Questions and Replies

Reply:

Refer to the table below for the current Chief Financial Officers of the Department and the Entities:

Department/ Entity	Full Names	Qualifications
Department: CFO Water Trading Entity	Mr Mpho Mofokeng	B Tech: Cost & Management Accounting Degree
Department: CFO Main Account	Ms Nthabiseng Fundakubi	B Tech: Business Administration
Amatola Water	The CFO post is vacant.	N/A
Bloem Water	Mr OJ Stadler	B Comm Honours; Masters in Business Leadership (MBL)
Lepelle Northern Water	Mr JC Kilan	Honours: Accounting; Masters in Business Administration
Magalies Water	Ms A Raphela	B Comm Honours; Chartered Accountant
Mhlathuze Water	Mr B Ndaba	(b) B Comm (Accounting)
Overberg Water	Ms A Cilliers	B Compt, B Compt Honours; Chartered Accountant
Rand Water	Mrs SM Nyembe	B Comm (Accounting); B Compt Honours
Sedibeng Water	Ms MA Shasha	B Compt Honours
Umgeni Water	Mr TB Hlongwa	B Comm (Accounting); B Comm Honours (Accounting); Chartered Accountant
Inkomati-Usuthu CMA	Ms Thembelihle Mjaji	Qualified Chartered Accountant. Honours in Bachelor of Accounting Science Degree in Bachelor of Accounting Science
Breede Gouritz CMA	Mrs. Judith Ntombizanele Nkomombini	Bachelor of Commerce

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Reply:

1 As the honourable member is aware the APAP has included the Poultry Value Chain as a strategic value chain for development. The development of the value chain includes supporting the reduction of input costs through increasing the supply of good quality feed (soya) and possibly maize. All 9 provinces have identified a number of poultry projects which include increasing the number of Broiler houses as well as support for small scale processing via new abattoirs to be funded via CASP. This development plan was presented to the U.S. during the AGOA negotiations and it is understood that the U.S. response was to accept a lower volume once the developmental needs and objectives were made clear. The U.S. has also offered in support to the agreement on the quota to support training and capacity building of extensions officers as well as research personnel. The South African industry is in full support of this initiative. 

2 The use of incentives under IPAP and APAP was discussed with the industry as well as with representatives of Historically Disadvantaged Individuals (HDI) in the Poultry Sector. However we are still in discussions on how this will take place in line with the Poultry Sector Value Chain development proposal in APAP.

3 DAFF Economic Development Trade and Marketing DDG has been in constant consultation with the industry body SAPA, the DTI as well as the APAP team and together they have engaged with the planned poultry value chain development proposal for sector growth. The poultry value chain development proposal is also a key commodity intervention the government’s 9 point plan under Priority 1: Revitalisation of Agriculture and the Agroprocessing Value Chains. A DAFF/DTI team is also in the process of identifying the criteria which will be used to allocate and administer the trade quota to ensure there is minimal volatility of import volumes to reduce the potential negative impact. The quota concession will include a volume which will be for HDI's only and will most likely to taken up by existing producers who have indicated that they need it to ensure they have a resonate supply level.

Reply:

1. Table 1 below reflects the amount that was spent by the Department on environmental rehabilitation due to sewage spills in each province (a) in the (i) 2013-14 and (ii) 2014-15 financial years and (b) since 1 April 2015:

Table 1

(a)Province	(a)(i) 2013-14	(a)(ii) 2014-15	(b) since 1 April 2015
Eastern Cape	N/A	N/A	N/A
Free State	R15 850 000 (ACIP)	R42 850 000 (ACIP)	R18 968 000 (Planned to be spent under ACIP)
	R5 000 000 (RBIG)	R47 000 000 (RBIG)	R90 474 000 ((Planned to be spent under RBIG)
Gauteng	N/A	N/A	N/A
KwaZulu-Natal	N/A	N/A	N/A
Limpopo	N/A	N/A	N/A
Mpumalanga	R9 000 000 (ACIP)	R13, 7m (ACIP)	R47m (RBIG)
Northern Cape	N/A	N/A	N/A
North West	N/A	N/A	N/A
Western Cape	N/A	N/A	N/A

(2)(a) Refer to the table below for the (a) location, (b) cause and (c) nature of the rehabilitation for each spillage within the Free State and Mpumalanga provinces.

 

FREE STATE PROVINCE

2013/14 (ACIP)

Location (2) (a)	Cause (2) (b)	Nature of Rehabilitation (2) (c)	Municipality
Clocolan	Non-functional sewer pump stations due to ageing infrastructure	Replaced all pumps, motors & electrical infrastructure	Setsoto LM
Ficksburg	Collapsed old sewer pipes	Unblocked sewer lines and replaced defective ones	Setsoto LM
Kroonstad	Collapsed 1,2 km old asbestos sewer line from Gelukwarts polluting the Vals river	Replaced 1,2km of sewer line.	Moqhaka LM
Wepener	Non-functional sewer pump station & waste water treatment works	Refurbished all pumps, motors & electrical infrastructure.	Naledi LM

2013/14 (RBIG)

Location (2) (a)	Cause (2) (b)	Nature of Rehabilitation (2) (c)	Municipality
Vredefort	Non-functional sewer pump station & waste water treatment works	Refurbished all pumps, motors & electrical infrastructure.	Ngwathe LM

2014/15 (ACIP)

Location (2) (a)	Cause (2) (b)	Nature of Rehabilitation (2) (c)	Municipality
Theunissen	Collapsed old asbestos line	Replaced a length of 500 meters	Masilonyana LM
Brandfort	Non-functional two sewer pump stations due to old infrastructure	Refurbished and upgraded the two pump stations.	Masilonyana LM
Winburg	Non-functional one sewer pump station due to old infrastructure	Refurbished and upgraded the one pump station.	Masilonyana LM
Vrede	Non-functional pumps & motors and electrical infrastructure	Replaced pumps and motors and refurbished electrical infrastructure	Phumelela LM
Waden	Non-functional pumps & motors and electrical infrastructure	Replaced pumps and motors and refurbished electrical infrastructure	Phumelela LM
Koffiefontein	Non-functional pumps & motors and electrical infrastructure	Refurbished pumps and motors and refurbished electrical infrastructure	Letsemeng LM

2014/15 (RBIG)

Location (2) (a)	Cause (2) (b)	Nature of Rehabilitation (2) (c)	Municipality
Wesselsbron	Non-functional electrical and mechanical components at waste water treatment plant.	Replaced all non functional electrical & mechanical components.	Nala LM
Kroonstad	Collapsed asbestos sewer pipe line in Hill street Collapsed Boitumelo Marabastad asbestos sewer pipeline Non-functional sewer treatment plant	Multi-year projects. Replacing and upgrading the Hill Street sewer pipeline. Replacing and upgrading the sewer pipeline. Upgrading of the sewer treatment plant to meet the demands	Moqhaka LM
Vredefort	Non-functional sewer treatment plant and old sewer line	Refurbished and upgraded the waste water treatment plant and replaced the sewer line	Ngwathe LM

2015/16 (ACIP Projects under implementation)

Location (2) (a)	Cause (2) (b)	Nature of Rehabilitation (2) (c)	Municipality
Koppies	Non-functional electrical and mechanical components at waste water treatment plant.	Replace all non-functional electrical & mechanical components.	Ngwathe LM
Reitz and Lindley	Non-functional of electrical and mechanical components in pump station	Refurbishment of non-functional of electrical and mechanical components	Nketoana LM
Koffiefontein	Non-functional electrical and mechanical components at waste water treatment plant.	Replace all non-functional electrical & mechanical components.	Letsemeng LM
Odendalsrus	Collapsed old sewer lines	Replacement of collapsed old sewer pipeline	Matjhabeng LM
Mamahabane	Oxidation ponds not lined and the sewerage seeps through the nearby environment.	Rehabilitation of oxidation ponds	Matjhabeng LM
Wepenar	Collapsed old asbestos sewer pipeline and non-functional of two sewer pump station.	Replace the collapsed sewer line and refurbish the two sewer pump stations.	Naledi LM

 

2015/16 (RBIG Projects under implementation)

Location (2) (a)	Cause (2) (b)	Nature of Rehabilitation (2) (c)	Municipality
Kroonstad	Collapsed asbestos sewer pipe line in Hill street   Collapsed Boitumelo Marabastad asbestos sewer pipeline Non-functional sewer treatment plant	Multi-year projects. Replacing and upgrading the Hill Street sewer pipeline. Replacing and upgrading the sewer pipeline. Upgrading of the sewer treatment plant to meet the demands	Moqhaka LM
Vredefort	Non-functional of electrical and mechanical components in pump station	Refurbishment of non-functional of electrical and mechanical components	Nketoana LM

