being captured in the GDP statistics, can be significant, insofar that it represents benefits in terms of enhanced access to information, entertainment and public services."

UNCTAD publishes annual reviews of the information economy that set international benchmarks and challenges.

Because the positive link between internet access and economic performance is so well-established. EDD has focused on advocacy of, and supporting measures to, enable more South Africans to have access to quality, affordable internet access, instead of conducting more research to simply confirm that positive relationship.

Access to the internet is a function of the backbone infrastructure laid by the public and private sectors, as well as the 'last-mile' connectivity that brings internet access to users and support for ICT-intensive industries.

There has been a significant increase in access to the internet in both urban and rural areas, through the availability of increased broadband facilities that has led greater broadband penetration (through lower prices and better quality of access) and improvement in smart-phone technologies that enables handset access to the internet.

Since 2009, 41 a significant of cable have been laid and maintained principally by Telkom, Eskom Transmission, Dark Fibre Africa, Broadband Infraco, FibreCo and the NLD Consortium. Broadband rollout is now monitored and supported through the work of the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission. The CSIR has been appointed to coordinate the work of Strategic Integrated Project 15 on Information and Communication Technologies

According to the 2014 General Household Survey, 37% of South African households have access to mobile broadband, and 11% have fixed broadband. But the figures vary substantially by area. While 43% of people in the urban areas have access to mobile broadband and 15% to fixed, in the rural areas the figures are just 3% mobile and 25% fixed.

Many South Africans access the internet from their phones, personal computers (using home telephone or data lines) and portable devices such as laptops (using 3G and 4G cards). Though prices fell, cost is still a constraint for a considerable number of potential users.

In order to avoid the development of a digital divide where access is only available to those who can access private facilities, government has partnered to provide greater levels of public access to broadband. Though such initiatives are still fairly new, they have provided access points at schools, universities and some public transport and government facilities. We provide a few examples below.

A partnership between the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS),Telkom and the Department of Basic Education has resulted in 1650Dinalediand District schools connected (as at December 2014) at a cost of R375 million. By March 2015, 1148 of the targeted schools (70% of the total) are using the connection points.

USAASA is charged with extending broadband coverage and installs connection points to clinics, TVET colleges and libraries in rural areas with limited internet and television access. In the past two financial years, four rural municipalities with 493lic access to broadband. Though such iMorolong (Northern Cape); Ratlou (North West); Msinga (KwaZulu Natal) and Emalahleni (Eastern Cape). USAASA provided a subsidy of R46,7million. In 2015/16, a further two municipalities - Mutale in Limpopo and Albert Luthuli in Mpumalanga - will be connected, at a cost of R23 million, to provide coverage to 277 000 people.

A number of municipalities are extending broadband to their citizens. For instance, Tshwane has 673 live sites in schools, clinics and other public buildings, with 72023 million, to 493lic access to broadband. Though shrough smartphones.

A further priority is to ensure that broadband supports higher education and knowledge management. For this reason, government has prioritised improving ICT for universities.

Almost a million students at South African public universities have access to the Internet, either through their own computers or through the computer labs at the universities.

The current South African National Research Network (SANReN) backbone consists of a 10Gbps ring between Tshwane, Johannesburg, Mangaung, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, East London and eThekwini, extensions to more remote towns with university campuses, and several metropolitan rings.

All 26 public universities are connected to the internet.

During the 2014/2015 financial year the CSIR was tasked by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) to expand the SANReN (South African Research Network) reach by 25 new connections and upgrade the networketworkchnology (DST) to expand the sburg, Mangaung, the computer labs aGbps) per connected site. Construction and commissioning work on 29 new broadband connections are also currently in various stages of completion.

The activation and backhauling of two 10Gbps channels of the recently procured West African Cable System (WACS) capacity right-of-use was completed in August 2014. This effectively doubled the available capacity for all South African universities and science organisations connected to the SANReN to transfer data between South Africa and the rest of the world.

In order to achieve more of the digital dividend for the economy, the National Infrastructure Plan provides for an increase in the rollout of broadband through additional fibre-optic networks.

-END-

Reply:

(1) (a) Presentations were held on the 21 August 2014 and 27 November

2014.

(b) Presentation were held at the DTPS offices

(c) For the meeting of the 21 August 2014, six members of the NBAC Working Group, four members from the department and a representative from Government Technical Advisory Centre (GTAC) were in attendance. For the meeting of the 27 November 2014, five members of the NBAC Working Group were in attendance as well as six members of the department. Viasat and the Gauteng Broadband Network (GBN) were invited to deliver presentations at the meeting of 27th November 2014 but only Viasat managed to deliver the presentation on the day.

(2) The Minister will meet the Chairperson of the NBAC to map a way forward with regards to the continuing role of the NBAC as well as the work plan that will guide the NBAC going forward.

(3) Since the work plan is expected to be a dynamic document, it will not be gazetted to allow for flexible adaptation of the document to the rapidly changing ICT environment and to ensure that the work of the NBAC remains relevant.

Reply:

a) Since the post was vacant following the termination of service of the former Secretary of Police at the end of August 2014, the post was advertised in line with Section 11 (2) of the Public Service Act which requires that there should be transparent competition between applicants for the post.

b) The post was advertised on the 20th October 2014 with a closing date of 31 October 2014.

(i)  No

(ii) Not applicable

Reply:

1.  The National Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has no record of an application for environmental authorisation for the abovementioned project. The application was lodged with the provincial department of environmental affairs, the Gauteng Department of Rural Development (GDARD), for which the Member of Executive Council is the competent authority in terms of S24C of NEMA. Please contact the GDARD for a response.

