Questions and Replies

Reply:

(1) Sentech has issued 1 090 appointments to 825 installation companies in different provinces. Some were appointed in different provinces due to capacity.

(1)(a) Names of appointed companies is attached hereto as Annexure A.
(1)(b) Companies are contracted at R450 per successful completed installation for Value Added Tax (VAT) registered companies and R390 non-VAT registered companies.

(2)(a) See Annexure A attached

(2)(b) See Annexure B attached. The defaulting SMMEs have either corrected their conduct and performance or in some instances their contracts were cancelled.

Thank You.

Reply:

1. The Department conducts Personnel suitability checks (PSC) on current officials and new appointments to determine the suitability of a candidate pre and post- employment by the DCS.

The screening is based on five pillars such as Citizenship, Criminal record, Finances including credit checks, Property checks and directorship in companies, analysis of financial statements, verification of qualifications and registration with professional bodies and previous employment record.

A fully security vetting which entails information collection and analysis about the candidate/ official background, covering the nine factors of lifestyle audit to determine a person`s security competence and reliability is conducted, based on the level of access to information.

The nine factors include the following aspects:

• Family background and upbringing
• Education
• Employment ad work ethics
• Social life and social media activity checks
• Finances
• Personality
• Values
• Legal aspects
• Loyalty

b) DCS conducts Security Threats Assessment (TRA) in conjunction with stakeholders such as South African Police Services (SAPS) and State Security Agency (SSA)

Security Treats Assessments (TRA) are conducted in all DCS Correctional Facilities pre and post security incidents to mitigate as well as to investigate risks posed to the DCS.

TRA were conducted at most Maximum Correctional Facilities, Medium Correctional facilities and Community Correctional Offices.

(i) Measures such as the Security Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in combating smuggling of contrabands and illicit activities are implemented, furthermore, the DCS has a Code of Conduct that all its employees must abide too and the use of the Anti- Corruption Strategy is in place.

(2) The DCS has not had an incident of offenders being used as hit men.

END

Reply:

(a) & (b) The total number of inmates aged 60 and above serving life sentences as at 30 March 2023 are as follows:

REGION	TOTAL LIFERS AGED 60 YEARS AND ABOVE
EASTERN CAPE	138
FREE STATE & NORTHEN CAPE	56
GAUTENG	158
KWAZULU-NATAL	171
LIMPOPO, MPUMALANGA,, NORTH WEST	128
WESTERN CAPE	93
GRAND TOTAL	744

END

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

1. Yes, the Department has recently received the proposed budget requirement for the profiling of the Greydell community from the Buffalo City Municipality; the estimated cost is R600 000.00 and the estimated timeframe is 3 months to complete including compilation of the report. It is expected the profiling will commence in the new financial year in consultation with political leadership and subsequent to funding approval processes.

2. (a) The Department is currently surveying the land in question with a view to subdividing it for disposal to relevant identified stakeholders, inter alia, a portion to the HDA for BCM Human settlement purposes, a portion to ACSA for the extension of the runway and a portion to the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment for incorporation into the Umtiza Nature Reserve.

(b) The Department is currently engaging other stakeholders on the Greydell resettlement program with a view to finalise an intergovernmental solution to the invaded land.

(c)

(i) Timeframes for the interventions are being determined at present; and

(ii) Costs for the interventions are being determined at present.

Reply:

a)  The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) is responsible for bulk water supply in the country and plays role of regulator of water and sanitation services and water resources. In the event of municipal failures, the DWS provides support to municipalities as Water Service Authorities and providers who grapple with sewage spillages. There are interventions in place to provide relief to the residents of (i) Dikgatlong, (ii) Sol Plaatje and (iii) Magareng in the Northern Cape summarised in the table below:

Local Municipality	Challenges	Intervention	Total Project Cost
Dikgatlong	Blockages in sewer lines and manholes (in cases by foreign material into sewer systems) Dysfunctional pumpstations and loadshedding interruptions Barkley West WWTW is partially functional.	The Barkley West Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW) was recently refurbished along with the pumpstations DWS is currently funding the Dikgatlong construction of VIP’s Construction of the Windsorton-Holpan bulk water supply. Upgrading of the Barkly West WWTW. This project is still in a planning stage.	R 47 009 295
Sol Plaatje	Blockages in sewer lines and manholes (in cases by foreign material into sewer systems) Dysfunctional pumpstations Homevale WWTW is partially functional Poor operation and maintenance of sewer infrastructure Refurbishment and maintenance required was not within municipal financial capabilities.	DWS is funding the construction of the Carters Ridge outfall sewer line and sewer pump station. Refurbishment of the Homevale WWTW Replaced the Gogga pumpstation to Homevale sewer outfall pipeline Refurbishment of the Gogga pumpstation	R 57 366 501
Magareng	Waterlogging in areas due to blockages in sewer lines and manholes Poor operation and maintenance of sewer infrastructure Notices and Directives only partially effective	DWS provided funding emergency repair works to the Warrenton WWTW and surrounding sewer pump stations Refurbishment of the inlet works, aeration basin, clarifier, maturation ponds, chlorine, WAS / RAS pump station, auxiliary electrical works, sludge drying beds, flood lighting and vacuum pump station. Refurbishment of the Ikhutseng and Warrenval pump stations	R 48 911 542

b) It is the responsibility of the municipalities to provide proper sanitation services and a healthy environment. The Department regulates through the Green Drop best practise system and investigates non-compliance through administrative enforcement. Wherever necessary, DWS also provides funding and support to municipalities that apply for available grants earmarked for addressing water services infrastructure challenges.

c) Department ensures protection of water resources, which can be achieved by initiating rectification measures against the identified non-complaint water users and polluters. When municipalities fail in their mandate to ensure compliance in terms of wastewater and effluent spillages, various legal frameworks can be initiated to address the contraventions. In instances where a water user fails to comply with any of the license conditions, the Department first exercises administrative enforcement actions in the form of Notices and Directives in accordance with the National Water Act. This is meant to afford the water users an opportunity to rectify non-compliances within certain timeframes.

When users are non-responsive, the Department proceeds with either or both criminal and civil enforcement actions. Criminal sanctions can also be instituted against the municipalities guided by Criminal Procedure Act on violations related to wastewater and effluent spillages. Section 151 of the National Water Act provides legal basis for laying of criminal charges against the municipalities that are intentionally or negligently pollute water resources or engage in unlawful water usage. Offenses under Section 151 of the National Water Act can be used to address pollution of water resources, making it a criminal offense to discharge pollutants into water resources without the necessary authorisation

d) Support is provided through health and hygiene awareness campaigns, and financial support through the WSIG and the RBIG. The administrative enforcement requires rehabilitation of impacted areas. Where municipalities fail to rectify and rehabilitate, the Department can take legal action.

 

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Reply:

1. (a) The Board Members of the Independent Development Trust submitted their declarations of interest.

(b) IDT management submitted their declarations for financial year 2022/2023.

2. (a) The Board Members are requested annually to submit their declarations of interests and this is done continuously in all Board and Committee meetings.

(b) IDT managers are required to declare their financial interest as per the Code of Ethics and Business Conduct on an annual basis.

3. 

• The declarations of interest for Board members are submitted before the start of the financial year. The Board members have fully complied with the set timeframes.

• IDT management complied and submitted the declaration of interest by 31 May 2023.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY: QUESTION NO. 2042 (Written Reply) Ms S J Graham (DA) asked the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

The draft reply to Parliamentary Question No. 2042 (Written Reply) is submitted for your consideration.

The input has been provided by the Independent Development Trust and duly processed by the Inter-Governmental Relations Business Unit.

I hereby attest that the information provided in response to NA PQ 2042 is true and correct, to the best of my knowledge.

________________________

MR. A MTHOMBENI

DEPUTY DIRECTOR GENERAL: IGR

DATE:

Draft reply supported / not supported / comments

________________________

MS N MAKHUBELE

ACTING-DIRECTOR-GENERAL

DATE:

Draft reply supported / not supported / comments

_____________________

MS. B SWARTS, MP

DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

DATE:

Draft reply approved / not approved / comments

__________________________

MR. S ZIKALALA, MP

MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

DATE:

 

 

Reply:

1. Roles are given to traditional leaders in terms of section 25 of the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act, 2019 (Act No. 3 of 2019). In this regard, a national or provincial department can only give roles to traditional leaders in respect of functional areas of such a department. The building of shelters is not a functional competence of the Department of Traditional Affairs. However, in practice we collaborate with traditional leaders and other role players in addressing the socio-economic needs of communities in areas under the jurisdiction of traditional leaders. We have seen this in practice during natural disasters where traditional leaders have played a pivotal role in, among others, speedily making communal land parcels available for resettlement.