MPUMALANGA PROVINCE

2013-14

Location (2) (a)	Cause (2) (b)	Nature of Rehabilitation (2) (c)	Municipality
Mhlatikop and Komatipoort	Ageing Infrastructure, operating beyond design capacities, poor operation and maintenance	Refurbishment of the WWTW and pump stations Phase 1	Nkomazi

2014-15

Location (2) (a)	Cause (2) (b)	Nature of Rehabilitation (2) (c)	Municipality
Mhlatikop and Komatipoort	Ageing Infrastructure, operating beyond design capacities, poor operation and maintenance	Refurbishment of the WWTW and pump stations Phase 2	Nkomazi
Leandra		Refurbishment of the WWTW	Govern Mbeki

2015-16

Location (2) (a)	Cause (2) (b)	Nature of Rehabilitation (2) (c)	Municipality
Balfour	Ageing Infrastructure, operating beyond design capacities, poor operation and maintenance	Upgrade of the WWTW	Dipaleseng
Delmas			Victor Khanye LM
Botleng

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Reply:

1. (a) Government borrows money to finance the main budget balance and maturing debt. To partly mitigate refinancing risk – the risk that government will not be able to raise money to finance the budget deficit and repay debt at any scheduled point, or will have to do so at high cost – government also makes use of a bond-switch programme to ease pressure on targeted areas of the bond redemption profile by exchanging short-term for longer-term debt. Between 2008/09 and 2014/15, government switched R203 billion short-term debt (domestic bonds) for longer-term debt.

(b) (i) National Treasury estimates the impact of fiscal policy on economic growth. Internal estimates of the fiscal multiplier are in line with published South African peer-reviewed journal articles, which find that fiscal stimulus has a fairly significant short-term impact on growth.

As was the case for South Africa, many governments had estimated in 2010 that the economy would quickly recover to pre-crisis growth rates. Countercyclical stimulus was expected to reduce the time it would take for economies to return to potential levels of output. These growth projections proved to be over-optimistic; a secular decline in global growth delayed fiscal consolidation and produced rising levels of debt.

Countercyclical policy can influence short-term deviations from trend growth, but cannot be used to address structural declines in output. Many governments have grappled with the fiscal implications of a global slowdown in growth. In South Africa’s case, potential growth has been revised downwards due to lower long-term global growth projections and electricity supply constraints.

Slower potential GDP growth implies that the output gap is fairly small, with two implications for fiscal policy: first, the level of output cannot be significantly increased by running larger deficits; second, the deficit will not likely be reduced by a cyclical upturn in taxes, implying that there is a structural imbalance between revenue and expenditure. The focus of the 2015 Budget is on narrowing the structural fiscal deficit by raising taxes, slowing spending growth and putting in place measures to improve spending efficiency.

(b) (ii) Government is paying interest at an average coupon/interest rate of 10 per cent on the debt which needs to be refinanced over the next four years. It is projected that this debt will be refinanced at a lower average coupon/interest rate of 9 per cent.

2.    The 2015 Budget is aimed at ensuring long-term fiscal sustainability, which is a defining feature of intergenerational equity. The budget also aims to change the composition of borrowing, in order to ensure that government debt is used to fund expenditures with a long-term impact.

Government has stated that there is a long-term (or structural) imbalance between revenue and expenditure, and is addressing this imbalance by raising taxes and reducing the rate of expenditure growth. The bulk of the slowdown in spending growth has been targeted at government consumption, with the current deficit (i.e. the gap between revenue and consumption spending) projected to close in 2015/16. Government is protecting capital expenditure, which remains the fastest growing area of non-interest spending. These three elements of the budget are likely to improve the intergenerational fairness of fiscal policy.

Government reports on the long-term implications of its fiscal choices. The 2015 Budget Review includes estimates of the debt outlook and debt repayments up to 2020/21. In addition, the main findings of the long-term fiscal model are available on the Treasury website. The long-term model’s main finding is that current social spending policies are sustainable over the next three decades.

Reply:

(1) Yes, steps have been taken to implement the recommendations of the Auditor- General with regard to preventing the procurement of goods and services with a transaction value below R500 000, refer below:

• The Accounting officer invites and accepts written price quotations for requirement up to an estimated value of R500 000.00 from as many suppliers as possible, that are registered on the list of prospective suppliers.

• Where no suitable suppliers are available from the list of prospective suppliers, written price quotations may be obtained from other possible suppliers.

• If it is not possible to obtain at least three (3) written price quotations, the reason should be recorded and approved by the accounting officer/ authority or his /her delegate.

• The Supply Chain Management policy which incorporates the above and other quotation process has been approved and is currently utilized within the Water Trading Entity as a guideline for the procurement process which include other related National Treasury practices notes and related circulars issued by other authorities within the Water and Infrastructure Sector e.g. CIDB Regulations.

(2) Yes, steps have been taken to implement the recommendations of the Auditor-General with regard to preventing the procurement of goods and services with a transaction value above R500 000.00, refer below:

• Accounting officer invite competitive bids for all procurement above R500 000.00.

• Competitive bids are advertised in the Government Tender Bulleting and in other appropriate media should an accounting officer deem it necessary to ensure greater exposure to potential bidders. The responsibility for advertisement cost lies with the relevant accounting officer.

• Should it be impractical to invite competitive bids for specific procurement, such as in urgent or emergency cases or in cases of a sole supplier, the accounting officer/ authority may procure the required goods and services by other means, such as price quotations or negotiations in accordance with Treasury Regulation 16A6.4. The reasons for deviating from inviting competitive bids are recorded and approved by the accounting officer or his/ her delegate.

• The Accounting officer reports within ten (10) working days to the relevant Treasury and the Auditor-General regarding all cases where goods and services above the value of R1 Million (VAT inclusive) and providing description of the goods or services, the name/s of the suppliers/s, the amount/s involved and the reasons for deviating from the prescribed competitive bidding process.

• Goods, works or services may not deliberately be split into parts or items of lesser value merely for the sake of procuring the goods, works or service otherwise than through the prescribed procurement process. when determining transaction values, a requirement for goods , works or services consisting of different parts or items must as far as possible be treated and dealing with as a single transaction

• Accounting officers apply the prescripts of the preferential procurement policy Framework Act, 2000 (Act No. 5 of 2000) and its associated Regulations for all procurement equal to or above R30 000.00.00 (VAT included) less than
  that amount if and when appropriate.

• The Supply Chain Management policy which incorporates the above and other bids processes has been approved and is currently utilized within the Water Trading Entity as a guide-line for the procurement process which include together with other related National Treasury practice notes and related circulars issued by other authorities within the Water and Infrastructure Sector e.g. CIDB Regulations.

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Reply:

1. (a)(b) (i) curriculum

The development of Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statements (CAPS) for Technical subjects was completed and signed by the Minister of Basic Education on the 13 April 2015; this is in accordance with the Government Gazette No 37840 dated July 2014. Printing is currently in progress and distribution of the CAPS documents will be completed before the training of teachers in June 2015. A total of 52, 750 copies of the CAPS documents for Technical Mathematics, Technical Sciences, Civil Technology, Electrical Technology and Mechanical Technology will be printed and distributed as indicated below:

• 5 copies ( 1 for each subject) to the National office DBE
• 5 copies ( 1 for each subject ) to each provincial office
• 5 copies ( 1 for each subject ) to each district office; and
• 10 copies (2 for each subject) to each school offering a technical subject

(b) (ii) Workshop

Since the inception of the grant, the objective of training 2,749 teachers, building 118 new workshops, refurbishing 266 existing workshops and supplying equipment, machinery and tools to participating schools has been achieved. The grant was reconfigured in 2014 and it now forms part of the new Mathematics, Science and Technology Conditional Grant. The outputs of the new grant include the supply of machinery, equipment and tools and the training of teachers. Based on the total number of technical schools and the state of physical infrastructure at most schools, the schools have the capacity to implement the curriculum. Those that had challenges were recapitalised by the conditional grant.

(b) (iii) Textbooks

The development process of both Technical Mathematics and Technical Sciences textbooks sponsored and co-managed by Sasol-Inzalo Foundation and DBE will be finalised by July 2015. Publishers are in the process of developing Civil Technology, Electrical Technology and Mechanical Technology textbooks due to be finalised in August 2015. Printing and distribution of all technical textbooks will be completed by 30 October 2015.