(a) and (b) Not applicable

2.  Not applicable

--ooOoo--

Reply:

I do not have the information regarding sub-questions (1), (2) and (3).

The MEC responsible for Local Government in Free State, is being requested to commission an investigation into the matter.

Reply:

The Minister visited China to attend the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of New Champions 2014, in Tianjin, People’s Republic of China from 10 to 12 September 2014. Minister used this opportunity to honour a long standing invitation to pay an official visit to China from Minister Li Bin, the Minister of Health and Family Planning of the People’s Republic of China. This official visit took place on the 9th of September 2014.

He was accompanied by Dr Anban Pillay: Deputy Director General: Health Regulation and Compliance Management and PA, Ms M Sethosa.

Return Air Tickets: R 316 576.00

Accommodation: R 78 000.00

Daily allowances: R 35 249.34

Vehicles: R 75 000.00

VIP Lounges: R 20 000.00

The total cost for the visit was R 524 825.34.

 

Another delegation of Senior Officials visited China from 18 to 22 August 2014 to attend the Global Health Diplomacy Executive Training Course in Beijing, China. The delegation consisted of Deputy Director-General: International Health Development and Support, Ms MK Matsau, Mr M Modisenyane, Director: Africa Relations and the Deputy-Director: South-South Relations, Ms T Khosa.

Return Air Tickets: R 135 108.00

Accommodation: R 24 717.00

Daily allowances: R 16 756.20

The total cost for the visit was R 176 581.20

Please note that the trip was sponsored, tickets, accommodation and local transport were paid for by the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) of the People’s Republic of China.

END.

Reply:

Extensive discussions have been held with stakeholders in both the government and private sectors.

These include:

National Departments of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs; Rural Development and Land Reform; Environmental Affairs; Economic Development; Public Enterprises; Transport; Water Affairs; Performance Monitoring and Evaluation; Office of the Chief State Law Adviser; the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA); South African Local Government Association (SALGA); Broadband Infraco; Cell C; Dark Fibre Africa; Fibreco; Internet Solutions; Dimension Data; Link Africa; Liquid Telecoms; MTN; Neotel; Sentech; Telkom; Vodacom; Vumatel; Fibre to the Home (FTTH) Council; Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) Association; Internet Service Providers Association (ISPA); South African Communications Forum (SACF); Wireless Access Providers’ Association (WAPA); Eskom; Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA); South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL); State Information Technology Agency (SITA); Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR); Transnet; Cape Town Municipality; Ekurhuleni Municipality; Tshwane Municipality and ATC South Africa.

Following these engagements, the Department of Transport, ICASA, Office of the Chief State Law Adviser and Telkom provided further information in writing. Based on these engagements a discussion paper highlighting the policy issues has been developed and circulated to stakeholders.

The Discussion Paper is also available on the Department’s website. This Discussion Paper has been workshopped with stakeholders on 21 August 2015, the draft Rapid Deployment Policy will be developed based on the input derived therefrom.

Reply:

(1) (a)(i)
In 2014. the Kha Ri Gude Mass Literacy Campaign enrolled 2 048 Blind learners that were taught how to read and vvTite using Braille. In addition, 1 084 deaf learners were taught to communicate using the South African Sign Language (SASL).

There is a challenge with regard to finding qualified unemployed educators to teach Braille and SASL. Therefore the campaign did not recruit learners in the Northern Cape. Unfortunately, the programme was unable to recruit blind and deaf learners in the Northern Cape and blind learners in the Western Cape.

The Campaign has implemented plans to recruit a suitable volunteer in both these provinces for the 2015 Campaign to ensure that these learners are included in the campaign.

Attached find here: Provinces

Reply:

(a) No, and the rest of the questions fall off.

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available within the Department. We have, however, requested the Province and eThekwini Municipality, to provide the information.

The Honourable Member will be provided with the requested information as soon as it is submitted to us.

Reply:

(a); (i), (ii), (b), (c), (d). According to information received from Gauteng Department of Education, no educational sites have been provided during the town planning of the area mentioned. Rietfontein falls within the border of the City of Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipalities and is surrounded by areas such as Greenstone, Linksfield, Modderfontein and Edenvale. At this point there are no sites earmarked for public schooling within the area and no schools are presently planned to be built on the specified sites.

Reply:

1. (a) The Local Government: Regulations on Appointment and Conditions of Employment of Senior Managers, which came into effect on 17 January 2014, requires that a person appointed as the municipal manager of a municipality must have a Bachelor degree in Public Administration/ Social Sciences/ Law, or equivalent. According to information at the disposal of the Department, the municipal manager of Lekwa Teemane Local Municipality holds a National Diploma in Town and Regional Planning, Certificate in Local Government Finance Management and a short course certificate in Public Management and Governance. As it stands, the Minister is not able to make a conclusive decision whether the qualifications of the municipal manager comply with the prescribed requirements due to lack of evidence or proof that his qualifications were subjected to an evaluation by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) to determine if his qualifications are equivalent to a Bachelor’s degree.

   (b)  The MEC for local government in the North-West Province has been requested to investigate this matter, which will include an evaluation of the municipal manager’s qualifications by SAQA. Upon conclusion of the investigation, the MEC will submit a formal report to the Minister in terms of section 54A(7)(b) of the Municipal Systems Act, whereafter the Minister will determine the course of action, if any.

  (i)   National Diploma in Town and Regional Planning, Certificate in Local Government Finance Management and a short course certificate in Public Management and Governance.

(ii) The process followed in the municipal manager’s appointment will be determined once a full report on the appointment of the municipal manager has been received from the MEC.