2. As indicated in (1) above, the building of shelters is not the functional competence of the Department of Traditional Affairs. The Department therefore does not have at its disposal the information referred to by the Honourable Member.

End.

Reply:

1. Yes, the refurbishment was done to reconfigure certain floors thereby creating five units out of the three and four bedrooms being converted into two bedrooms. Furthermore the refurbishment resulted in conversion of the domestic quarters into three duplex units which are currently occupied by Deputy Ministers.

2. Rygersdal is used for accommodation of Director-Generals and Deputy Ministers.

3. Security in manned by South African Police Services.

(a) With respect to costs related to security, our sister department, South African Police Services (SAPS), will be best suited to respond to the question.

(b) The projected expenditure for the current financial year for planned maintenance and corrective maintenance is R 1 342 713.23 and the actual expenditure to date is R 70 873.21.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY: QUESTION NO. 2035 (Written Reply) Mr I S Seitlholo (DA) asked the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

The draft reply to Parliamentary Question No. 2035 (Written Reply) is submitted for your consideration.

The input has been provided by the Prestige Business Unit.

I hereby attest that the information provided in response to NA PQ 2035 is true and correct, to the best of my knowledge.

________________________

MR. M SAZONA

CHIEF DIRECTOR: PRESTIGE

DATE:

Draft reply supported / not supported/ comments

________________________

MS. N MAKHUBELE

ACTING-DIRECTOR GENERAL

DATE:

Draft reply supported / not supported/ comments

_____________________

MS. B SWARTS, MP

DEPUTY MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

DATE:

Draft reply approved / not approved/ comments

__________________________

MR. S ZIKALALA, MP

MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

DATE:

 

 

Reply:

South Africa supports the implementation of the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections through the work of the SADC Electoral Advisory Council (SEAC). SADC deployed a SEAC Pre-Election Assessment Goodwill Mission to the Republic of Zimbabwe, from 12-19 April 2023, to conduct a pre-election assessment for the upcoming 23 August 2023 harmonised elections. A comprehensive report on the outcomes of the SEAC Goodwill Mission was shared with the Government of Zimbabwe. The Report is expected to be presented to the 25th Ordinary Meeting of the Ministerial Council of the Organ on 21 July 2023.

 

Reply:

1. (a) The Minister of Human Settlements has not been informed of the low quality of houses that are rebuilt for displaced persons. The National Department of Human Settlements (NDHS) in collaboration with the National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) will undertake physical verifications regarding the quality and structural integrity of the houses and provide further details.

It must also be mentioned that on 9 May 2023, the Deputy President, and other sector departments including the NDHS visited the township of Charlesville, Jagersfontein. According to what is reported and what the team saw on the ground, out of the eight households affected, only three houses have been built by a sponsorship contractor. It is worth noting that the team visited a beautiful big showhouse, which is spacious and of good quality.

(b) It is anticipated that the physical verifications will be completed on or before 30 June 2023, whereafter feedback will be provided to the Honourable Member

Reply:

The Department of Basic Education has historically been responsible for the development and implementation of the National Curriculum Framework for children from birth to four years old (NCF).  Provincial and national monitoring and support systems have therefore, been established and implemented to ensure that ECD centres comply with the standards set out in the NCF.  However, the Thrive by Five Index, which was established to evaluate the efficiency of Early Learning Programmes (ELPs), indicated the need to further strengthen our monitoring and support of quality ECD provisioning.  Given this, the Department is in the process of developing a Quality Assurance and Support System, that will set out very clear quality standards so that ELPs will clearly understand the expectation around quality provisioning.  The Quality Assurance and Support System will further include support mechanisms to progressively reach the quality standards that have been agreed upon.  The Thrive by Five Index will also be repeated every three-four years, to continuously provide an independent evaluation of whether quality is being improved.

Reply:

The Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) did not provide any urgent support measures to Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality (NMBMM) as the NMBMM’s Disaster Management Center and Emergency Teams had technical capacity to attend to the floods. MISA remains available to augment and provide support to NMBMM as and when needed, the same way MISA does not low and medium capacity municipalities.

End.

Reply:

Municipalities are required to publish all tenders and contracts on their website and also on the municipal notice boards in accordance with section 75 of the  Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA). In addition, MFMA circular 83 advocates for publication of procurement information on tender portal, which requires municipalities to pulish all bids, awarded bids, cancelled bids, deviations, variations & extensions of existing contracts on the eTender Publication Portal. This is done as a way to promote a culture of transparancy and to give efffect to section 217 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, which advocates for municipalities to procure goods and services in terms of a system which is transparent, fair, competitive, equitable and cost effective.

(b)

The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) referrals to municipalities are not done through the Minister, but through the MECs. If the MEC does not take the necessary action, then the SIU will escalate the matter to the Premier in the Province.     

Furthermore, officials from the Department are collaborating with officials from the Presidency and the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), who are assessing implementation of recommendations emanating from the SIU investigation reports. Should this broader assessment with the Presidency and the DPME identify matters that require my attention, I will ensure that the necessary steps are taken to ensure accountability.  

The Department of Cooperative Governance (DCoG) in collaboration with the SIU established the Local Government Anti-Corruption Forum (LGACF) which is vital for purposes of fostering collaboration amongst the various stakeholders at local government in order to effectively fight corruption and co-ordinate efforts amongst provinces and law enforcement agencies. On a quarterly basis, the SIU provides progress on municipal investigations through the LGACF.

As such, the Department will continue to collaborate with the SIU and other law enforcement agencies to ensure that recommendations emanating from investigations reports are implemented and there is accountability.

End.

Reply:

The Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Works in Hammanskraal does not have sufficient capacity to deal with the amount of sewage flowing into it and has not been well-maintained for many years. The inadequately effluent from the Rooiwal Waste Water (sewage) Treatment Works is polluting the Apies River which flows into the Leeukraal Dam from which water is abstracted by the City’s Temba Water Treatment Works, which provides water to Hammanskraal residents. The Temba Water Treatment Works is supposed to clean the raw water abstracted from the dam and treat it so that it is fit for human consumption. However, the water in the dam is so polluted that the Temba Water Treatment Works is not able to treat the water such that is meets the required standards for drinking water. Hence the people of Hammanskraal have not been having a reliable or safe supply of drinking water for many years.

Since 2011, DWS has taken numerous regulatory actions (non-compliance notices and directives) against the City for it to stop the pollution of water resources in the area from its Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Works. Since 2019, the Department has been engaged in legal action against the City for a court order to instruct the City to address the issue.

It is possible that the cholera outbreak which started in Hammanskraal in Tshwane is related to the pollution of water sources in the area from the Rooiwal Waste Water Treatment Works. An investigation is underway into the source or sources of the cholera outbreak. Technical teams from the Department of Water and Sanitation, and the provincial and national Department of Health as well as relevant municipalities are carrying out water quality tests at distribution points and at water treatment works in areas in Hammanskraal where people have become infected. They are also engaged in tracking and tracing of infections. Cholera has not yet been identified through the tests. The Water Research Commission has also commissioned a verification of the DWS and CoT tests as well as independent tests, the results of which should be available shortly. It is important to note that cholera is not only spread through polluted water – it is also spread through poor hygiene, eating contaminated food or by coming into contact with the faeces of an infected person. To date, the original source of the cholera infection has not been located.

The City has warned the residents of Hammanskraal) not to drink the water from the Temba water treatment works (which is the water coming out of taps in Hammanskraal) and is supplying them with drinking water from tankers. The water tankers abstract water from Magalies Water and Rand Water sources, which is compliant with drinking water standards.

In the light of the cholera outbreak it is imperative that the repair and upgrade of the Rooiwal WWTW be dealt with as a matter of national urgency. DWS does not have voted funds to provide to Metros for water and sanitation. Metropolitan municipalities are supposed to use a portion of their USDG grant to supplement their own budget allocations for water and sanitation.

DWS has estimated the cost of a full rehabilitation and upgrade of the Rooiwal WWTW over the next three financial years to be in the region of R4 billion. The project can be implemented in stages, with an emphasis on work to stop or reduce the pollution from Rooiwal in the early stages.

The Mayor and the City have indicated that the City does not have the capacity on its own to address the sanitation challenges, nor does it have sufficient funds to address the challenges timeously on its own. The Mayor has also indicated that the City’s SCM processes are corrupted.