(b)(iv) Teacher readiness

The changes introduced in the revised CAPS necessitated the need for orientation of subject advisors and re-training of teachers on theory and practical teaching methodologies.

An audit of skills centres in preparation for the training of FET Technical schools subject advisors and teachers and Technology Senior Phase (Grade 7 – 9) subject advisors and teachers was conducted and finalised.

The Department issued letters to HOD’s on 16 April 2015 to inform them of the training process and to request them to ensure that notifications to all partners are issued.

A National Task Team (NTT) for the development of CAPS training guideline document for the three (3) Technical subjects specialisation; Civil technology, Electrical technology, and Mechanical technology have been developed and finalised.

A National Task Team (NTT) for the development of CAPS training guideline document for Technical Sciences and Technical Mathematics has been developed and finalised.

Subject Advisors and Teacher training on the three (3) Technical subjects has been scheduled for 29 June – 03 July and 05-09 October 2015 (School Holidays) and these dates have been communicated to all provinces. The training of Technical Mathematics and Technical Sciences has been scheduled for July 2015 and these dates have also been communicated to all provinces. The training is aimed at 70% skills transfer and 30% on the strengthening of theory of the specialisation.

The funding for this training will be sourced from the reconfigured MST Conditional Grant. The objective of the grant is to, supply machinery, supply of equipments and tools. The objective of the grant is to train subject advisors and teachers, building of new workshops, refurbishing of existing workshops and supplying equipment, machinery and tools.

1. (a)(i)(aa) (a)(ii)(bb)(cc)(dd)(ee) Numbers and percentage of learners offering Technology subjects per Province from 2005, 2008, 2010 and 2012.

YEAR	Civil Technology	Engineering Graphics And Design (EGD)	Electrical	Mechanical
	NUMBER WROTE	%	NUMBER WROTE	%	NUMBER WROTE	%	NUMBER WROTE	%
(aa) 2005	10283	2%	20653	4%	6510	1%	6728	1%
(bb) 2008	10392	2%	26491	5%	7526	1%	7890	1%
(cc) 2010	9359	2%	26350	5%	5843	1%	6859	1%
(dd) 2012	8759	2%	25070	4%	5010	1%	5975	1%
(ee) (2015)	data is not yet available

(b) All technology subjects are non-designated; i.e. HEIs do not recognise these subjects as requirements to university entrance.

3.     The Department is aware that the National Curriculum Statements (NCS) present foundational skills to all learners and these skills create opportunities for learners to enter further and higher education. Therefore the list of critical skills according to the Government Gazette 37716 dated 3 June 2014 contains occupations that require the foundational skills, which are acquired through the basic education sector.

4.    (a)The Universities do not consider these subjects as requirements for entrance into engineering courses at a university. This puts learners at a disadvantage if after three years of studying they change their minds and no longer want to become artisans but engineers, they are then not credited at HEIs.

(b)Based on the targets set by the National Development Plan (NDP), the Department is committed to contributing to the production of 30,000 artisans per year by 2030 (NDP, Chapter 9, p277), through the strengthening and refocusing of technical schools and increasing the learner enrolments from 27,000 to 57,000 in 2030. The revision of the curriculum and the recapitalisation process at technical schools will also ensure that the industry requirements in terms of technical specialisation are met and thereby increase participation in the technical education sector.

In order to further strengthen articulation between GET and FET Technology, Senior Phase Subject Advisors and Teachers will be part of the training for specialisations scheduled for June and October 2015 as mentioned above. Advocacy on the Decade of the Artisan in partnership with Department of Higher Education (DHET) is currently being rolled out in all provinces with the intention to increase participation in artisanship and engineering.

The Department and DHET have embarked on a process of aligning the curriculum for basic education with that of Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges.

(c) The enrolment of learners in the technical fields has been declining since 2008 due to the changes in the National Curriculum Statement (NCS). The revision of the Nated 500 to remove areas of specialisation resulted in the overload of subject content areas and the decline in learner enrolment. The reintroduction of the specialisation by the revised Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for technical schools and the implementation of the recapitalisation programme will ensure that sector is expanded.

The following targets for the increase in learner enrolment have been set for 2014-2019:

Targets	Mechanical Technology	Electrical Technology	Engineering Graphics &Design	Computer Technology	Technical Maths	Technical Science	Maths	Physical Science
2014	6,410	5,278	28,919	9,527	0	0	21,214	21,214
2015	6,602	5,436	30,943	10,003	0	0	22,275	22,275
2016	6,800	5,599	33,109	10,503	11,694	11,694	11,694	11,694
2017	7,004	5,767	35,427	11,028	12,279	12,279	12,279	12,279
2018	7,214	5,940	37,907	11,580	12,893	12,893	12,893	12,893
2019	7,431	6,118	40,560	12,159	13,538	13,538	13,538	13,538

Targets: National Learner Enrolment in Technical Schools (2014 – 2019)

Provincial Targets per Technology Subject:

2015 Targets
PROVINCE	MT	ET	EGD	CT	Tech Maths	Tech Science	Maths	Science
EC	507	418	2,377	768			1,711	1,711
FS	582	479	2,727	882			1,963	1,963
GP	1,753	1,443	8,214	2,655			5,913	5,913
KZN	1,046	861	4,901	1,584			3,528	3,528
LP	323	266	1,512	489			1,088	1,088
MP	360	297	1,689	546			1,216	1,216
NC	126	104	591	191			425	425
NW	539	444	2,527	817			1,819	1,819
WC	1,367	1,125	6,405	2,071			4,611	4,611
TOTAL	6,602	5,436	30,943	10,003			22,275	22,275
2016 Targets
PROVINCE	MT	ET	EGD	CT	Tech Maths	Tech Science	Maths	Science
EC	681	560	3,314	1,051	1,170	1,170	1,170	1,170
FS	530	436	2,581	819	912	912	912	912
GP	1,808	1,489	8,804	2,793	3,110	3,110	3,110	3,110
KZN	1,685	1,387	8,202	2,602	2,897	2,897	2,897	2,897
LP	558	460	2,718	862	960	960	960	960
MP	465	383	2,266	719	800	800	800	800
NC	186	153	904	287	319	319	319	319
NW	495	408	2,410	764	851	851	851	851
WC	392	323	1,910	606	675	675	675	675
TOTAL	6,800	5,599	33,109	10,503	11,694	11,694	11,694	11,694
2017 Targets
PROVINCE	MT	ET	EGD	CT	Tech Maths	Tech Science	Maths	Science
EC	635	523	3,211	999	1,113	1,113	1,113	1,113
FS	584	481	2,955	920	1,024	1,024	1,024	1,024
GP	2,063	1,699	10,436	3,249	3,617	3,617	3,617	3,617
KZN	1,550	1,276	7,841	2,441	2,718	2,718	2,718	2,718
LP	306	252	1,547	482	536	536	536	536
MP	436	359	2,205	687	764	764	764	764
NC	190	157	963	300	334	334	334	334
NW	603	497	3,052	950	1,058	1,058	1,058	1,058
WC	636	524	3,217	1,001	1,115	1,115	1,115	1,115
TOTAL	7,004	5,767	35,427	11,028	12,279	12,279	12,279	12,279

2018 Targets
PROVINCE	MT	ET	EGD	CT	Tech Maths	Tech Science	Maths	Science
EC	574	473	3,018	922	1,027	1,027	1,027	1,027
FS	487	401	2,560	782	871	871	871	871
GP	2,059	1,695	10,818	3,305	3,679	3,679	3,679	3,679
KZN	1,817	1,496	9,545	2,916	3,247	3,247	3,247	3,247
LP	447	368	2,347	717	798	798	798	798
MP	440	362	2,312	706	786	786	786	786
NC	135	111	708	216	241	241	241	241
NW	499	411	2,621	801	891	891	891	891
WC	757	623	3,978	1,215	1,353	1,353	1,353	1,353
TOTAL	7,214	5,940	37,907	11,580	12,893	12,893	12,893	12,893
2019 Targets
PROVINCE	MT	ET	EGD	CT	Tech Maths	Tech Science	Maths	Science
EC	592	487	3,230	968	1,078	1,078	1,078	1,078
FS	502	413	2,739	821	914	914	914	914
GP	2,121	1,746	11,575	3,470	3,864	3,864	3,864	3,864
KZN	1,871	1,541	10,213	3,062	3,409	3,409	3,409	3,409
LP	460	379	2,511	753	838	838	838	838
MP	453	373	2,474	742	826	826	826	826
NC	139	114	758	227	253	253	253	253
NW	514	423	2,804	841	936	936	936	936
WC	780	642	4,256	1,276	1,421	1,421	1,421	1,421
TOTAL	7,431	6,118	40,560	12,159	13,538	13,538	13,538	13,538

(d) (i) Negotiations between the Department and Higher Education South Africa (HESA) and Umalusi are in progress for considering the designation of these technology subjects

(d)(ii)The non-designation is the only challenge that the Minister foresees.