2.  The total annual remuneration package of the Municipal Manager of Lekwa Teemane is R970 920-00.

3.   Yes, the total remuneration of the Municipal Manager is within the upper limits for the total remuneration payable to municipal managers, inclusive of the 20% market premium allowance as provided for in clause 10(4) of the Notice on upper limits of the total remuneration packages payable to senior managers under Government Notice No. 225 as published in Government Notice No. 37500 of 29 March 2014.

4.   Section 57 of the Municipal Systems Act requires that a person may be appointed as a municipal manager of a municipality only in terms of a written employment contract with the municipality complying with the provisions of this section and that the employment contract be entered into with the municipality represented by the mayor or executive mayor. On 3 March 2015, the Lekwa Teemane municipal council resolved to appoint a successful candidate and further directed that the employment contract be entered into between the successful candidate and the municipality represented by the mayor.

 (a)  There is no legal requirement for the employment contract to be tabled before council prior to the signing thereof.

 (b) (i) and (ii) Not applicable.

      (iii) The employment contract was signed on 16 April 2015.

     (iv) The contract was entered into between the municipal manager and municipality represented by the mayor.

Reply:

1. The first Notice on the total remuneration packages payable to municipal managers was issued on 29 March 2014, with the express provision that it becomes applicable from 1 July 2014. According to transitional measures contained in Item 11 of the Notice, the Notice does not apply to serving municipal managers whose contracts were concluded before the commencement of the Notice (i.e. 1 July 2014); meaning that such senior manager remuneration will continue to be governed in terms of their employment contracts until the contracts have lapsed or terminated.
2. (a) A total of twenty (20) applications to waive the provisions of the Notice were received by the Minister.

(b) No application of waiver was granted by the Minister.

3.  No waiver was granted.

4.  Please refer to the response on (3) above.

Reply:

(a)(i) Yes, an Intervention Team that worked under the supervision of the Administrator did a comprehensive diagnostic work into the difficulties / challenges faced by the South African Post Office (SAPO). The work resulted in a Turn-around plan, which has been approved by Cabinet and proposes a new business model. This Strategic Turnaround plan is being implemented.

(ii) The diagnosis undertaken paid specific attention to the financial difficulties of SAPO and proposed specific interventions to deal with these.

(b) Government is not considering selling either part or the whole of SAPO as the company still has value to offer to the citizens especially those residing in the underservice parts of the country especially the rural areas.

Reply:

1. The Department of Health has not commissioned any studies on the safety of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). However, the Department participates in the regulatory systems of GMOs.

The safety of Genetically Modified Organisms is regulated in terms of the Genetically Modified Organisms Act, 1997 (Act No. 15 of 1997), (GMO Act), which is administered by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF). The GMO Act provides for safety of human and animal health, as well as the environment. There are specific regulatory systems which have been set up for the rigorous evaluation of GMOs and Genetically Modified foodstuffs, so as to ensure access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food. These regulatory systems evaluate both human health and the impact that these organisms may have. The regulatory system consists of scientists, including food safety experts, who conduct food safety assessments before the GMO crops are approved for human consumption. The Department of Health participates in this regulatory system which also focuses on risk assessments of GMOs.

2. All GMO foodstuffs approved by government are safe to eat.

All foodstuffs from GMOs are thoroughly assessed during the developmental phase to ensure that they are safe for animal and human consumption. This is done before they are made available to the public. The safety assessments of Genetically Modified foodstuffs are based on guidelines and principles developed by Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex), an international body involved in food safety, under the World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations. The Codex guidelines and principles include the need for a case-by-case safety assessment, i.e., the use of scientific risk-based assessment methods that would take into consideration the newly introduced genetic material in crops, including new proteins and other characteristics of the Genetically Modified foodstuffs. This is also done in comparison with conventionally produced foods. All the Genetically Modified foodstuffs that are on the market have been approved by government and are considered as safe as their conventional counterparts.

The details of all the GMOs approved in South Africa are as a result of the safety assessment by scientists who are experts in fields related to GMOs as appointed by the Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, in terms of the GMO Act and evaluate risk assessments (scientific data relating to food, feed and environmental impact). The decisions for approval are by the Executive Council, which consists of officials from six government departments responsible for matters relating to Agriculture, Health, the Environment, Labour, Trade and Industry and Science and Technology, as well as the chairperson of the Advisory Committee.

END.

Reply:

I have been advised by Broadband Infraco as follows:

(a) Six (6) employees have resigned from Broadband Infraco in the period from 30 September 2014 to 30 June 2015.

(b) The table below referred to questions (b)(i)-(iii)

Termination from September 2014 to June 2015
Number of resignations	Termination date	Termination Service	Positions	Skills	Job Grade	Annual TCTC
1	2014/09/12	Resignation	Technician	Infrastructure maintenance	Peterson C2 Lower	R354 660
2.	2015/01/31	Resignation	Manager for performance Information Monitoring	Business Performance Monitoring and Reporting	Peterson D3 Lower	R504 534
3.	2014/02/01	Resignation	Manager Legal	Commercial Law	Peterson D3 Lower	R800 000
4.	2015/05/31	Resignation	Snr Engineer Transmission	Network Design	Peterson D3 Lower	R711 207
5.	2015/06/12	Resignation	Payroll Account	Payroll reconciliation and payment	Peterson D1 Lower	R355 200
6.	2015/06/30	Resignation	Specialist Maintenance	Infrastructure Maintenance	Peterson D1 Lower	R759 384

Reply:

(a)(i) National Department of Health (NDOH) has rolled out connectivity in 34 of the 50 targeted for the NHI Pilot. The solution will dovetail and align with SA Connect once the service rollout commences following the appointment of a service provider.