In this context, the CoT, DWS and National Treasury have recently agreed that:

• The DWS and the City will partner together to jointly manage a project to fix the Rooiwal WWTW in Hammanskraal.
• Tshwane will contribute a portion of its USDG allocation. Council approval for R450 million to be allocated over the MTEF has been granted.
• The DBSA will be appointed by CoT as the implementing agent for the project.
• A financial task team consisting of NT, DWS, the City and DBSA has been put in place to develop a financing plan for the project. Various options are being considered, including but not limited to, increasing the City’s contribution from its USDG allocation, shifting funds from other grants, and DBSA loan finance.

DWS and the City will have formed a joint technical steering committee to oversee the project.

In the short-term, an alternative drinking water source will be put in place by Magalies Water for Hammanskraal through the emergency construction of a 30-40 Ml/day package-plant at Klipgaart WTW. The plant will provide drinking water in the Hammanskraal water distribution system. The Package Plant will be implemented in a phased approach with 10Ml/day at a time. The units will be in place starting from October 2023 at Klipgaart WTW and will be completed by March 2024.

In the meatime, CoT will continue with mobile water tankering services for Hammerskraal residents, from designated water filling points, with regular testing of water provider from tankers. Community structures will be requested to participate in a structure with the City to monitor the tankers and testing of water from the tankers.

The repair and upgrading of the Rooiwal will be implemented in phases which will be run concurrently, between September 2023 and June 2026. The upgrading will result in an increase in the capacity of Rooiwal from 250 ML/day to 380 ML/day.

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Reply:

The department does not maintain a record of the necessary data required by respectable member. It is advised that the inquiry be forwarded to the Department of Transport since it is in charge of aviation-related operations, including the creation of airport plans that serve as a blueprint for all current and future airport improvements.

End.

Reply:

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) regularly conducts inspections and audits on the operation and maintenance of the Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTWs) in all Water Services Institution (WSIs) within the Free State. The inspections aim to assess whether WWTWs are operated and maintained in a manner that does not pose risks of pollution resulting in contamination of water resources and increasing risks to human health and the environment.

There are seven (7) WWTWs owned by Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality serving Bloemfontein area. From these WWTWs, three (3) are operational, three (3) are partially operational and one is non-operational. The three operational and three partially operational WWTWs discharge wastewater which is not compliant to the General Limits for wastewater, and therefore there is potential to pollute water resources and the environment. The 2022 Green Drop report has found two WWTWs to be at a critical state, while the remaining five are at a very poor state. The table below provides details on the status of the 7 WWTWs:

Wastewater Treatment Works (WWTW)	Operational Status	Detailed operational information
Bloemdustria	Operational	Poor operation and maintenance practices Plant does not discharge, however there are no boreholes to monitor ground water pollution No operational flow meters
Bainsvlei	Partially Operational	No operational degritter at inlet works One sludge recycle pump not in operation No operational process monitoring done Sludge lagoons overgrown with weeds No disinfection of final effluent before release Poor operation and maintenance practices No operational flow meters
Bloemspruit	Partially Operational	WWTW consists of 3 parallel modules. Only modules 1 and 3 are partially operational. Module 2 is completely out of operation One mechanical screen non-functional 2 out of 3 screw pumps are operational Only 1 primary settling tank of 6 from module 1 is operational Only 2 primary settling tanks of 6 from module 3 are operational Blocked nozzles at Bio-Filter rotating arms. 3 humus tanks of 4 out of operation for module 1 6 Humus tanks of 8 is out of operation for module 3 No disinfection prior to discharge Sludge drying beds not in operation and overgrown. Flow meters not operational
Sterkwater	Non-Operational	WWTWs completely non-Functional due to cable theft and poor operations. Raw wastewater is diverted to the storm water channel close to Renoster Spruit
Northern Works WWTW	Operational	Disinfection of final effluent is not consistent
North-eastern	Partially Operational	Degritter not operational 2 of 3 screw pumps not operational 2 of 3 automatic screens not operational Defuse aerators not all operational Mixers 5 and 8 out of operation Unavailability of primary settling tanks cause solids to carry over to the activated sludge process. Sludge lagoons full of sludge and discharging premature super natant water. Lack of sludge dry beds to dry sludge. No final water disinfection. No operational flow meters
Welvaart	Operational	The WWTW was just restored to functionality in June 2023

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Reply:

The 4th Ordinary Session of the African Union Specialised Technical Committee (STC) on Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Environment (ARDWE), held virtually from 13-17 in December 2021, inaugurated the Africa Multi-Hazard Early Warning System and Early Action Situation Room for Disaster Risk Reduction. It was recognised that the establishment of the Situation Room could play a key role in contributing towards reducing disaster mortalities and economic losses at micro level and improved disaster risk management at macro level through improved availability and access to early warning information, as well as harmonised early warning systems, which would include weather-related disasters exacerbated by Climate Change. It was further recognised that the operationalisation of the Situation Room and the Multi-Hazard Early Warning Programme and its sustainability is dependent on the inputs from the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Member States that directly interface with the hazards, as well as continued financial and technical support from the cooperating partners.

Furthermore, this STC adopted the Revised 2021-2030 Integrated African Strategy on Meteorology (Weather and Climate Services) which aims to provide strategic direction on the development and application of meteorology (weather and climate services) to support Africa’s social and economic development including in sectors such as agriculture and food security, health, water management, aviation, infrastructure, marine and blue economy, disaster risk reduction, energy, inter alia. The 2021-2030 Integrated African Strategy on Meteorology (Weather and Climate Services) comprises five key pillars, namely:

• Increasing political support and recognition of national meteorological services (NHMs) and Regional Climate Centres (RCCs)
• Improved observation networks, data access and processing
• Improved weather, water, climate and climate change services
• Research and Innovation, development and training
• Strengthened partnerships with relevant institutions, the private sector and civil society.

In addition, this STC meeting adopted a report on the creation of African disaster operations capacity and capability and endorsed the creation of a continental civilian capacity for disaster preparedness and response, which will draw from individual African Member States’ capacities to provide timely assistance to disaster-stricken countries. This STC meeting also adopted the Disaster Recovery Framework (DRF) and indicated that the main objective of the framework is to guide resilient socio-economic recovery efforts of the continental, regional and national levels. This included a contextual analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on various sectors. The framework proposes transformational policy and programmatic actions that would be undertaken in a short, medium and long term to respond to the pandemic and other disasters within the COVID-19 contexts; recover from the pandemic and the other disasters and build back better from future crises and disasters.

Reply:

The information required by Honourable member is monitored by the National Treasury. It is recommended that the question be directed to Minister of Finance for the National Treasury to provide responses accordingly.

End.

 

Reply:

a) A total of 83 farms were planned under the Land Development Support programme for the 2022-23 financial year. All 83 farms were finalised, and they are currently under implementation. Finalised in this context involves farm assessment to determine needs including farmer skills assessment, business plan development with the farmer assisted by commodity organisation, budget approval, contracting and opening a grant holding account for implementation. Based on the approved commodity and seasonality associated with it, implementation is spread out in line with milestones as outlined in the approved business plan.

b) (i) A total of 66 farms are planned for the 2023-24 financial year. These farms are being subjected to the various committees for endorsement and subsequent approval and implementation by respective provinces.

(ii) and (iii) Refer to the table below:

Province	District Municipality	Project Name	Property description	Budget	Commodity
Eastern Cape	Amathole	Bellrock	Farm No.1826,Remaining Extent of Farm No.1827 and PTN 1 of Farm No.1850	R6 125 600	Livestock
Eastern Cape	Amathole	Eureka	Portion 3&4 of Farm Leuwis Drift No.1 and Remainder of elands Kop No.2	R6 125 600	Livestock
Eastern Cape	Sarah Baartman	Farm 318	Ptn 0 Of Farm No.326 GRAAFF REINET RD	R3 739 840	Livestock
Eastern Cape	Sarah Baartman	Irene farm	Irene farm	R3 739 840	Livestock
Eastern Cape	Sarah Baartman	Radiesvley farm	Radiesvley farm	R6 125 600	Livestock
Eastern Cape	Amathole	Sixhenxe Farming Coop	Portion 4 Of Farm 1048	R7 737 600	Subtropical
Eastern Cape	Chris Hani	Soetfontein Farm	Remaining Extent Of Portion 0 Of Farm Plaatkraal No.261 and other portions.	R3 739 840	Livestock
Eastern Cape	Chris Hani	Ulin Farm	Portion 0 Of Farm Ulin No.845 and other portions.	R6 125 600	Livestock
Eastern Cape	Sarah Baartman	Waterford Group 1	Waterford Group 1	R3 739 840	Livestock
Free State	Fezile Dabi	Concordia farm	Rietfontein No. 2457/1; Verdien No. 2456/1	R6 125 600	Livestock
Free State	Thabo Mofutsanyane	De Spruit	De Spruit No. 1071	R 7 415 200	Field Crops
Free State	Mangaung	Schmidtsdrift	Schmidtdrift No. 1972	R 7 415 200	Field Crops
Free State	Thabo Mofutsanyane	Schurvekop	Schurvekop No. 187 (LU 3)	R 7 415 200	Field Crops
Free State	Mangaung	Tussenrevier	Tussenrevier No. 1963	R 7 415 200	Field Crops
Free State	Fezile Dabi	Weltevrede Noord	Weltevrede Noord No. 584/1	R11 284 000	Poultry
Gauteng	North East Region	Aron Mbatha	Portion 12 (of 2) of farm Tweefontein No.491 JR	R11 284 000	Livestock
Gauteng	Westrand	Kesiiloe Hendrick Soai	Remaining Extent of Portion 22 and Portion 99 of the farm Brandvlei 261 IQ	R 6 125 600	Livestock
Gauteng	City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality	Kodumela Moepa Thutse Farming Projects (PTY) LTD	Ptn 119 of the farm Bultfontein 107 JR	R11 284 000	Livestock
Gauteng	Metsweding	Kwindla Farm	Portion 21 of farm Haartebeesfontein No.123 JR	R11 284 000	Livestock
Gauteng	Sedibeng	Mojaletema Primary Co-operative	R/E ptn 5 of Uitkyk no 327 and R/E of ptn 15(of ptn 4) of farm Bulfontein	R 3 739 840,00	Livestock
Gauteng	North East Region	Mpho Octavius. Selepe.	Portion 15 of farm Leeuwdraai No.211 JR	R11 284 000	Poultry
Gauteng	City of Tshwane	Stav Chicken	Ptn 14 of farm Fiarfield no. 236 JR	R11 284 000	Poultry
Kwazulu Natal	King Cetshwayo	Belmore	Portion 2 of farm Lot 68 Umfolozi no.13568.	R8 060 000	Sugarcane
Kwazulu Natal	uMgungundlovu	Birdwood Farm	Portion 503 of the farm Beaulieu Estate No. 1412 FT	R5 480 800	Horticulture
Kwazulu Natal	Zululand	Kroomdraai	Portion 1 of the Farm Kromdraai No.459, Portion 2 of the Farm Kromdraai No.459 and Remaining Extent of the Farm Kromdraai No 459.	R6 125 600	Livestock
Kwazulu Natal	Ilembe	Margaret	Ptn 1 of the farm no 16988	R8 060 000	Horticulture
Kwazulu Natal	Harry Gwala	Melville Park	Unit 2 of the reminder of Portion 1 of farm Bersheba, no 38 ES	R6 125 600	Livestock
Kwazulu Natal	uMgungundlovu	Runnymeade Farm	Portion 1 of the farm Runnymeade No. 15577 FS	R6 125 600	Livestock
Kwazulu Natal	Umzinyathi	Spitskop /Sibiya	Remainder of Portion 1 of the farm Spitskop No. 161 and Remainder of the farm Spitskop No. 161	R7 415 200	Field Crops
Kwazulu Natal	Umzinyathi	Stratherne	Stratherne No.4134, Meadowbank No.4130, Ongeluk No.8448, up and Down No.4962	R6 125 600	Livestock
Kwazulu Natal	King Cetshwayo	Tasma	Portion 2 of farm Lot 68 Umfolozi no.13568, Portion 2 (of 1) Lot 71 of farm Umfolozi no.13567 and other. Portions.	R7 737 600	Macademia
Kwazulu Natal	Ilembe	Tulele Fram	Portions 129, 200, 472 of Chaka’s Kraal No 865	R8 060 000	Horticulture
Limpopo	Capricorn	Dakalo Reginah Magwede	Ptn 1 & 8 of the farm Jakhalsfontein 119 MR	R6 125 600	Livestock
Limpopo	Mopani	Deerpark	Ptn 20 of the farm Deerpark 459 LT	R7 737 600	Subtropical
Limpopo	Waterberg	Doornlaagte	Ptn 1 of the farm Doornlaagte & Ptn 4 of the farm Platlaagte 614 KS	R6 125 600	Livestock
Limpopo	Capricon	Magwasha	Ptn 0 of the farm Liberton 298 MS	R6 125 600	Livestock
Limpopo	Capricon	Rhone farm	Ptn 2 of the farm Rhone 321 MR	R6 125 600	Livestock
Limpopo	Mopani	Sekgopo Community	Ptn 2 & R/E of Ptn 0 of the farm Roodedraai 378 LT	R6 125 600	Livestock
Limpopo	Waterberg	Sterkstroom	R/E of Ptn 6 of the farm Sterkstroom 105 KR	R6 125 600	Livestock
Limpopo	Waterberg	Temo Ya Tlhabane Holding	Ptn 1 of the farm Doornlaagte 619 KS	R6 125 600	Livestock
Mpumalanga	Ehlanzeni	Bellevue	Ptn of Farm Bellevue B 519 JT & Rem.Ext of Ptn 0 of Bellevue A2 520 JT	R7 415 200	Citrus
Mpumalanga	Nkangala	Elandspruit	Portion 39 (Of Ptn 2) Of Farm Elandspruit No.291 JS	R7 415 200	Grain
Mpumalanga	Gert Sibande	Haarlem	Rem Ext of Portion 3 of the farm Haarlem 39 IT	R7 415 200	Grain
Mpumalanga	Nkangala	Kalbasfontein	Kalbasfontein 284 JS Portion 22	R 7 415 200	Livestock
Mpumalanga	Ehlanzeni	Kliprievier (Elvis Meshack Dludlu)	Remaining extent of portion 1 of the farm Kliprievier 73 JT	R 6 125 600	Livestock
Mpumalanga	Nkangala	Klipspruit - JE Skhosana Farms & Logistics)	Portion 11(Portion of Portion 3) of the farm Klipspruit 199 IR:Remaining Extent of Portion 0 of the farm Stilte 223 IR	R7 415 200	Livestock
Mpumalanga	Nkangala	Klipspruit	Ptn 7 (Of Ptn 4) Of Farm Klipspruit No.199 IR	R11 928 800	Layers
Mpumalanga	Gert Sibande	Mooihoek	Rem Ext of Ptn 1 of the farm Mooihoek 168 HT	R6 125 600	Livestock
Mpumalanga	Gert Sibande	Rendal	Portion 2 (Nozika) of Riversdale 127 IT	R6 125 600	Livestock
Mpumalanga	Gert Sibande	Shepstone	Rem Ext of Shepstone 280 IT	R6 125 600	Livestock
Mpumalanga	Nkangala	Witklipbank	Portion 21 (Portion of Portion 4) of the farm Witklipbank 202.	R11 284 000	Broiler
North West	Ngaka Modiri Molema	Amantle Trading	Remainder of Portion 24, 25, 28,80,82, 91 and portions 44.	R 7 415 200	Field Crops
North West	Bojanala	Gosiame-Ramaila	Portion 799 of Hartebeesfontein (Gosiame-Ramaila)	R 6 125 600	Livestock
North West	Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati	Kildare Carlow	Portion 162 of Farm Remaining Extent van Block C 2nd Railway Grant Nr 1 JM	R 6 125 600	Livestock
North West	Dr Kenneth Kaunda	Makwene Enooh	Pnt 36 of the farm rietkuil 397 IP and Pnt 22 of the farm Wolverand 425 IP	R 6 125 600	Livestock
North West	Dr Kenneth Kaunda	Mamusa Farms (Pty) Ltd	Portion 8 of Rooipoort 202 IP & 11 of Wilfontein 201 IP	R6 125 600	Livestock
North West	Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati	Mogonedi Archibold	Portion 2 of the farm Alnwick 287 JM	R6 125 600	Livestock
North West	Bojanala	Raphulo	Portion 879 of Hartebeespoort C419 JQ ( Raphulo)	R 6 125 600	Livestock
Northern Cape	Pixley Ka Seme	Keilder	Portion 4 and 5 of Hedley Plains A No. 64, Portion 6 of the farm Doonies Pan No. 106.	R3 739 840	Livestock
Northern Cape	Namakwa	Klein vogelfontein	Portion 0 of the farm Klein Vogelsfontein No 920	R3 739 840	Livestock
Northern Cape	Pixley Ka Seme	Kranshoek	Farm kranshoek no 396.	R3 739 840	Livestock
Northern Cape	Frances Baard	Melkvlei	Farm no. 221 & R/E of portion 3 of Farm Longlands no. 231	R7 415 200	Livestock
Northern Cape	ZF Mgcawu	Vilander. No. 318	Remainder of Farm Vilander No.318	R3 739 840	Livestock
Western Cape	Eden	Forest Hall	Erf 562, Kurland in the Bitou Municipal area,	R5 480 800	Livestock
Western Cape	Cape Winelands	Mesco farms	Portions 2, 3, 4 and the remainder of Farm Ruytershove No.25, Stellenbosch	R8 704 800	Horticulture
Western Cape	Eden	Ruiterbosch	Portion 41 of the Farm Ruiterbos No 60, situated in the Mossel Bay Municipality	R3 739 840	Livestock

 

Reply:

The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has developed, consulted, and attained consensus on the Agriculture and Agro-Processing Master Plan (AAMP). The ongoing alignment process has to date shown the intent by different role players within the different sectors to achieve the set goals and a clearer picture is emerging in terms of defining targets and participation by the black producers in the value chain.