Reply:

(1) The Honourable member is referred to various government departments for a response on whether the firm has done any work for government. The Law firm (Dentons) has not previously been engaged by Eskom.

(2) As the Minister of Public Enterprises I am in no position to respond on whether the law firm has or not done any other work to various Government Departments and therefore request the Honourable member to direct the question to the relevant Government Department for a response.

Reply:

(a) Yes

(b) Yes

(i) (aa) [Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries] (ii) and (iii)

SMS Members

Institution Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF)	Amount paid out	To whom the payouts were made	Reason
DAFF	R 1, 105,073.17 Amount includes leave credits that had to be paid out.	Ms NJ Nduli (Former DG of DAFF).	Employment contract was re-determined.
DAFF	R 1, 649,076.54 Amount includes leave credits that had to be paid out.	Mr L Zita (Former DG of DAFF).	Employment contract was re-determined.
DAFF	R 750, 125.25 Amount includes leave credits that had to be paid out.	Ms B Thokoane (Former Special Adviser to the Minister).	Employment contract was terminated.

(i) (aa) [Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries] (ii) and (iii)

Non SMS Members

Institution Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF)	Amount paid out	To whom the payouts were made	Reason
	None

(i) (bb) [Entities] (ii) and (iii)

Entity	Amount paid out	To whom the payouts were made	Reason
Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP)	R 1, 195,918.28	Dr MM Dyasi	Breakdown of the employment relationship.
Agriculture Research Council (ARC)	R 260 311.35	Ms SL Ginindza	Termination of contract
Agriculture Research Council (ARC)	R 422 607.46	Ds ST Masia	Termination of contract
Agriculture Research Council (ARC)	R 849 646.39	Mr CL Matthews	Termination of contract
National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC)	None
Ncera Farms	None
PPECB	None

Reply:

It is the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) and not the Minister of Public Enterprises that can make determinations on the exemption of infrastructure or customers’ load shedding, as the impact on other customers and the national power system needs to be considered. The National Code of Practice for emergency demand reduction (NRS048-9) addresses the manner in which critical loads are treated – including water systems (section 7).

Reply:

(1) Yes. The cost to completion on the Medupi Project, as with other long term projects, is reviewed on an ongoing basis. The current approved cost to completion is R105bn. The Board of Eskom has not approved any further revision to the R105bn. The most recent review of the costs is currently undergoing internal Governance scrutiny. Should an increase to the current cost of completion be required, the Board will seek the necessary Shareholder approval through the PFMA process.

(2) Eskom is not familiar with the details, assumptions or factors that have been considered in the independent estimate of R300 billion, hence Eskom is not in a position to comment on the credibility of the estimate. The current approved project cost to completion on the Medupi Project is R105 billion.

(3) Eskom’s final cost estimate differs from the quoted independent estimate.

    (a) Eskom’s current approved cost to completion of Medupi of R105bn is R195 billion below the above mentioned independent estimate.

      (b) The Government is aware that the Medupi project might have cost overruns due to the various factors and Eskom will provide the detail of cost overruns to the Department in due course when all the Government processes have been completed.

     (c) Eskom is consistently incorporating techniques to improve performance and manage costs. These ideas for improvement are derived from lessons learnt on other local and international projects. The following main cost control measures have been implemented:

• The introduction of additional supervisory resources to manage construction interfaces and the quality of on-site construction activities and off-site fabrication works.

• The strengthening of construction techniques within the project.

• Implementation of a robust claims management strategy.

• Improved Project oversight and streamlined decision making via the Eskom Board Build Program Review Committee and Eskom’s Executive Build Program Review Committee.

(4) The Minister will continue with the shareholder oversight pertaining to the progress of the Medupi Power Station project. The operational issues of the project are handled by the Eskom and quarterly progress is provided to the Department. The Department has undertaken a study to evaluate Eskom’s build programme and there has been lessons learned which are to be implemented to the build programme.

Reply:

Response from the Department

(a) (i) (ii) (aa) (bb) (cc)

Advertising Cost: 2012/13

The annual advertising cost per newspaper per financial year is indicated in the table below:

Newspaper	2012/13 Financial Year	2013/14 Financial Year	2014/15 Financial Year
Sowetan	R1 283 046.88	R1 146 164 .88	R511 733.97
Daily Sun	0	0	0

Response from the Entities

Entity	b (i)(aa)	b (i)(bb)	b (i)(cc)	b(ii)(aa)	b (ii)(bb)	b(ii)(cc)
Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
Export Credit Insurance Corporation (ECIC)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
National Credit Regulator (NCR)	R 237 304	R 244 263	R 209 111	R 149 136	R 496 540	R 109 470
National Consumer Tribunal (NCT)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
National Empowerment Fund (NEF)	R 135 254.40	R 111 960	R 657 600	R63 354	R 6 960	R 37 040
National Gambling Board (NGB)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
National Lotteries Commission (NLC)	R 56 363	R 461 183	R 438 039	R 78 229	Not Applicable	R 112 783
National Metrology Institute of South Africa (NMISA)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
National Regulator For Compulsory Specifications (NRCS)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
South African Bureau of Standards (SABS)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
South African National Accreditation System (SANAS)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
National Consumer Commission (NCC)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
Companies Tribunal (CT)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	R 77 278.65	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable

Reply:

(1)(a) Refer to table below regarding the nine municipalities affected by drought in KZN:

No.	Name of Municipality	Business Plan	Funding agreement	Amount received to date
1	Umzinyathi District Municipality	Approved	Approved	R1 782 836.47
2	Umkhanyakude District Municipality	Approved	Approved	R6 321 734.42
3	Uthukela District Municipality	Received and pending approval	Received and pending approval	None
4	Ugu District Municipality	Approved	Approved	None
6	Zululand District Municipality	Approved	Approved	None
7	UguDistrict Municipality	Approved	Approved	None
8	IlembeDistrict Municipality	Approved	Approved	None
9	Harry Gwala	Approved	Approved	None

---00O00---

Reply:

(1) The total cost of the Olifants-Doorn River Water Resources Project (Raising of Clanwilliam Dam wall) is estimated to be R2.2 billion. This amount excludes the relocation of the N7, the relocation of the secondary road, cost for land acquisition, construction engineering supervising costs, Project Management costs, heritage expert costs, Environmental Impact Assessment Practitioner, Environmental Control Officer, Hydro-power plant over and above the civil structure, communications, and escalation (inflation).

(2) Bigen Africa Services (Pty) Ltd was appointed for construction supervision and contract management of the project. Two more emerging companies, namely Tlou Integrated Tech cc and Batseta Engineering Services (BES Africa Engineering and Management Consulting (Pty) Ltd), from the panel were appointed for developmental and transformational purposes to work under the stewardship of Bigen Africa. This is intended to ensure that the scope is not entirely allocated to one Professional Services Provider (PSP) and that the technical expertise of a developed PSP (Bigen Africa) is used to develop emerging enterprises that are owned and managed by Historically Disadvantaged Individuals (HDIs).

(3) Bigen Africa Services (Pty) Ltd is part of the panel of PSPs that was created by the Department, (a) in 2013 under Contract WP0485-WTE (b) in Category five (5).

(4) The guideline project value thresholds is as follows:

Category	Projects with a value between
1	R0 up to R10,0 million
2	R10.1 million up to R50 million
3	R50,1 million up to R100 million
4	R100.1 million up to R250 million
5	R250.1 million up to R500 million
6	R500.1 million - unlimited

It should be noted that the above thresholds are only a guideline. The final Category chosen is determined based on the project’s scope and is determined, amongst others, the type of project, its complexity, its timeframes, developmental and transformational outputs to be achieved and the experience of companies in each of the categories.

---00O00---

Reply:

1 (a) The value of the official gold reserves as at 31 May 2015 was US$4.8 billion, which is approximately 4 million fine ounces.