(ii) At provincial level, only the Gauteng provincial government and the Western Cape provincial government have financed broadband plans

(iii) At local government level, there are various initiatives by Government and the private sector to provide Wi-Fi hotspot infrastructure and access to the public. Initiative from Tshwane and Lusikisiki are good examples were WiFi infrastructure was financed. The rollout in Tshwane cost in the order of R77, 000 per Wi-Fi site.

(b) The rollout programme of the DTPS will focus on broadband infrastructure and services for government facilities. The DTPS will aggregate government demand to ensure that there is a compelling business case for infrastructure to be extended to the rural areas. The national, provincial and local government departments will then compliment the efforts of the DTPS by focusing on the provisioning of end-user devises and equipment, applications, relevant content and the training of users of the technology. The DTPS has worked with provincial departments to establish provincial broadband steering committees that are used to ensure alignment of the DTPS programme and provincial plans.

Reply:

1. The Minister requested a meeting with organisations which are involved in lion hunting in South Africa in response to mounting public concern around captive breeding of lion and, in particular, to address claims of allegedly widespread so-called canned hunting of lion in South Africa. This meeting was then convened on 14 July 2015.

The Department identified organisations in attendance through the National Wildlife Forum, which is a forum established by the Minister in 2005 to address policy, permitting and legislation issues that affect the wildlife sector.

2. No, The Minister still intends to invite civil society, non-governmental organisations and other interested members of the public to discuss the allegedly widespread so-called canned hunting of lion in South Africa.

The following organisations which were directly affected were invited:

• Professional Hunters Association of South Africa
• South African Predators Association
• Wildlife Ranching South Africa
• National Shooting Association
• Wildlife Translocation Association
• The National Confederation of Hunters Associations of South Africa
• South African Hunters and Game Conservation Association
• Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

 

The following organisations attended the meeting:

• Professional Hunters Association of South Africa
• South African Predators Association
• The National Confederation of Hunters Associations of South Africa
• South African Hunters and Game Conservation Association
• Provincial Conservation Authorities
• Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

3. The Minister of Environmental Affairs from time to time receives requests to meet. And she also requests meetings with various stakeholders on a range of issues within the Department’s mandate; ranging from biodiversity and conservation, air quality, climate change, to general matters around environmental protection. All such meetings and their respective agendas are diarised.

The meeting with stakeholders in the hunting industry forms part of regular interaction between the Minister and industry. The Department’s Chief Directorate: Communications regularly releases statements on such meetings, which may be found on the Department’s website.

--ooOoo--

Reply:

(a)  Only one meeting was held by the Governance and Security Chamber. The Social Chamber meeting is scheduled to take place on 21 August 2015, the Economic Chamber for 26 August 2015 and the ICTs and Disability Chamber in the first week of September 2015.

(b)  Governance and Security Chamber meeting was held on 17 August 2015.

(c)  Yes, the meeting did quorate.

(d) The following decisions were made by the meeting:

• The terms of reference of the Chamber were developed and adopted.
• A clear Scope of Work was developed and adopted.
• Working Groups were established in three areas, namely, cybersecurity, internet governance and e-commerce.
• Convenors of the Working Groups were nominated and confirmed.
• Each Working Group will develop a specific action plan to be implemented by the Chamber.

Reply:

(a) Yes, the department has studied the latest report of the Auditor-General in respect of municipalities.

(b)  The Minister cannot directly take any action before a municipality is given time to do so as prescribed in the Municipal Finance Management Act, Act 56 of 2003 (MFMA). The Minister has, however, initiated the following measures:

 (i)  Introduced an item in the MinMEC meeting’s agenda, whereby the MECs report on how municipalities, in their respective provinces, are performing on the five pillars of Back to Basics (B2B), which if not performed will result into issues in the audit reports.

(ii)  Giving special attention to the fifty (50) municipalities that received disclaimed audit opinion, with particular emphasis on 25 disclaimers in the past five consecutive years.

(iii)  Partnering with the National Treasury to roll out the Financial Management Capacity Maturity Model to understand gaps to ensure support measures are targeted and customised accordingly.

(iv)  Ensure that the competency regulations are complied with.

Reply:

(a) The modernization of stations in the country is occurring according to the programme of implementation.

   (i) Of the total of 135 stations identified for modernization, 25 are located in KZN

   (ii) Duffs Road station is the only station in KZN in the current financial year undergoing modernization at a cost of R143 095 385, with expenditure to date being R82 114 808.

(b) The expected date of service of the KZN Business Express between Pietermaritzburg and Durban in early November 2015.

Reply:

1. (a) The draft policy direction has already been prepared and consultation with the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa commenced.

(b) The draft policy direction was drafted by the Department.

(2) After finalising consultation with ICASA, public consultation will commence in accordance with section 3(5) of the Electronic Communications Act, 2005 that requires that the text of a policy direction must be published in the Gazette for 30 days to obtain the views of interested persons.

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available within the Department. We have, however, requested all the Provinces, to provide the information.

The Honourable Member will be provided with the requested information as soon as it is submitted to us.

Reply:

Hammerhead and Broadnose Sevengill sharks are commercially exploited by fishers. The latter species is targeted by linefishers and are a major source of income for fishing villages in the Western Cape. This species is also targeted by the demersal longline fishery and, therefore, they have a commercial value and need sustainable management rather than prohibiting all catches.