The attached Table 1, with specific reference to meat and dairy value chain implementation, depicts progress made and the envisaged increase in participation will be from 30 to 50 percent and 7 to 10 percent respectively.

Livestock
	Tons - (2010/11)	Tons - (2018/19)	Expansion 2012-2019	NDP 2030 growth target	Commercial Employment	Black farmer share current (%)*	AAMP output added (tons)	AAMP 2030 impact Real GPV	AAMP 2030 impact jobs	AAMP 2030 livelihood created	Black farmer future share (%)
Beef	628 000	763 000	135 000	282 600	18 541	34,0%	134 357	R8 175 448 721	3200	39600	50%
Dairy	2 685 302	3 341 000	655 698	522 735	33 410	7,0%	183 645	R1 396 998 405	222	16160	10%

Reply:

(a)(i)&(ii) There are no technological or system impediments that prevent South Africans born overseas from applying for Smart ID Cards. South Africans born abroad are able to apply for Smart ID Cards in the country.

(b) Naturalised citizens will soon be able to apply for Smart ID Cards once we have completed the verification process of their records.

(c) & (d) The Minister will make an announcement once the Department is ready to accept Smart ID Card applications from naturalised citizens.

END

Reply:

The Minister and the Department have not been informed of any families living in rural KwaZulu-Natal without addresses who cannot be reached through normal postal services.

However, the process of address roll-out in KZN was hampered by the South African Post Office’s (SAPO’s) lack of materials and tools of trade (paint, vehicles, and other related materials) during the 2019/2020 financial year.

To mitigate these challenges, the SAPO address rollout team provided communities with their addresses in writing and requested the community to then “put up” their addresses themselves.

The team continued with community education on how to use the allocated numbers. Community leaders were also provided with the SAPO contact numbers to call should there be new houses in their areas The SAPO team experienced challenges in some areas where it was refused access by the Chief and other circumstances, and in Zululand only. The team provided the SAPO contact numbers should they require any further assistance.

Areas where access was denied include:

1. The Gcothoyi Tribal Authority Chief in Kranskop who refused to allow the address rollout because he did not agree with the pay rate for field workers.

2. At Dondotha Village, KwesakaMthethwa Tribal authority in the Empangeni area was affected by the high risk of vehicle hijackings.

The Chief was aware of the challenges, but the process could not be completed despite it already having begun.

team still attends to all address enquiries when received, however due to the financial challenges experienced at SAPO, there is no current address rollout plan. The address roll-out plan will be prioritised as soon as SAPO is stabilised and fully operational, especially in rural communities.

Thank You.

Reply:

The Department of Home Affairs offices are located in various geographical areas and all offices in both urban and rural areas will have the self-service KIOSK. Thus, there will be no reason to deny communities in rural areas access to the self-service machine as the machines will be deployed in all DHA offices. The rollout will be informed by the available budget in a phased approach and the priority will be the deployment in non-modernised offices, followed by modernised offices and other strategic points.

END

Reply:

Find here: Reply

Reply:

1. (a) The target audience for the specified reports are the following:

The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation

The Deputy Ministers of International Relations and Cooperation

The Director-General of International Relations and Cooperation

Deputy Directors-General

Chief Directors

Internal Audit

Audit Committee

The Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation.

(b) The total cost of producing the reports cannot be quantified in monetary terms as the reports are drafted and produced in-house.

2. The Office of the Chief Operating Officer, through the Chief-Directorate Strategic Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, manages the processes of quarterly and annual reporting within DIRCO. Information received is quality assured and reflected in the departmental reporting in line with the framework for managing performance information. 

Reply:

1. Yes, National Treasury officials within the International Development Cooperation unit of the Budget Office met with Mr Frazer Mbili on Thursday, 27 October 2022 at 14H00 to 15H00 (Ms Teams meeting).

2. Following the meeting of the 27th of October 2022, and as agreed, Mr Mbili was to send various documentation as verification of sources of co-financing (from co-financiers, UK Investment Group, the Humanitarian Forgive Loan Programme) of SOSO engagement with Government (Service Level Agreements) as well as the financing model proposed. The documentation sent by Mr Mbili of 7 November 2022 did not include any verification documentation. The National Treasury could therefore not verify the information received from Mr Mbili and he was requested to send the outstanding information.

Reply:

Given the very tight fiscal framework in 2023/24 and current problems such as the cost of the 2023 wage agreement, central government departments are re-opening discussions around rationalization of Departments (NMOG) and public entities. Whereas this process is starting up, there is at this stage no agreed upon list of entities that should be rationalized or closed. Thus, it would be premature to name any specific entities that might be under consideration. That said, government probably has far too many public entities especially given our fiscal circumstances.

Reply:

a) The National Treasury has engaged with the Auditor-General and considered all public comments received through Government Gazette General Notice No. 3270 of 6 April 2023 which withdrew the Government Gazette General Notice No. 3247 of 31 March 2023 and invited public comment on a proposed exemption for Eskom. In total, fifty-six (56) comments were received, with twenty-three (23) comments received in formal correspondence and thirty-three (33) comments received through emails, covering a broad spectrum of accounting and reporting, auditing, governance, legal principles, and public interest issues have been duly considered. The National Treasury also engaged with audit firms, professional auditing and accounting bodies, a rating agency, and other relevant authorities to discuss the challenges and seemingly onerous compliance reporting requirements applicable to State-Owned Entities such as Eskom.

b) The consultation methods used for the consultations were in the form of online stakeholder engagement meetings, webinars, media statements and Government Gazette Notice for public comments. Please refer to the attached media statement dated 7 June 2023, in which the Minister of Finance has determined that Eskom not be granted a partial exemption from section 55(2)(b)(i) of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) and Treasury Regulation 28.2.1, from disclosing irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure and material losses from criminal conduct in its Annual Financial Statements.

Reply:

1. The department has a birth registration campaign which requires parents to register new born babies within 30 days and it has set up birth registration offices in health facilities that have maternity wards. For those who have missed that period, we register them through the Late Registration of Birth (LRB) process. Provinces proactively run the Late Registration of Birth (LRB) initiatives in communities where unregistered children are identified.

2. The statistics on late registration of birth are attached as Annexure A on this response and have been disaggregated by months and years.

(3)(a) During Covid-19 (2020/21 and 2021/22) the turn-around times could not be complied with due to the fact that some of the service/s were not rendered due to various stage restrictions and the backlog information is attached as Annexure B.

(3)(b) Bottlenecks:

• Abandoned children: The Department of Social Development (DSD), in line with their mandate on the subject matter, does not submit a complete investigation report from Social Worker to enable DHA to register birth in line with regulations and engagements with DSD are ongoing.
• Cultural practices: Naming of a child after birth is delayed by the family.
• Home births occurrences at far flung areas which are located a further distance from Health Facilities.
• Laissez faire-attitude: Mothers not taking the responsibility to register birth within 30 days until there is a social pressure to do so.
• Applicant/s change their contact details and physical addresses without notifying the Department which makes it difficult to contact them for appointments to attend Late Registration of Birth screenings.
• No shows: Clients not responding when invited for interviews.
• Evidence provided by applicant/s not sufficient to attend to and finalize Late Registration of Birth.
• Lack of supporting documents to finalise the LRB applications.
• DNA referrals - parent(s) do not have the financial means.

3(c) Plans in place to address bottlenecks:

• Committees developed a weekly schedule to adjudicate cases.
• Offices collaborate with Department of Social Development to assist with tracing and transportation of some clients.
• Intensify Community Awareness through Stakeholders and the assistance of GCIS.
• DNA Test Results to finalise LRB applications when there is a lack of supporting documents.
• DHA and DoH to enter into a MoU for waiver of payments for indigents (Parent(s) with no financial means) to pay for DNA once we have concluded discussions on the feasibility of this support.