1 (b) The SARB holds a large percentage of South Africa’s gold reserves in vaults of official sector institutions at offshore bullion centres, while a smaller amount is held locally. It is operationally efficient to store gold at offshore bullion centres should the need arise to conduct gold transactions. The exact percentage allocation is not made public.

2 (a) Gold reserves held locally are held at Rand Refinery Proprietary Limited (Rand Refinery), the South African Mint Company (RF) Proprietary Limited (SA Mint), and various branches of the SARB, including its head office.

2 (b) The SARB performs regular reconciliations on reports based on gold held at various local locations. An audit of locally held gold reserves is also conducted annually.

3 (a) Most of South Africa’s gold reserves are kept at secure offshore bullion centres, in vaults of official sector institutions.

3 (b) The exact percentage allocation is not made public.

4 (a) Senior SARB officials conduct due diligence visits to inspect gold reserves held offshore on a regular basis. The last due diligence visit was conducted during 2014.

4 (b) The report on each due diligence visit is forwarded to the executive of the SARB. As these reports contain confidential information, they are not publically available.

5 No.

Reply:

(a) The Agricultural Policy Action Plan (APAP) is planned over a five-year period and will be updated on an annual basis. Cabinet furthermore approved APAP      in March 2015, and implementation will commence in the 2015/2016 financial year. It is important to note that APAP does not act outside existing            budgets such as DAFFs budgetary allocation. However it provides a comprehensive strategic approach in implementing the National Development Plan (NDP) and the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) and directs the spending on strategic interventions identified by all stakeholders.

 APAP 2015/16 interventions are funded via DAFF’s grant programmes such as CASP, Ilema Letsema, and sector organisations’ contribution. The estimated  total for APAP 2015/16 is R 4, 6 billion.

Reply:

1. National Treasury’s forensic investigation into the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality on the Integrated Public Transport system commenced on the 12th of November 2014. The Investigation is being conducted in phases as follows:
   • Phase 1: Establish the total amount paid on the projects since its inception in 1 July 2004, obtain and secure all available documentation; conduct preliminary investigation to verify the reasonableness of allegations. This phase was completed in March 2015.
   • Phase 2: An In-depth forensic investigation that is informed by the results of Phase 1, which commenced on 9 April 2015.
   • Other Phases This will be informed by the results of Phase 2 and might include criminal, civil or disciplinary action depending on the findings of the investigation.

1. The investigation is still in progress for Phase 2, which is focusing on an in-depth investigation of all the alleged implicated service providers, officials and other parties.

1. The final report on Phase 2 is estimated to be completed by the 15 August 2015, but subject to cooperation by the relevant parties to provide the required information to reach an informed conclusion.

1. The Investigation Team is composed of National Treasury Special Audit Services officials and its co-sourced forensic investigation firm, Deloitte & Touche.

1. (i) The objective is to conduct comprehensive investigation that will assist the Municipality to implement the appropriate corrective action.

(ii) The terms of reference include, but is not limited to the following:

• Conduct a comprehensive investigation of IPTS since its inception.

Reply:

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) During a joint meeting of the Select Committee on Appropriations and the Portfolio Committee on Education on 02 June 2015, the acting Director General of Basic Education and other staff members of the Department of Basic Education made a presentation to the meeting regarding the delivery performance of the Accelerated School Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI) and the Education Infrastructure Grant. During the same meeting the National Treasury also made a presentation about the expenditure of these two programmes, and also reflected on non-financial performance within the same presentation. The National Treasury indicated that the non-financial data was sourced from the Department of Basic Education, which oversees and manages these programmes.

Following the National Treasury presentation the acting co-chairperson of the hearing, Mr C de Beer, informed members of both committees that questions regarding the actual service delivery performance of the grants or programmes should be directed to the Department of Basic Education, as this was the reason why they had been invited to the joint hearing. For this reason, and since the questions that have been asked are specifically related to the mandate of the Minister of Basic Education, please be advised that the questions have been forwarded to the Ministry of Basic Education, who will provide a reply.

Reply:

(a)   No approval has been given for the production of Uzalo television dram produced by Mr Duma Ka Ndlovu and Ms Gugu Ncube.

(b)   No film or television production involving the specified individuals has been awarded funding by the Department of Trade and Industry.

 

Entity	a	b (i)	a(ii)
Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
Export Credit Insurance Corporation (ECIC)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
National Credit Regulator (NCR)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
National Consumer Tribunal (NCT)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
National Empowerment Fund (NEF)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
National Gambling Board (NGB)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
National Lotteries Commission (NLC)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
National Metrology Institute of South Africa (NMISA)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
National Regulator For Compulsory Specifications (NRCS)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
South African Bureau of Standards (SABS)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
South African National Accreditation System (SANAS)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
National Consumer Commission (NCC)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
Companies Tribunal (CT)	Not Applicable	Not Applicable	Not Applicable

 

Reply:

(1)(a) Yes. When the office is busy and there are long queues, the office can assist at least 200 clients per day for both applications and collections of Smart Card IDs and Passports.

(1)(b) The office receives a large number of clients, due to the high demand for the acquisition of Smart ID Cards and the office can only serve the clients within the office operating hours. The increase in demand has been exacerbated by misinformation that has been given to the public, particularly the elderly.

For example, the elderly are being told that they would be charged a fee for the Smart ID Card if they do not apply immediately or they will not be paid their social grants by SASSA if not in possession of the Smart ID Card. This has resulted in a rush to acquire the Smart ID Cards which in turn causes overcrowding in the office as well as long queues.

The Department is working hard to counteract this misinformation and provide accurate information to clients through the channels of Operation Sukuma Sakhe, War Room meetings, Local Task Teams meetings, District Task Team meetings and other stakeholder engagements.

(2)(a) Yes. An additional collection counter will be installed as well as other resources that may be required within the limited space available.

(2)(b) An order is in the process of being issued for re-cabling and installation of additional data points so that the additional collection counter can be installed.

(2)(c) That will be determined once the additional counter has been added.

 

(3)(a-b) Yes, the clients are being informed by the floorwalkers and Office Manager about the numbers that can be assisted per day. Queuing numbers are issued to a certain number of clients that can be assisted per day while they are queuing outside. Moreover, the floorwalker is always available to check if all clients are being assisted and that they are seated in the correct queues. In addition, the floorwalker makes sure that the clients remaining outside are let in once there is availability of space in the office. Clients who are not able to be assisted on a particular day are informed.

Reply:

(1) The initial Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) was conducted to inform the liquor policy review process, and as the policy consultation process continues, assessment continues. RIA serves as an internal tool for government policy development process, and assessment of the cost to the economy is a component of the RIA process. The final RIA report will as submitted with the final liquor policy review document to Cabinet as per process, and the Liquor Amendment Bill will be introduced into Parliament thereafter.

(2)(a) Legal consideration has been applied to all proposals that are made in the liquor policy review document that has been published for public consultation. The proposal regarding suspension or revocation of a trading licence is intended to give the powers to effectively enforce conditions of the licence as per section 13 of the Liquor Act. Suspension or revocation of a licence will be an option available after all remedies within the Act, such as compliance notice, have been exhausted to achieve compliance.

(b)(i) No amendment will be made to the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Amendment Act, Act 53 of 2003 as there is no need for such amendment.

(ii) No amendment will be made to the Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment Act, Act 46 of 2013 as there is no need for such an amendment. There is a need for the liquor legislation to be amended to empower authorities to enforce adherence to the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Amendment Act, and its codes, whatever the form.

(3) The draft policy has taken into consideration the Constitutional Court judgement where the dti acquired the exclusive regulation competence over macro manufacturing and distribution of liquor, while Provinces hold the regulation competence over micro manufacturing and retail sale of liquor. The Liquor Act provides for norms and standards in the regulation of liquor for harmonisation. This harmonisation is achieved through co-operative governance established through the National Liquor Policy Council comprising the Minister and the MECs who legitimately formulate such standards. The norms and standards were adopted in line with the mandate and is within the bounds of the Constitution. The provinces remain responsible for issuance of licences for micro manufacturers and retail sale.

Reply:

The rollout of the Smart ID Card is in the first phase of implementation and currently Smart ID Cards are only being issued to South African citizens by birth. All other categories such as permanent residence holders and naturalized citizens are not to be processed through the Live Capture at this stage; as this will form part of phase two of the modernisation project. The department will make an announcement on citizens born outside South Africa as the roll out evolves.

Reply:

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

(a) Department of Home Affairs

The Department has not paid out the remainder of any employee's contract before the contractually stipulated date of termination of the contract since the 2008-09 financial year until 31 March 2015.