In addition, not all the species/groups listed in the question have “dwindling numbers”. According to KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Bather Protection Programme catch rates, there is evidence for declines of Spotted Raggedtooth sharks, Bull sharks and Scalloped and Great Hammerhead sharks, but increases in Tiger sharks and Smooth Hammerheads. Other studies indicate that for the east coast of South Africa the Spotted Raggedtooth shark population is stable, but generally for the species mentioned there is a lack of suitable data for assessing trends outside of KZN.

Also it should be noted that Hammerhead sharks are now CITES listed, which affects international trade in these species but not local trade. Since 2011, retention of hammerhead sharks by the pelagic longline fishery has been prohibited in the Cape. The demersal longline fishery is prohibited from targeting Bull sharks.

Furthermore, for the first time, marine species are being included in the national Threatened or Protected (ToPS) list. The Tiger shark, Raggedtooth shark and the Scalloped Hammerhead and Great Hammerhead sharks are all among the marine species that are listed on the draft ToPS list that went out for public comment in March 2015.

--ooOoo--

Reply:

(a) Yes, from 29 November - 06 December 2014

(b) No

(c) Yes

(i) State Visit to the People’s Republic of China

(ii) (a) R163 199.30

(ii) (b) Airfare: R149 459.00

S&T Advance: R 13 740.30

DIRCO has not submitted the invoices for Accommodation, Translators and Ground transport.

(c) (i) see table below

(ii) (a) R582 771.48

(b) See table below

Passenger	Purpose of visit (c) (i)	Travel Date	Breakdown of Costs (c) (ii) (b)
Mr Mkhacani Godfrey Maluleke	Integrated Border Management Agency During September and October 2015 (BMA)	18-27 October 2014	Airfares: R 71 764.00 Daily Allowance: R 8 683.65 Accommodation: Waiting for invoices from DIRCO Ground transport: Waiting for invoices from DIRCO Total Amount: R80 447.65
Ms Keitumetse Mathibe	State Visit to the People’s Republic of China	29 November - 06 December 2014	Airfares: R149 459 Daily Allowance: R 12 491.20 Accommodation: Waiting for invoices from DIRCO Total: R161 950.20
Ms Lesego Ntsieni	State Visit to the People’s Republic of China	29 November - 06 December 2014	Airfares: R149 459 Daily Allowance: R 12 491.20 Accommodation: Waiting for invoices from DIRCO Total: R161 950.20
Mr Mawethu Vilana	State Visit to the People’s Republic of China	29 November 2014	Airfare: R62 446 Advance: R 12 575.32 Accommodation: Waiting for invoices from DIRCO Total: R75 021.32
Mr P Mohan	Cross Border Road Transport study Tour to China	7-13 March 2015	Airfares: R 72 332.14 Accommodation: R 15 670.00 Daily Allowance: R 15 400.00 Total Amount: R 103 402.14
TOTAL COST			R582 771.48

Reply:

The response below was provided by the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality:

1. Two (2) officials were charged with misconduct following the recommendations of the Manase report were dismissed.
2. In line the resolution of Council, the City Manager referred all the matters that required investigation by the police to the Anti-corruption Task Team for consideration of possible criminal action. The report from the ACTT is still outstanding.
3. The Manase report recommended recovery from a number of officials involved in irregular expenditure. (a) The current criminal investigation will assist to determine which amounts were proceeds of crime, which would enable recovery. (b) One million rand was recovered from the two dismissed officials, dismissed for fraud. This amount was taken from their pension.
4. Council referred the matters relating to Councillors to the Ethics Committee. Disciplinary action was taken against the ten (10) Councillors who were implicated. One Councillor is no longer a Councillor and two are deceased. The other Councillors were fined according to the quantum of transgression. The fines ranged from R8248,19 to R19500,22. Arrangements were made by the Councillors to pay the fines.

Reply:

The information requested by the Honourable Member is not readily available within the Department. We have, however, requested all the Metropolitan Municipalities, to provide the information.

The Honourable Member will be provided with the requested information as soon as it is submitted to us.

Reply:

The National Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) has no record of an application for environmental authorisation for the above-mentioned project. The application was lodged with the provincial department of environmental affairs, the Gauteng Department of Rural Development (GDARD), for which the Member of Executive Council is the competent authority in terms of S24C of NEMA. Please contact the GDARD for a response.

(a) and (b)(i), (ii) and (iii) Not applicable

--ooOoo--

Reply:

Due to the nature of information that is required . 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:

(1)(a)(i) & (ii) Daily operations were held by members of SAPS Chatsworth.

(1)(b)(i) & (ii) Daily operations were held between 1 April 2014 and 21 March 2015.

(2)(a) 3 082 arrests were made.

(2)(b) 3 082 suspects were charged.

(2)(c) Various cases of possession of drugs in contravention of the Dependence Producing Drugs legislation.

(3) 1 320 convictions.

Reply:

The information in question is confidential and cannot be provided.

Reply:

1. Yes. SAPS have, for example, measures in place to handle all persons in custody of the Service. The aforesaid is governed by various Standing Orders instructing the elimination of any type of prejudice towards all the categories of persons in police custody, including undocumented foreign nationals. Standing Order (G) 341 deals with the arrest and the treatment of an arrested person until such person is handed to the Community Service Centre Commander. The handling of persons in custody of the service from their arrival at the police station is outlined by Standing Order (G) 361 including that undocumented foreign Nationals are not allowed to be detained in the same cell with other persons in custody who committed other crimes.
2. A booklet namely “Immigration and Policing Volume 4” was compiled and produced during 2011 by the SAPS Communication and Liaison Services and Division Visible Policing to sensitize and capacitate police officers regarding various contexts when police officers may interact with foreign nationals.