• Clients are reminded to update DHA when their contact details have changed.
• Follow up through stakeholders when clients do not avail themselves for screening after setting up appointments.

END

 

2. a) All births 31 days upward

Annexure A

SUMMARY	ALL BIRTHS 31 DAYS AND ABOVE
2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
17732	17821	17426	17722	18547	17688	18342	18926	17739	17823	17671	11844	209281
2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
19876	18674	17100	16124	17817	15832	19406	18336	16255	19067	16299	11971	206757
2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
18942	17993	14643	344	53915	28752	21575	20384	20707	21960	18568	15133	252916
2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
20833	21659	24536	18917	20240	16600	14725	20295	21545	22527	20374	14817	237068
2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
22653	21297	22371	16481	21079	17878	18383	19205	18668	17007	16333	11186	222541

2.(b) Statistics 31 to 364 days

SUMMARY	31 TO 364 DAYS
2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
13990	12055	11061	12266	13077	12266	12666	12870	11776	12892	11236	7478	143633
2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
13793	11654	10766	11158	11850	10901	12729	11130	10396	11221	10033	7040	132671
2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
13640	11680	9385	197	53646	27028	19832	18862	17926	17780	14221	11789	215986
2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
18471	17944	18703	14908	14901	13205	12575	16702	16652	16594	14091	10636	185382
2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
17315	15489	15998	12621	15964	14269	15085	14644	13319	12665	11181	7735	166285

2.(c) 1 to 15 years

2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
2489	4219	4408	3600	3753	3704	3869	4127	4490	3834	4486	2932	45911
2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
3770	4605	4602	3256	3726	3648	4731	5033	4005	5585	4359	3558	50878
2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
3570	4710	3584	130	226	1284	1355	1211	2218	3216	3071	2627	27202
2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
1598	2878	4247	2866	3826	2499	1420	2483	3493	4221	4551	3102	37184
2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
3280	4254	4512	2749	3678	2551	2457	3360	3909	2803	3744	2626	39923

2. d) 16 years upward

2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
1253	1547	1957	1856	1717	1718	1807	1929	1473	1097	1949	1434	19737
2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
2313	2415	1732	1710	2241	1283	1946	2173	1854	2261	1907	1373	23208
2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
1732	1603	1674	17	43	440	388	311	563	964	1276	717	9728
2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
764	837	1586	1143	1513	896	730	1110	1400	1712	1732	1079	14502
2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
2058	1554	1861	1111	1437	1058	841	1201	1440	1539	1408	825	16333

3.(a) Backlogs

Annexure B

2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	2018	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
3367	3443	3074	3106	3411	3569	6517	3730	3823	3658	3202	3430	44300
2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	2019	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
3675	3804	3866	3459	4012	3980	4227	4368	4374	4584	4638	3324	48216
2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	2020	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
4374	4296	4343	3928	4093	4241	4320	4365	3105	4424	4505	4681	50588
2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	2021	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
4412	4413	4906	4763	4819	4849	4128	4908	5130	5383	5377	4196	57274
2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	2022	TOTAL
JANUARY	FEBRUARY	MARCH	APRIL	MAY	JUNE	JULY	AUGUST	SEPTEMBER	OCTOBER	NOVEMBER	DECEMBER
4665	4098	4545	4447	4796	4785	4713	4743	4949	5311	4995	5758	57267

Reply:

1. Over the medium to long term, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) seeks to improve its collaboration and coordination with industry organisations, through programme and project design. The Value Chain Round Tables (VCRT), which are currently being implemented, serve as platforms to forge greater collaboration and coordination between government and industry organisations, both nationally and provincially. Through the VCRT, the industry will be in a better position to identify the required infrastructure and services at local government level. These will be tabled to DALRRD by way of the District Development Model. The Integrated Rural Development Strategy addresses the challenges of rural and agricultural infrastructure such as roads, agro-processing facilities, etc.

2. Yes, the Department further aims to improve on delivery in terms of the Agriculture and Agro Processing Master Plan (AAMP) at district level, through a value chain approach, where value chain analysis will be conducted to identify the required services and infrastructure needs according to the AAMP value chain. The analysis will in turn determine required programmes and projects at the district level, and in this way contribute to the national targets for growth per value chain identified within the AAMP.

3. Implementation of VCRTs discussed above, and a value chain approach to programme and project design and selection will form the cornerstone of what DALRRD sees as the bridging strategy between the AAMP, and the challenges experienced at local government level, as identified in the Auditor-General’s report.

Reply:

1) The Public Audit Act, 2004 (Act No. 25 of 2004) as amended in section 5(1B)(b) states that the Auditor-General has the power to issue a certificate of debt, as prescribed, where an accounting officer or accounting authority has failed to comply with remedial action. The Regulations published on 1 April 2019 state in section 12 that for purposes of this Part, “accounting officer” also includes a former accounting officer, and “member of the accounting authority” also includes a former member of the accounting authority. Public officials that have left the institutions therefore can still be issued with certificates of debt.

2) and (3) The National Treasury does not maintain this information. The Auditor General of South Africa should be engaged to obtain the detailed information.

Reply:

(1)(a)(i),(ii) Table 1 below reflects the vacancy rate of veterinary doctors in South Africa per province from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2022 and since 1 January 2023.

Table1: Approved and vacant posts for veterinary doctors

Year	STATUS	NATIONAL	GP	NW	LP	MP	KZN	FS	EC	WC	NC	TOTAL
2019	APPROVED	38	36	39	39	36	27	15	48	30	16	324
	VACANT	13	4	10	10	17	17	3	25	4	10	113
	RATE	34%	11.1%	26%	26%	47.22%	62.96%	20%	48%	13%	37.5%	35%
2020	APPROVED	38	36	39	39	36	27	15	48	30	16	324
	VACANT	13	4	10	10	15	16	5	26	5	10	114
	RATE	34%	11.1%	26%	26%	41.67%	59.25%	33%	46%	16%	37.5%	35%
2021	APPROVED	38	36	39	39	36	27	15	48	30	16	324
	VACANT	14	4	10	10	16	16	6	28	5	10	103
	RATE	37%	11.1%	26%	26%	44.44%	59,25%	40%	42%	16%	37.5%	32%
2022	APPROVED	38	36	39	39	36	29	15	48	30	16	326
	VACANT	14	4	10	10	19	16	6	38	6	11	134
	RATE	37%	11.1%	26%	26%	52.78	55,17%	40%	38%	20%	31.25%	41%
2023	APPROVED	38	36	39	39	36	29	15	48	30	16	287
	VACANT	13	4	10	10	20	18	6	31	6	11	129
	RATE	34%	11.1%	26%	26%	55.56%	62,06%	40%	35%	20%	31.25%	45%

(b) The Department advertised vacant posts of state veterinarians in line with the available budget. There has been a challenge with constant efflux of state veterinarians who are being recruited by the private sector. In addition, there are also challenges to get suitably qualified applicants.

(2) The number of registered veterinarians and veterinary nurses as per the South African Veterinary Council register of May 2023 is as follows:

- There were 3 506 registered veterinarians (excluding veterinary specialists) and 731 registered veterinary nurses as at 31 May 2023.

- As with all other agricultural and related professions, the Department doesn’t keep records of unemployed graduates as it is not the only employer and it would be impossible to maintain the records throughout the sector. Vacancies are however, advertised as soon as vacated. Recent adverts for veterinarians attracted very few applicants, suggesting that most are absorbed in the sector.

- Mpumalanga is the only province that has employed 18 veterinary nurses out of an establishment of 24 (75% filled).

(3) The following measures are in place for the Department to deal with unemployed veterinarians and veterinary nurses to provide animal health services where there is a high need:

- All bursary holders are subject to servicing the Department for a period equal to the number of years sponsored by the Department.

- Unemployed veterinary graduates are deployed in areas where they are needed the most in the provinces under the Compulsory Community Service Programme for veterinary graduates. This ensures the graduates are employed for a duration of one year. Once they complete their community service the graduates are registered as veterinarians by the South African Veterinary Council and can service their contract with the relevant departments/provinces.

- Vacant funded posts are advertised nationally and prioritise unemployed veterinarians and veterinary nurses. This has proven to be a challenge as there are very few applications. Most veterinarians and veterinary nurses are attracted to the private sector.

Reply:

1. The structure of FPB has a total of 115 funded positions, 96 positions are filled and 19 are vacant. Attached is a spreadsheet of all positions.

2. a) No outstanding employee benefits

b) No outstanding PAYE

c) No outstanding statutory deductions

Thank Yo

Reply:

(a) Department of Communication and Digital Technologies:
(i) The percentage of SMMEs procurement breakdown for the year 2021/22 for black-owned companies was 51%. Women and youth were 31.11%.
(ii) 0%
(iii) 30%
(iv) 30%
(aa) 51%
(bb) 30%

(b) The response from the entities is attached as an Annexure.