(b) According to the Government Printing Works

The Government Printing Works did not pay out the remainder of any employee’s contract before the contractually stipulated date of termination of the contract since the 2008-09 financial year up to date.

(b)  According to the Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission did not pay out the remainder of any employee’s contract before the contractually stipulated date of termination of the contract from the 2008-09 financial year up to date.

Reply:

(a) Who are the current chief financial officers of (i) his department and (ii) the entities reporting to him and (b) what is the qualification of each chief financial officer?
i)Dept	Department of Mineral Resources	i) Mrs Rofhiwa Irene Singo	B. Compt. Hons (CTA)
		a)	b)
ii)Entities	Council for Geoscience	Mr Leonard Dibela Matsepe	Stage 1 Master of Business Administration, Finance Degree Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting
	MINTEK	Mr Sakhiseni Abednego Simelane	Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting Honours: Bachelor of Commerce Master of Business Administration
	State Diamond Trader	Mrs Nomonde Thamaga	Bachelor of Commerce (General) Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) in Management
	South African Diamond and Precious Metal Regulator	Mrs Mukondeleli Irene Tshifura	Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting Honours: Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting Short Courses: Customer Service Management Executive Development Programme Generally Recognised Accounting Practice (GRAP) Implementation in the SA Public Sector Revenue, Expenditure, Assets and Liabilities Management Advanced Financial Management Course for Snr. Govt. Officials
	Mine Health and Safety Council	Mr David S Molapo	Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting Chartered Accountant Certificate in taxation Master of Business Administration

Reply:

Yes.

  (a) Five.

    (b) R4,122,119.33

Annexure A

VEHICLES ON THE ASSET REGISTER
No	Description	User	Purchase Date	Price
1	Motor Vehicle M-Benz ML	Deputy Minister, Cape Town	06 July 2011	774,270.00
2	Motor Vehicle M-Benz S350	Deputy Minister, Head Office	19 September 2011	954,358.99
3	Motor Vehicle BMW 7 Series	Department	18 February 2010	1,200,100.00
4	Motor Vehicle Toyota	Department	03 March 2013	315,621.54
5	Motor Vehicle BMW X6	Minister, Head Office	30 July 2012	877,768.80
	TOTAL	4,122,119.33

Reply:

The Department of Mineral Resources participates in the Inter-Ministerial Committee of Revitalisation of Distressed Mining Towns, which has initiated a process to investigate transfer pricing and related matters. The National Treasury and South African Revenue Services are leading this process.

Reply:

(1) (a) The Honourable member would be aware that I undertook to ensure that we have a credible Housing Database. This would include cleaning the housing waiting list and ensure that it is centralised to avoid double-dipping and related challenges. We also undertook to ensure that we prioritise the elderly and child-headed households. To this end, my Department has signed a service level agreement with the State Information Technology Agency (SITA) in line with this undertaking. The service level agreement with SITA caters for National Housing Needs Register on which households can record their housing needs.

Provinces and municipalities are encouraged to make use of the National Housing Needs Register system as it provides for a fair transparent and just process of selection of prospective subsidy beneficiaries and allows for regional specific preferential selection criteria. The System is linked to National Guidelines for the Allocation of Housing Opportunities created through the National Housing Programmes.

Currently, there are no records for uMshwathi Local Municipality on the National Housing Needs Register and the municipality has not implemented the National Housing Needs Register.

(2) (a) Based on project information registered on the Housing Subsidy System HSS), 182 houses were completed in the 2014 -15 financial year and

(b) The total cost for building these 182 houses was approximately R13 628 453;

(3) (a) The 2015/16 provincial business plan indicates that no houses are planned for construction in this financial year. There are two projects under the Integrated Residential Development Programme: Phase 1 and another project under the Enhanced Extended Discount Benefit Scheme (EEDBS).

(b) The Umshwathi Slums Clearance project has a budget of R49 236 000 and the Umshwathi Dalton/ Cool Air project has a budget of R7 750 000. The Umshwathi Cool Air EEDBS Project has a project budget of R7 000.00.

Reply:

1. 27.
2.  

(aa)	(i) (bb)	(aa)	(ii) (bb)
Metrofile	Storage of files	See attached Annexure A.	See attached Annexure A.
F & J Distributors	Newspapers
Century Office	Stationery
Cape Town International Conversation	Catering

Reply:

(a) Department (i) (aa) (aaa) R127,697.86 (bbb) R539,975.57 (ccc) R520,438.02 (bb) R400,296.17 (b) (i) (ii).

Newspaper	2011/12	2012/13	2013/14	2014/15
	Q	Amount	Q	Amount	Q	Amount	Q	amount
Business day	10	R28 000.00	20	R62 400.00	15	R61 200.00	10	R40 800.00
Cape Times	6	R 2 121.60	6	R 9 792.00	6	R 9 936.00	6	R 9 936.00
Citizen	13	R 2 028.00	17	R12 240.00	10	R 8 160.00	10	R 8 160.00
The Star	34	R10 961.60	66	R98 208.00	44	R70 752.00	35	R56 280.00
Sowetan	14	R 2 912.00	55	R52 800.00	45	R48 600.00	40	R43 200.00
The New Age	8	R 1 456.00	15	R12 600.00	15	R14 040.00	15	R14 040.00
Cape Argus	5	R 1 430.00	5	R 6 600.00	5	R 6 960.00	5	R 6 960.00
The times	31	R10 961.60	66	R107 712.00	58	R94 656.00	40	R65 280.00
Mail & Guardian	26	R33 664.80	45	R58 266,00	39	R52 728.00	20	R27 040.00
City press	3	R 2.028.00	3	R 2 028.00	3	R 2 402.40	3	R 2 402.40
Sunday Times	4	R 3 328.00	4	R 3 328.00	4	R 3 556.80	4	R 3 556.80
Sunday Independent	3	R 2 340.00	3	R 2 340.00	3	R 2 496.00	3	R 2 496.00
Sunday World	2	R 728.00	2	R 728.00	2	R 884.00	2	R 844.00
Pretoria News	11	R 3 546.40	50	R74 400.00	54	R86 832.00	44	R70 752.00
Beeld	1	R 322.40	1	R 1 488.00	1	R 1 488.00	1	R 1 488.00
Financial Mail	11	R11 428.56	22	R22 857.12	22	R58 080.00	18	R47 520.00
TOTAL	182	R127,697.86	380	R539 975.00	326	R520 438.02	256	R400 296.17

ii) State owned entities monthly expenditure between 2011 and 2014

State Diamond Trader (a)(ii)

Quest	Year	Subscription	Number of Copies	Annual Fee	Monthly Fee
(aaa)	2011-12	Business Day	1	2,296.95	191.41
		Sowetan	1	745.58	62.13
	Total			3,042.53	253.54
(bbb)	2012-13	The Star	1	1,237.28	103.11
		Business Day	1	2,368.42	197.37
		Sowetan	1	675.00	56.25
	Total			4,280.70	356.73
(ccc)	2013-14	The Star	1	1,337.06	111.42
		Sowetan	1	786.32	65.53
		Business Day	1	2,368.42	197.37
	Total			4,491.80	374.32
(aa)	2014 to date	Sowetan	1	1,023.16	85.26
		Business Day	1	3,836.84	319.74
	Total			4,860.00	405.00
	Grand Total			6,675.03	1,389.59

Mintek

(a)(ii) The amounts on newspaper subscriptions spend during the period in question are depicted in the table below. Mintek subscribes annually and zero cost in any one month does therefore not suggest that no newspapers have been received for that month.

aa)	aaa) 2011-2012	bbb) 2012-2013	ccc) 2013-2014	bb) 1 April 2014-28 February 2015
Total	R 41 614	R 63 981	R 44 786	R 51 014

SADPMR - (ii)

(aaa) 2011-12	(bbb) 2012-13	(ccc) 2013-14	(bb) 01 April 2014 -28 February 2015
(aa) R 3 273.25	(aa) R 3 311.71	(aa) R 3 530.20	(aa) R 870.00

Mine Health and Safety Council (a) (ii)

2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014 -15
R0.00	R0.00	R26 942.20	R0.00

Council for Geoscience (a) (ii) and (b)