Senior management of SAPS has already received the booklets and will ensure the distribution thereof to all the members in due course.

3.   The Division Visible Policing has engaged with the Lawyers for Human Rights in order to capacitate the police officers in the policing of foreign nationals. It envisaged piloting the training and education to police officers in the problematic provinces first before rolling it out to the rest of the country.

Reply:

(a) The Department of Small Business Development did not spend any amount on advertising in (i) Sowetan and (ii) Daily Sun since its inception.

(b) The Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa)

Sefa did not spend any amount on advertising in (i) Sowetan and (ii) Daily Sun in the (aa) 2012-13 financial year.

Sefa spent R45 280 and R48 963 on advertising in (i) Sowetan and (ii) Daily Sun in (bb) 2013-14 financial year respectively.

Sefa did not spend any amount on advertising in (i) Sowetan and (ii) Daily Sun in the (cc) 2014-15 financial year.

(b) The Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda)

Seda spent R421 309.80 and R821 370 on advertising in (i) Sowetan and (ii) Daily Sun in the (aa) 2012-13 financial year respectively.

Seda spent R271 351.66 and R194 438.40 on advertising in (i) Sowetan and (ii) Daily Sun in the (bb) 2013-14 financial year respectively.

Seda spent R204 070.60 and R239 260.18 on advertising in (i) Sowetan and (ii) Daily Sun in the (cc) 2014-15 financial year respectively.

Reply:

(a) Edenvale CAS 316/08/2010 – The case against the accused was withdrawn in court.

(b) Sergeant MS Selomane.

Reply:

(a) Yes,

(b) No,

(c) Yes.

(i)  The purposes of the visits were to share experiences and international best practice in the functional areas of land reform and rural development, as well as skills development for youth in business.

(ii) (aa) Total: R4 019168.25

(bb)

• Visit 1: To the People’s Republic of China from 27 October to 01 November 2014: R263 089.25
• Visit 2 : ( 24 October – 02 November 2014) : 42 member deligation including 10 officials : R1 109 570
• Visit 3 ( 22 March – 06 April 2014 ) 52 member deligation including 11 officials : R1 356 849
• Visit 4 : ( 22 August—07 September 2014 ) 42 -member delegation including 11 officials: R1 289 660

Reply:

The stations that resort under the Paarl Magistrate`s Court jurisdiction do have functioning Community Policing Forum’s, please see below:

STATION__	COMMUNITY POLICING FORUM(CPF) EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Paarl	Chairperson: Muis Muller Vice chairperson: Jaco Visser Secretary: Em-Em Zaayman Treasurer: Trevor Harris
Paarl East	Chairperson: James Pedro Vice chairperson: Hendry Matthews Secretary: Frenique Arendse Treasurer: Mr Matthee
Mbekweni	Chairperson: Dumisani Mziki Vicy chairperson: Phindile Maki Secretary: Mpumi Lallie Treasurer: Sindile Msebenzi
Wellington	Chairperson: Hester de Kock Vice chairperson: Danny van Rooyen Secretary: Robert Germishuys Treasurer: Past Eric Bernardo

The Provincial Commissioner’s office in partnership with the Department of Community Safety facilitated the Station Annual General Meetings (AGM) and conducted the Police Needs and Priority Workshop in May 2015. Further, in June 2015, the Expanded Partnership Programme was convened to ensure fully functional Community Police Forums.

Reply:

1. The Investigation Case Docket Management System (ICDMS) functionality has been implemented at 711 police stations since inception. These figures reflect the status as on 2015-07-30.

The breakdown per Province is as follows:

PROVINCE	TOTAL
Eastern Cape	58
Free State	61
Gauteng	138
KwaZulu-Natal	102
Limpopo	58
Mpumalanga	76
North West	52
Northern Cape	43
Western Cape	123
TOTAL	711

(2)(a) & (b) (i) & (ii) Yes, detective- and intelligence-led investigations are producing the desired results with regard to the increase of quality dockets and the conviction rate.

(2)(aa) The detective-and intelligence-led training programmes introduced to increase the quality of dockets and the conviction rate for 2014/2015 financial year are:

COURSE	TRAINED MEMBERS
DETECTIVE COURSES
IDENTIFICATION OF EXPLOSIVES/EXPLOSIVE DEVICES	283
BASIC FINANCIAL INVESTIGATION PRACTICE	0
HARMFUL OCCULT RELATED CRIME LP	21
FIREARM INVESTIGATION COURSE	13
VEHICLE CRIME INVESTIGATORS COURSE	60
STOCK THEFT LEARNING PROGRAMME	79
PSYCHOLOGICALLY MOTIVATED CRIME REFRESHER WORKSHOP	22
FAMILY VIOLANCE SEXUAL OFFENCES AND CHILD PROTEC	194
INTRODUCTION TO FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS	51
FORENSIC SOCIAL WORK REPORT WRITING	57
RESOLVING OF CRIME SKILLS PROGRAMME 1	1485
STATEMENT TAKING FOR DETECTIVE	219
CYBER FORENSICS FIRST RESPONDER L/P	39
INTRODUCING THE CHILD WITNESS	32
PROCUREMENT FRAUD INVESTIGATIONS	0
COUNTER TERRORISM INVESTIGATORS COURSE	44
SERIOUS AND VIOLENT CRIMES INVESTIGATION	51
SEX OFFENDER IN CHILD ABUSE CASES	0
PSYCHOLOGICALLY MOTIVATED CRIME COURSE	0
EVALUATING THE EVIDENCE OF CHILDREN	0
COMMERCIAL CRIME FOR LEANING PROGRAMME	101
ORGANISED CRIME INVESTIGATORS	45
BASIC CRIME INVESTIGATIVE PRACTICE	841
BASIC FRAUD INVESTIGATORS COURSE	271
INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRONIC RELATED CRIME SCENE LP	36
STATEMENT TAKING FROM A CHILD :FORENSIC SOCIAL WORKER	60
CIRCULATION SYSTEM	16
CAS COURSE(F): INVESTIGATION PERSONNEL	694
CAS COURSE(G): INVESTIGATION COMMAND PERSONNEL	54
CIRCULATION COURSE-VEHICLES-PERSONS-GOODS-STOCK	1853
CIRCULATION SYSTEM : ENQUIRY WANTED PERSONS	33
BASIC FORENSIC TOXIC0LOGY FOR INVESTIGATORS	80
NATIONAL PHOTO IMAGE SYSTEM	716
CIRCULATION SYSTEM:ENQUIRIES VEHICLES (CV-PROFILES	528
E-DOCKET	301
PREPARING CHILDREN FOR COURT	67
BASIC CRIME SCENE MANAGEMENT	353
INFORMERS HANDLING COURSE	443
INVESTIGATING INTERVIEWING	286
IDENTITY PARADE	379
POINTING OUT	206
BIODIVERSITY CRIME SPECIALISED TRAINING	30
SAPS 6 AND DOCKET PROGRESS SYSTEM LEARNING PROGRAM	95
SEXUAL OFFENCES COURSE FOR INVESTIGATING OFFICERS	952
DETECTIVE COMMADERS LEARNING PRIGRAMME	352
CRIME INTELLIGENCE COURSES
BASIC VETTING COURSE	15
CI : UNDERCOVER OPERATIONS COURSE	74
COUNTER INTELLIGENCE COURSE	16
TEXTCHART & CHART EXPLORER	10
INKWAZI SYSTEM LEARNING PROGRAMME	331
OPERATIONAL ANALYST COURSE	100
ADVANCE POLIGRAPHY TRAINING	0
BORDER SECURITY CONTROL AND MANAGEMENT - LAND	0
CAS COURSE(N): CRIME INTELLIGENCE OFFICE	0
COMPUTER SECURITY+	0
GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM	108
HIGH ANGLE COURSE 1 AND 2	0
IBM i2 IBASE USER TRAINING COURSE	0
INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS MANAGEMENT COURSE	0
IP GRANATE	0
MICROSOFT CERTIFIED SOLUTIONS ASSOCIATE (MCSA)	0
MICROSOFT CERTIFIED SYSTEMS ENGINEER (MCSE)	0
RADIO ELECTRONIC TRAINING	0
RADIO INSTALLATION	0
STRATEGIC ANALYST COURSE	0
CIRCULATION COURSE	16
CIRCULATION COURSE-VEHICLE/PERSON/GOODS/STOCK	1853
N+ COMPUTER COURSE	0
A+ COMPUTER COURSE	0
CISCO CERTIFIED NETWORK ASSOCIATE (CCNA)	0
SECURITY RISK CRISIS MANAGEMENT	1
CRIME INFORMATION ANALYSIS LEARNING PROGRAM	108
CRIME INTELLIGENCE GATHERING COURSE	312
BASIC SURVEILIANCE ASSISTANT	0
ORGANISED CRIME THREAT ANAYSIS (OCTA)	0
HUMAN INTELLIGENCE TRADECRAFT LEARNING PROGRAMME	19
SURVEILLANCE COURSE	0
ANALYST NOTEBOOK	20
IBASE DATA CAPTURING	0
INTELLISHARE EXPLORER AND CAPTURE	0
ANACAPA	0
IBASE USER COURSE	0

(2)(bb) Comparing the 1st quarter of the 2015/2016 financial year with the 1st quarter of the 2014/2015 financial year, there is a decrease in the not guilty verdicts in court.

Reply:

The Blacktip Shark, Bronze Whaler Shark and Dusky Shark are commercially exploited species in South Africa and are caught in a permitted shark fishery. The management of fishing effort and fishing quotas is a function of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), which undertakes research in support of shark fishery management. DAFF are best suited to provide additional detail on the management objectives for these species.

.

South Africa’s Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are currently used to provide additional protection to exploited fish species, including sharks, either by prohibiting all exploitation of marine resources or restricting some exploitation activities. MPAs cannot be regarded as a primary fishery management tool as the current network covers less than 1% of South Africa’s Exclusive Economic Zone and MPAs are unevenly distributed between the different eco-regions. Additional MPAs are currently being considered through the Operation Phakisa processes and these will contribute to overall increase in the protection of marine biodiversity.

--ooOoo--

Reply:

1. The station has conducted one hundred and sixty one (161) operations targeting drug dealers in the 2014/15 financial year as per bellow dates:

2014-05-05, 2014-05-14, 2014-05-15, 2014-05-27, 2014-06-03, 2014-06-12, 2014-06-21, 2014-06-23, 2014-06-24, 2014-07-01, 2014-07-02, 2014-07-21, 2014-08-07, 2014-08-15, 2014-08-18, 2014-09-15, 2014-09-16, 2014-10-27, 2014-12-10, 2014-12-22, 2015-01-12, 2015-01-12, 2015-01-15, 2015-01-17, 2015-01-18, 2015-01-21, 2015-01-23, 2015-01-25, 2015-01-26, 2015-01-30, 2015-02-01, 2015-02-02, 2015-02-07, 2015-02-10, 2015-02-11, 2015-02-14, 2015-02-15, 2015-02-17, 2015-02-18, 2015-02-26, 2015-03-02, 2015-03-06, 2015-03-08, 2015-03-12, 2015-03-14, 2015-03-15, 2015-03-19, 2015-03-22

2.  During the operation there were two thousand one hundred and thirty eight (2138) arrests and one hundred and sixty three (163) persons charged for dealing with drugs.