Thank You.

Reply:

1. The 10-point strategy was adopted by the Council of Education Ministers on 5 May 2023.

2. The convenors of the various workstreams have been appointed.

3. Operational plans are being developed in June 2023.

4. A detailed presentation on the challenges, strategy and tactics is attached.  

Reply:

1. Yes. According to the National Disease Database, 13 406 disease outbreaks of controlled and notifiable diseases were reported and followed up by Provincial Veterinary Services in the ten-year period from January 2013 to December of 2022. A list of diseases and the number of outbreaks per province is attached as Annexure A.

2. The disease control measures relevant to the different controlled diseases are detailed in Table 2 of the Regulations to the Animal Diseases Act, No 35 of 1984, attached as Annexure B. These are the requirements for the control of the diseases as required by law. Since the epidemiology of each disease is different, the control measures are different for different diseases. Furthermore, different outbreaks of the same disease may be handled slightly differently, depending on the situation on the ground, the numbers of animals involved, the farming practices and the areas affected. It is not feasible to provide detailed information for each of the 13 406 outbreaks noted above.

Notifiable diseases such as Rift Valley Fever, Bluetongue and Lumpy Skin Disease, are not controlled by government and there are no prescribed control measures. However. outbreaks must be notified to the state veterinarian and awareness is done on ways to prevent further outbreaks.

Reply:

a) R214 million was allocated by National Treasury (NT) in the 2011/2012 financial year. In 2019 NT undertook to allocate an additional R400 million over the 2019-2022 MTEF in support of the project. With the additional allocation, the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) vaccine production facility project has started, and the work is projected to be completed around October 2025.

With the design phase being completed, the final estimates will guide further investment(s) to complete the facility due to the significant time lapse from the date of commissioning of the project. In the interim, R55 million has been allocated to the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) for the procurement of equipment and infrastructure to assemble an interim production system that will be used to produce antigens at a 200-liter scale (sufficient to produce 200 000 doses per annum) whilst the factory is under construction. The interim measure is expected to be ready to produce the vaccine by the middle of 2024.

b) Erecting fences in areas where the fences will obstruct established patterns of livestock and people movements are generally ineffective, due to vandalism, theft, and the inability to legally control movements on roads crossing the fences. Animal Health is, therefore, moving away from relying on fences as a first-line effective disease control measure and rather making use of alternative measures such as the use of perennial rivers, mountain ranges and adjacent lower risk establishments like farms.

The use of fences to prevent the spread of disease can only be implemented effectively where the fences also serve a purpose to the local community. For example, the fences on the western and southern boundaries of the Kruger National Park serve a disease control purpose, by preventing FMD carrier buffalo from having contact with cattle in the adjacent communal areas. It also provides a barrier to prevent dangerous animals from the Kruger National Park from roaming into the villages and hence it has value to the local community. The fences on the Kruger National Park boundary are maintained by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and SANParks. There are also fences that are used for disease control purposes, specifically FMD in specific areas of Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and KwaZulu-Natal. The repair and maintenance of these fences is the responsibility of the respective provincial departments.

Reply:

(a)(i) None. All officials of the Department are working from the office.

(a)(ii) Not applicable

(b)(i) All employees at USAASA, FPB and zaDNA are working from their offices.

SITA, SABC, ICASA, NEMISA, Sentech and Postbank indicated that they are applying a hybrid model which allows employees to combine in office and remote working, that is, 2 or 3 days working in the office and the other days working from home.

50% of the employees at BBI are allowed to work from the office at a time. SAPO has indicated that 201 of their employees are working from home.

(b)(ii) BBI stated that it moved offices from Woodmead to Radiokop and due to the office capacity only 50% of the staff complement can be accommodated at a time. All employees are fully equipped with data and laptops to work productively from home.

SITA stated that the decision for the hybrid model was based on their commitment to ensure that employees have a healthy work-life balance and excel in their performance within the organisation.

ICASA stated that an opportunity had risen to make ICASA more adaptable and find new ways to still deliver on its mandate while promoting employee wellness through creating flexible working arrangements. The employment of the hybrid work model was in line with government guidelines on managing exposure to occupational diseases in the workplace. The hybrid model is in a form of work rotation plans that is enforced for all employees. The employees are on site to ensure that customer facing services are not adversely affected in terms of service delivery.

Currently, the Postbank occupies a SAPO building that is not conducive to housing employees due to poor maintained such as lifts not functioning, poor hygiene and space constraints. Postbank is seeking its own suitable premises that are conducive to housing employees, for those who prefer working in an office.

NEMISA indicated that remote working was as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, it opted to implement hybrid work requiring employees to work from the office and from home on certain days. This was done based on the observation that employees remain productive when they work either from the office or from home. NEMISA recognises that the correct use of technology enables work to be carried out at any given location. Thus, the merely availability of technology and work tools enable hybrid work.

Sentech adopted to implement a hybrid working model which is a combination of office and remote working. It determined that this was the most sufficient way in managing resources and output. Further, it found that this was the best way in creating a healthy work environment. This model will be reviewed from time to time.

With effect from November 2021, SABC employees returned to the office and implemented a new way of working wherein employees work on a hybrid model. Employees are only required to come to the office three days a week and each division utilises its own discretion to determine the rotational roaster. This is to promote a productive working environment for employees.

SAPO has provided the following as the reasons why these employees are working from home:

• • Building not hygienic (non-compliance to OHSA), presents a health risk
• • Lifts and air conditioning defective
• • Employees have tools of trade to work from home.
• • Most sites are affected by loadshedding with no alternatives available.
• • Outdated tools of trade i.e., computers, printers, etc.
• • Nature of work does not require employees to be in office to perform functions.

 

Thank You.

Reply:

Find here: Reply

Reply:

(a)(i) 31 March 2021: As per the Departmental Annual Report 2021/22, the total contingent liabilities reported was: R2,358,451,000.00 of which R2,152,423,000.00 was for legal claims;

(a)(ii) 31 March 2022: As per the Departmental Annual Report 2022/23, the total contingent liabilities reported was: R2, 338,966,000.00 of which R2,107,068,000.00 was for legal claims;

(a)(iii) 31 March 2023: As per unaudited Annual Financial Statements (AFS) submitted as at 31st May 2023, the Department has re-stated its assessment of its contingent liabilities following receipt of a commissioned technical report advising the Department on how to disclose its contingent liabilities on legal matters. The Department has therefore re-assessed its disclosed contingent liability amount to R239,500,000.00 which excludes legal matters. The amount of R2,171,242,664.07 for legal claims is recognised as a note and annexure to the AFS. This amount was not included in the main total because it cannot be reliably estimated as the “possible settlement” amount.

(b) There is no direct correlation between the recruitment of the referred 13 legal resources, and the reduction of the stated contingent liabilities. These officials were employed by the Department to handle all litigation matters emanating from the Department and their employment has no direct bearing on the reduction of the amount disclosed within the contingent liability register, as amounts disclosed are the amounts claimed by the Plaintiffs.

From April 2020 to March 2023, the Department employed one Senior Legal Administration Office who is on level 12 and 7 Legal Administration Officers who are on level 9. The cost of these officials is prescribed as per their level of appointment based on remuneration scales determined by the Department of Public Service Administration (DPSA).

END

Reply:

1. Yes, Reference KRN6/2/2/E/42/0/0/25 was lodged by Mr. Mswelengi Bhekumuzi Bhengu on behalf of the Meyershoek Community on 23 December 1998, for the Remainder of Portion 0 of the farm Meyers Hoek No.847 in extent of 1513, 5256 hectares. The lodger and a few members alleged that they were not part of the settlement as they did not want alternative land.

Reference KRN6/2/2/E/42/0/0/202 was settled on 9 January 2000 in full and final settlement of a court order in respect of the following properties:

• farm Meyershoek No. 847;
• farm Onrust No. 848;
• Rem of Nels Rust; and
• Portion 8 of Nooitgedacht No. 903 collective extent of 3262.9193 ha.

2. The additional members that were not part of the original claim (KRN6/2/2/E/42/0/0/202) were added on the name verification list in the Section 42D memorandum for KRN6/2/2/E/42/0/0/25, after the homestead identification was analyzed against the original list.

3. (a) The outcome will be based on the further research recommendations.

(b) The delay was due to obtaining a legal opinion on the court order.

(c) Further research is needed as there is a position taken through the Court Order to see if the matter can be taken further.

(d) The Legal Unit of the Department will present the final further research report and the legal opinion on the matter based on the Court Order.