Financial Year

2011/2012

2012/2013

2013/2014

2014/2015

Newspaper

Number of copies

Amount

Number of copies

Amount

Number of copies

Amount

Number of copies

Amount

Beeld

2

R2,808.38

-

-

1

R2,035.63

1

R2,488.00

Business Day

4

R10,474.08

4

R10,800.00

4

R12,852.00

4

R12,852.00

Mail & Guardian

1

R892.92

1

R892.92

1

R1,249.92

1

R1,785.00

New Age

-

-

-

-

1

R792.00

1

R792.00

Pretoria News

2

R3,503.50

2

R2,275.00

1

R1,205.76

1

R2,889.25

Sowetan

2

R1,613.52

2

R1,792.80

2

R1,792.80

1

R896.40

Star

1

R1,319.50

1

R1,410.50

1

R1,524.25

1

R1,592.50

Sub total

12

ZAR 20 611.90

10

ZAR 17 171.22

11

ZAR 21 338.61

10

ZAR 23 295.15

Notes:

The Council for Geoscience newspaper renewal is annual and prices are based on a one year subscription

Question b (i) and (ii)

State Diamond Trader
(aaa) 2011-12	(bbb) 2012-13	(ccc) 2013-14	(ii) (bb) Period 1 April 2014 to date
Business Day-1 copy a week Sowetan-1 copy a week	The Star-1 copy a week Business Day-1 copy a week Sowetan-1 copy a week	The Star-1 copy a week Business Day-1 copy a week Sowetan-1 copy a week	Business Day-1 copy a week Sowetan-1 copy a week

Mintek

The number of copies of the newspapers is as per the table below. These newspapers are only delivered weekdays. There are no weekend newspapers.

	2011-2012	2012-2013	2013-2014	1 April 2014-28 February 2015	Cost for 2014-2015 per newspaper
Business day	7	6	7	7	27 000
Sowetan	6	7	7	7	6 416
The Star	5	13	14	6	8 695
Mail & Guardian	2	8	7	7	8 904

South African Diamond and Precious Metals Regulator

(i) 2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014 - February 2015
The Star 14 per day of the week Business day 14 per day of the week Mail & Guardian 5 only on Fridays	The Star 15 per day of the week Business day 15 per day of the week Mail & Guardian 5 only on Fridays	The Star 15 per day of the week Business day 15 per day of the week Mail & Guardian 6 only on Fridays	The Star 3 per day of the week Mail & Guardian 3 only on Fridays

 

Reply:

(a) (b) 00

(i), (ii) and (iii) Falls away

Reply:

1. 34
2. (a) 34

(b) (i) 7 Regional Managers (including 3 with environmental qualification & 2 Legally qualified)

1 Director: Security Risk Management

1 Deputy Director: Mineral Laws

7 Deputy Directors: Environment

18 Assistant Directors

(ii) They are based in all 9 regional offices

3. The intention is to train a further 60 personnel in 2015/2016

4. All those who successfully complete the course shall be designated

Reply:

1. The Department of Mineral Resources, Mine Health and Safety Council (MHSC), State Diamond Trader (SDT), Council for Geoscience (CGS) and South African Diamond and Precious Metals Regulator (SADPMR) did not provide any sponsorship. The Department’s policy and that of the MHSC and CGS does not make provision for sponsorships. Mintek did provide the following sponsorships during the 2014/2015 financial year.

Recipient	Details	Value (R)	When were the deals undertaken	When will the deal end
THE MINERALS EDUCATION TRUST FUND	Annual Contribution	39 392	Jan-15	This was a once-off
SA INSTITUTE OF MINING AND METALLURY	Sponsored a table at the annual banquet	12 540	Jan-15	This was a once-off
NATIONAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY FUND	Sponsored a table at the annual banquet	30 000	Jun-14	This was a once-off
CORROSION INSTITUTE OF SOUTH AFRICA	Sponsored a table at the annual banquet	9 649	Sep-14	This was a once-off

2. (a & b) No, the Department, MHS, CGS and SDT have not planned to enter into any type of sponsorship deal or contract in the 2015 - 16 and 2016 – 17 financial years. The Department’s policy and that of the MHSC and CGS does not make provision for sponsorships. The SADPMR does not intend to enter into any type of sponsorship deal or contract in 2015-16 and 2016-17 financial years as they do not budget for any type of sponsorship as per National Treasury Practice note 4 of 2006/07.

Yes, Mintek does intend to enter into sponsorship deals similar to the deals mentioned in number 1 above. These sponsorships are for professional bodies and are assessed on a case-by-case basis taking into account affordability and benefit into consideration. They are of a once-off nature and there is no obligation to Mintek to continue with these sponsorships.

Reply:

(a) (b) The Department and entities (Council for Geoscience, State Diamond Trader, Mintek, South African Diamond and Precious Metal Regulator and Mine Health and Safety Council) reporting to the Minister of Mineral Resources have never prematurely terminated the services of any employee who is on contract since 2008/ 09 to date. Therefore, has never had to make any pay out.

(i) (bb) N/A

(ii) N/A

(iii) N/A

Reply:

The Department of Mineral Resources is currently not involved in any work exchange and/or employment agreement with Republic of Cuba.

 

Reply:

REGIONS	Inspections 2013/14	Orders issued 2013/14	Inspections 2014/15	Orders issued 2014/15
Limpopo	261	147	268	211
Mpumalanga	290	19	284	64
Gauteng	167	71	173	48
North West	292	110	304	58
KwaZulu Natal	151	19	156	151
Eastern Cape	100	02	164	09
Free State	187	30	201	34
Western Cape	157	33	141	27
Northern Cape	263	42	165	11
TOTAL	1868	473	1856	613

Reply:

(a) Neither the National Department of Social Development (b) nor the NDA has paid the out the said amount since the 2008/09 financial year.

With regard to SASSA, an amount R1 151 317.20 was paid to Ms B Rankin (Executive Manager: Corporate Services) due to her early termination of her employment services in the 2008/09 financial year.

In the second case, an amount of R 313 267.51 was paid to Mr J Mofokeng (Chief Financial Officer) as a dispute settlement which resulted in early termination of employment contract.

Reply:

(1) Social relief of distress is provided in terms of the criteria set in the Social Assistance Act, 2004. The policy on SASSA responses to disaster is a guide for SASSA staff to implement the legislative requirements in a uniform and consistent manner.

(2) Please refer to Section 4 of the SASSA guidelines.

Reply:

1. Initiatives to transform the National Accredited Technical Diploma (NATED) programmes require both immediate and long-term approaches. Currently, the Department and National Artisan Moderation Body (NAMB) are working collaboratively with the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations (QCTO) as the lead partner to model the translation of the NATED programmes into occupationally registered qualifications under the QCTO. The Electrical, Plumbing and Financial Management programmes will be used as pilots in the modelling exercise involving all the relevant statutory, industry and education and training stakeholders. Once this process is completed, the model will be applied progressively to prioritise NATED programmes in engineering and some business related programmes. The curriculum, assessment, work-placement and certification requirements in the transformed qualifications are being addressed holistically, taking cognisance also of the quality assurance mechanisms that will apply across the qualification provision pipeline.

The Department has to rely on the services of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college lecturers to set and internally moderate question papers. All examiners and moderators are briefed annually in specially convened sessions prior to engaging in the setting and internal moderation of question papers. The completion of assessment grids, standards for marking guidelines and the rigour expected in the internal moderation of question papers are all addressed in these sessions.

Several additional examinations posts are to be advertised and filled by 31 March 2016 as part of the migration process, to facilitate the appointment of suitably qualified and experienced curriculum specialists. These officials will, amongst other duties, serve as moderators in the setting process and in so doing, address the completion of assessment grids, standards for marking guidelines and the rigour expected in the internal moderation of question papers.

Various examination centres submit inaccurate and poorly captured data in both electronic and hard copy format for resulting purposes per examination cycle. This does not only delay the approval of results, but brings the integrity of the process into question. The Department has recently completed and tested a national document on data verification standards of examinations for implementation by examination centres. All Information Technology (IT) service providers that service TVET colleges were involved in the process and the IT system administrators will be briefed when the Department hosts examinations support workshops across the nine provinces from August to October 2015.

The Department is not aware of any consolidated irregularity report that is still outstanding. The consolidated irregularity report for the November 2014 examinations cycle of the General Education and Training Certificate: Adult Basic Education and Training (GETC: ABET) Level 4 qualification was submitted late due to a delay in the response of the inputs required from Provincial Departments of Education. The Department has addressed this matter with the heads of examinations in provinces and agreed on the processes and timeframes to be adhered to for future examination cycles.

2) (a) Currently, there are 10 106 lecturers at TVET colleges.