3.   There were two thousand two hundred and sixty (2260) convictions secured during the operations in respect of drug related crimes.

 

 

Reply:

1. Department of Basic Education does not meet the full 2% employment equity target set by Government for persons with disabilities. The disability rate within the Department of Basic Education is currently 1.7%.

(2)(a) This is due to retirement and resignations in this category. It has also been found that in some instances officials with disabilities does not want to be categorised as such.

Reply:

(a) and (b) I wish to inform the Honourable Member that the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has limited statistical information in relation to the court cases and resultant convictions made in relation to the violent attacks against foreign nationals in 2008 and 2015. The reason for this is that there is no specific crime category prosecuted or recorded in official data bases relating to “violent xenophobic attacks”. Crimes committed in this regard are therefore normally crimes such as assaults or murders where the victims are foreign nationals. These cases are thus recorded as normal crimes in terms of the SAPS CAS system and the court registers. Limited manual recording of such incidents and cases were dealt with during 2008. During 2015 more detailed capturing of statistics are being done by the South African Police Service and the National Prosecution Authority under auspices of the Justice Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cluster and its NATJOINTS Sub-Committee, and this is reported through the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC: Migration) dealing with Migration issues..

(i) 2008 incidents:

With regard to the 2008 incidents relating to foreign nationals, the department recorded that arrests led to 597 such cases going to court from May 2008. To monitor what happened to these cases, an investigation at the end of October 2009, revealed that 218 of these cases were withdrawn (for various reasons, but in many instances because the witnesses became missing or left the country), 159 of these cases were finalised with a verdict (98 guilty, 61 not guilty), 9 cases were still partly-heard, 75 cases were still to be tried and in 77 cases, further investigation was still being finalised, whilst 27 warrants of arrest were also issued. These matters were part of the normal court rolls at that stage and no further specific monitoring records were kept in relation to these matters.

(ii) 2015 incidents:

According to an IMC press release in May 2015, it was indicated that there were eighty-seven (87) cases, eighty-three (83) of which were postponed for further investigation and four (4) that had been finalized. Of this, three cases resulted in convictions and one case was finalized through Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanism (mediation).

As at the end of July 2015, the statistics changed as follows: there were a total of a hundred and ten (110) such cases, of which seven (7) had been withdrawn or struck off the roll, six (6) had been finalized and ninety-seven (97) had not yet been finalized. Of the six (6) cases finalized, there were four (4) convictions, one (1) nolle prosequi (decision not to prosecute) and one (1) finalized through Alternative Dispute Resolution Mechanism (mediation).

It can be noted that the IMC: Immigration on a regular basis briefs the country on these issues through media briefings. A further media briefing indicating progress in dealing with the issues relating to Foreign Nationals, including the cases finalized, will follow soon (on 22 August 2015).

Background information:

In terms of the breakdown of the 2008 incidents, the 597 cases can be disaggregated per crime category (charges) as follows:

Public Violence	112
Housebreaking	107
Attempted robbery/robbery	96
Murder / attempted murder	62
Theft	58
Malicious Damage to Property	36
Assault/ GBH	31
Intimidation	22
Armed robbery	22
House robbery	11
Arson	9
Rape / attempted rape	8
Business robbery	6
Other crimes	17
Total	597

Reply:

(c)(i)(ii)(aa)(bb)

The information in respect of SAPS officials is attached.

Reply:

The process of reviewing targets, particularly those highlighted by the Portfolio Committee on Police during the budget vote hearings, is currently underway and aligned to the planning processes and dictates that are outlined in the National Treasury Framework for Strategic Plans and Annual Performance Plans. The revised Annual Performance Plan and targets will be submitted to the Committee during the budget vote hearing process.

Reply:

The Department of Environmental Affairs does not undertake research in order to set sustainable quotas for sharks but does undertake some research on specific aspects of shark ecology which includes tagging sharks to describe the extent of the distribution ranges.

The estimated annual catches of these species as documented by research of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries are given as: Blacktip 1-10 tons, Dusky 11-100 tons, Bronze Whaler 101-200 tons. The sum of the upper ranges of these estimates is 310 tons, short of 500 tons. The setting of fishing quotas is the function of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries which undertakes research in support of shark fishery management.

---ooOoo---

Reply:

(1)(a) Yes, the Anti-Corruption Task Team (ACTT) is investigating this case.

(1)(b)(i) Yes.

(1)(b)(ii) Unknown at this stage.

(1)(b)(iii) Unknown at this stage.

(1)(aa) Unknown.

(1)(bb) Unknown.

(1)(cc) Unknown.

(1)(dd) Unknown.

(2) Not applicable

(2) Not applicable

(3) Not applicable

Reply:

(1) (a) The Minister has not formally met with the Simodisa Company. The Minister only met informally with the company on the margins of another engagement.

(b) The Department of Small Business Development has never had any interaction with the Simodisa Company.

Reply:

(1)(a) The information is not available. It was previously dealt with and kept by the Area Commissioners’ offices.

(1)(b) 73 249

(2)(a) 4

(2)(b) 12

(3)(a)

VISPOL	DETECTIVES	SUPPORT
39	20	11

(3)(b)

VISPOL	DETECTIVES	SUPPORT
67	38	31

(4)(a) Not available. The Polfin System can only draw the information from 2003/2004.

(4)(b) R3 506 842