(b) Work is underway to comprehend the skills shortfall of lecturers. Lecturers come from a varied background in some cases lacking pedagogical and technical skills. While an annual survey is done, it is not always possible to meaningfully identify the level of competence of lecturers.

(c) and (d) The Policy on Professional Qualifications for Lecturers in Technical and Vocational Education and Training was gazetted in May 2013. Universities are currently working on developing programmes that are aligned to the qualifications policy. The range of qualifications included in the policy will address the development needs of lecturers who are under-qualified, as well as those that may hold appropriate qualifications but need to develop pedagogical competence. The first programmes are likely to be offered in 2016, pending approval and accreditation by relevant bodies, and more will become available in 2017.

In the meantime, the Department has initiated a number of lecturer development activities such as continued curriculum updates on new curriculum. Recently, a Lecturer Support System was introduced with an aim to expand content updates to lecturers on a large scale. This project was undertaken with the financial support of the Dutch government. In addition, we are also developing mechanisms for structured workplace exposure for lecturers. A protocol on lecturer exchanges will also be developed this year.

Compiler/Contact persons:

Contact number:

DIRECTOR – GENERAL

STATUS:

DATE:

REPLY TO QUESTION 2315 APPROVED/NOT APPROVED/AMENDED

Dr BE NZIMANDE, MP

MINISTER OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING

STATUS:

DATE:

Reply:

(a) The law firm reviewed the outcome of the constitutional court judgment on the payment tender and the leakage of information to media houses.

(b) The law firm was appointed in terms of SASSA‘s Annual Procurement General Exemptions SASSA-12/10 which enables the Minister to appoint a commission of enquiry, special investigating units, forensic auditors and also to enable the Agency to procure services to seek legal opinion from Legal Firms without following the procurement process due to the sensitivity of the nature of the service.

 

Reply:

(a) The National Treasury has not paid out the remainder of any employee’s contract before the contractually stipulated date of termination of the contract for any financial year since 2008.

(b) Yes, the following entities paid out the remainder of the employees’ contractually stipulated date of termination of contacts for the specified period;

FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE CENTRE

Financial years	(i)(bb) Amount paid on early termination?	(ii) Names of payout recipients	(iii) Reasons for early termination
2010-11 FY	R 35,741.50	Goitsimang April	Settlement agreement
	R 445,677.08	Dineo Motsepe	CCMA Settlement agreement
2013-14 FY	R 93,970.00	Derick Letlonkane	Service no longer required

GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES PENSION FUND

Financial years	(i)(bb) Amount paid on early termination?	(ii) Names of payout recipients	(iii) Reasons for early termination
2010-11 FY	R 1,548,217.00	M Ramataboe	Board agreement

GOVERNMENT PENSIONS ADMINISTRATION AGENCY

Financial years	(i)(bb) Amount paid on early termination?	(ii) Names of payout recipients	(iii) Reasons for early termination
2013-14 FY	R 191,799.00	Mr. J. Ramatlhape	Permanent CIO was appointed

LAND BANK

Financial years	(i)(bb) Amount paid on early termination?	(ii) Names of payout recipients	(iii) Reasons for early termination
2011-12 FY	R 527,769.64	Lehlohonolo Andrew Makenete	Mutual agreement

PUBLIC INVESTMENT CORPORATION

Financial years	(i)(bb) Amount paid on early termination?	(ii) Names of payout recipients	(iii) Reasons for early termination
2014-15 FY	R 3,188,014.00	Confidentiality agreements	Voluntary termination of contract

SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS

Financial years	(i)(bb) Amount paid on early termination?	(ii) Names of payout recipients	(iii) Reasons for early termination
2008-09 FY	R 9,350,000.00	K Ngqula	Seperation Agreement

SOUTH AFRICAN REVENUE SERVICES

Financial years	(i)(bb) Amount paid on early termination?	(ii) Names of payout recipients	(iii) Reasons for early termination
2008-9 to 2014-15	R 4,745,571.68	Confidentiality agreements	Confidentiality agreements

SASRIA

Financial years	(i)(bb) Amount paid on early termination?	(ii) Names of payout recipients	(iii) Reasons for early termination
2010-11 FY	R 766,800.00	Mr Collin Macheke	Position became redundant after restructuring.

Reply:

South Africa is a sovereign country and would not copy or follow the tax policies of other countries without completing a thorough due diligence process to establish the benefits for our citizens. South Africa tax policy is developed in a transparent manner and outlined in the annual Budget and forms part of the fiscal framework which is shaped by the long-term objectives of the government as outlined in the National Development Plan and medium-term objectives like the Medium-Term Strategic Framework. Tax policy has been broadly stable since 1994 and provides relative certainty to all citizens and investors. Major tax policy changes are referred to expert committees like the Davis Tax Committee, which is currently considering various challenges faced by tax policy in South Africa. This follows on the work of the Katz Commission which shaped the tax policies of the democratic government soon after 1994. To the extent that changes in policy are made, they are done in a deeply consultative way and on the advice of expert committees and are not done in an ad-hoc manner. It should be noted that South Africa has different objectives and challenges to an advanced economy like Britain and our policies therefore reflect different priorities from Britain.

In considering the objective of encouraging South Africans to own their homes, I do not believe that tax certainty is an issue at all. The bigger challenges posing home ownership probably relates to non-tax issues like the cost of borrowing; availability and supply of housing, land; and the price and affordability of houses.

Reply:

(1) (a) The estimated cost of developing the Recruitment and Retention Strategy

for Social Workers which came into effect in 2006 was R500 000 and a further cost of Rapid Assessment Study of the strategy was R250 000; (b)(i)The implementation plan was not time bound but ongoing and Provinces were required to source funding from their Provincial Treasury to implement Recruitment and Retention Strategy for Social Workers; (ii) The National Department of Social Development has since the 2007/08 to the 2015/2016 financial year received an estimated R1, 6 billion as part of the resource for the recruitment part of the strategy (scholarship programme); (iii) the Rapid Assessment Study’s findings indicated some notable strides by provinces in the implementation of the strategy in terms of improved office accommodation, vehicle allocation, improved conditions of social workers salaries following the regrading of salaries of social workers. This is despite the many challenges that still need to be addressed.

2. The estimated cost to the department for hosting the Social Work Indaba in March 2015 at the Inkosi Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre in Durban was R 12 119 060.97 of which R3m was spent on implementation of Communication plan for the event. It should however be noted that the costs for conferencing amounting to R2.8m were incurred and paid for by USAID.

3. The resolutions taken at the Social Work Indaba affirm the findings and recommendation of the strategy. The Social Work Indaba involved a broader representation of stakeholders which included social workers from NGOs, other government institutions, universities and national and provincial departments of Social Development. The Recruitment and Retention Strategy process involved only Provincial Departments of Social Development.

 

Reply:

(a)  Workbooks

Workbooks are delivered directly to each public school. The National Department of Basic Education is in possession of electronic copies of proof of delivery notes for all schools that received their workbook consignments for volume 1 and volume 2 for the 2015 academic year.

(b)  Textbooks

The National Department of Basic Education does not deliver textbooks to schools. The responsibility is that of Provincial Departments of Education who are in possession of the proof of deliveries.

Reply:

(a) Both construction contracts of Chief Boklein and Bhekizulu were terminated on 19 March 2015 due contractor’s non-performance.

1. Progress at termination was 35% for Chief Henry Boklein Senior Secondary School
2. Progress at termination for 26% for Bhekizulu Senior Secondary School

(b) The contractor which was appointed for both contracts was Leungo Construction

(c) The contractor’s contact details are Richard Farrar, [email protected], 0722125467 or 073 609 1572

Reply:

This Department is currently not involved in any work exchange and/or employment agreement with the Republic of Cuba,

Reply:

(a) The department has not paid out the remainder of any employee’s contract before the contractually stipulated date of termination of the contract since the 2008-09 financial years.

(b) The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC); Technology Innovation Agency (TIA); Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf); South African Space Agency (SANSA) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) did not pay out the remainder of any employee’s contract before the contractually stipulated date of termination since the 2008-09 financial year to date,only the National Research Foundation (NRF) had a payout.

(i) (aa) Not applicable.

    (bb) The NRF paid out the amount of R4,607,381.93 (R3,122,466.41 after tax).

(ii) The payout was made to Dr Gatsha Mazithulela, the previous vice-president of the National Research Infrastructure and National Research Facilities.

(iii) The decision for the early termination of Dr Mazithulela’s employment contract arose following a decision by the NRF Board to restructure the NRF business.