Reply:

(1) (a) (i) R 5 374 133,60

(ii) Two officials did not follow the Supply Chain Management (SCM) Policy and National Treasury Instruction note and one official did not follow the Human Resources (HR) policy.

(b) One official was charged with misconduct and was issued with a final written warning. He lodged a dispute at the General Public Service Sector Bargaining Council (GPSSBC) and received an award. The Department is currently studying the award.

The second official had transferred to another Department before the investigation was concluded. The Department has since written to the Employee’s Department to inform them of the irregular expenditure, in terms of the Public Service Act No. 103 of 1994. They are now studying the documentation to determine if disciplinary action should be taken.

The third official received a verbal warning for not following HR Policies.

(2) The cases were not referred to National Prosecuting Authority or SA Police Service for investigation because it was determined by the Department that there was no fraud, corruption and/or criminal conduct perpetrated.

 

Thank You.

Reply:

(1)&(2) Mr. Krasimir Kamenov was issued with a relatives’ visa to join his spouse and subsequently obtained permanent residence in the Republic of South Africa in 2004. He was a naturalised citizen at the time of his death.

With regards to Mr. Fulgence Kayishema, upon him entering the Republic of South Africa in December 1999, he was issued with a Temporary Permit to Prohibited Persons in terms of Section 41(1) of Aliens Control Act 96 of 1991 under a different name and nationality. He then applied for asylum and was later granted Refugee status in 2002. However, it transpired afterwards that his Refugee status was granted through misrepresentation. The Department will follow legislative prescripts in dealing with misrepresentation in terms of Section 36(1)(a) and section 36(2) of the Refugees Act.

END

Reply:

Honourable member this matter was fully ventilated in a court of law. Judgement has been passed but Dr Magudumana is appealing. Hence I am not able to answer your question for now.

END

Reply:

(a)(i) The total number of retirement visa applications received 3645 from 2020 to 2022 FYs is 3645 and applications received from 1 April 2023 are 79.

(a)(ii) The total number of applications issued during 2020 to 2022 are 1645 while there is no application issued from 1 April 2023 and there are 1449 applications still pending.

(b) The applications were received from 112 countries which are listed below in Annexure A.

(c) The average turnaround time is 12 months.

(d) The total number of applications rejected is 499.

(e) The reasons for rejections vary from documents being incomplete, applicants not able to prove their net worth or pension/ retirement incomes that meet the prescribed minimum amount of R 37000.00 per month.

(f) There were applications rejected from 62 countries. The countries are as reflected in the table below in Annexure A.

(g) The average time between the date on which the application is received and the date on which rejection letters are issued is currently 12 months. There is currently none of the applications received from 01 April 2023 that have been finalised.

 

END

ANNEXURE A

The table below reflects the number of applications received, approved, rejected and pending for each country that were received from 2020 until 2022. Applications not assigned are pending applications that are not assigned for adjudication.

Applicants nationality	Approved	Not Assigned	Pending	Rejected	Grand Total
Afghanistan	4	3	1	1	9
Algeria	8	12	2	5	27
Angola	12	10	2	5	29
Argentina	2			2	4
Australia	17	6	4	3	30
Austria	4	3	1		8
Bangladesh	82	33	91	36	242
Belgium	30	19	4	8	61
Benin	1	4		2	7
Bosnia and Herzegovina	1				1
Botswana	1			1	2
Brazil	6	1	2	2	11
Bulgaria	2		1	1	4
Burundi				1	1
Cameroon	4	1		1	6
Canada	6	10	7	1	24
Central African Republic	1				1
Chad	1	1			2
China	250	142	27	89	508
Colombia		1			1
Cote DIvoire	1			1	2
Croatia	1				1
Cyprus	1		1		2
Czech Republic	2				2
Denmark	2	8	4		14
Egypt	8	5	4	10	27
Eritrea	1	2		1	4
Ethiopia	8	12	3	17	40
Finland	1	2		1	4
France	35	19	10	11	75
Gabon	2	2		2	6
Germany	162	80	23	22	287
Ghana	3	7	1	3	14
Greece	2		1	2	5
Guernsey and Alderney	1				1
Haiti	1				1
Honduras	1				1
India	39	43	15	31	128
Iraq			1		1
Ireland	18	6	2	2	28
Israel	4	4		1	9
Italy	25	12	3	3	43
Jordan	1			3	4
Kenya	3	10	2	6	21
Latvia	3				3
Lebanon	5	1		1	7
Lesotho			1		1
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	1				1
Luxembourg	1			1	2
Madagascar	2				2
Malawi	2	4			6
Malaysia	1	2			3
Mali		1			1
Malta			1		1
Mauritania	1				1
Mexico				1	1
Mongolia	1				1
Morocco		1		1	2
Mozambique	4	10	1	2	17
Nepal	2	2			4
Netherlands	72	31	13	8	124
New Zealand	1				1
Niger	1				1
Nigeria	43	38	21	36	138
Norway	8	6	3		17
Pakistan	30	60	35	34	159
Palestinian Territory		1			1
Philippines	3	3			6
Poland	5	2	1	1	9
Portugal	1	1			2
Republic of South Africa	71	47	11	27	156
Reunion (FR)		2			2
Russian Federation	5	5	2	1	13
Rwanda		2			2
Saint Kitts and Nevis	1				1
Saudi Arabia	1				1
Senegal	1				1
Sierra Leone	1	1		1	3
Singapore	2	1	1	1	5
Slovenia		1			1
Somalia			1	1	2
Spain	5	1			6
Sri Lanka	1	1			2
Sudan		2	1		3
Swaziland	2	1			3
Sweden	10	11	5	1	27
Switzerland	72	56	9	13	150
Syrian Arab Republic		1			1
Taiwan	2	3		1	6
Thailand	5	2		3	10
Democratic Republic of the Congo	16	24	1	9	50
The Islamic Republic of Iran	4	2	2	5	13
Republic of Korea (South Korea)	25	17	1	14	57
Republic of the Congo	2	5	1	1	11
United Republic of Tanzania		1		3	4
Togo	1		1		2
Trinidad & Tobago	1				1
Commonwealth of the Bahamas				1	1
Tunisia	1				1
Turkey	5	4		3	12
Uganda	4	1		1	6
Ukraine		2	1		3
United Kingdom	330	148	42	49	571
United States of America	121	58	20	17	216
Uruguay	1				1
Uzbekistan		1			1
Vietnam	6	1	1	2	11
Zaire				1	1
Zambia	1	3			4
Zimbabwe	7	29	6	33	75
Grand Total	1645	1055	394	499	3645

*The table below reflects the number of applications and nationalities of the applicants whose applications were received from 01 April 2023 to 31 May 2023

Applicants nationality	Applications received from 01 April 2023
Australia	1
Belgium	1
Brazil	1
Cameroon	2
China	4
Denmark	1
France	2
Germany	9
India	1
Ireland	1
Israel	1
Italy	3
Netherlands	3
Nigeria	3
Pakistan	1
Philippines	1
Poland	1
Republic of South Africa	2
Russian Federation	1
Swaziland	2
Sweden	2
Switzerland	6
Islamic Republic of Iran	1
Republic of South Korea	3
Togo	1
Turkey	1
Uganda	1
United Kingdom	18
United States of America	3
Zimbabwe	2
Grand Total	79

Reply:

Honourable member, we initially experienced technological challenges with the roll out of the e-visa system during 2021. However, towards the end of 2022, we successfully completed a series of 34 enhancements to the e-visa system. Currently, there are no technological challenges with the e-visa system. Honourable member, I also wish to inform the house that we have added 20 more countries on the e-visa system bringing it to a total of 34 countries that can now use our e-visa system for tourism purposes.

END

Reply:

1. There are no plans to establish a task force to address food shortages. According to the Crop Estimates Committee (as per publications reflected on https://www.dalrrd.gov.za / crop estimates), South Africa is not experiencing any food shortages. South Africa is able to meet food demand both through imports and local production.

Furthermore, the government has established a multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder institutional structure called the National Food and Nutrition Security Plan comprising of the core social cluster and economic cluster departments such as National Treasury and Small Business Development departments. The structure addresses food and the food system inclusive of the food value chain across the continuum from severly inadequate to self sufficiency. At its core the National Food and Nutrition Security Plan address the pillars on which the policy is based namely access, availability, utilisation and stability.

(2),(3),(4) Falls away.

5. The Department established a Sector Energy Crisis Task Team comprised of government, industry, research institutions and sector entities. The work of the Task Team, engaging with Eskom looked at immediate, short- and long-term contingency plans to protect the sector against the negative impact of load shedding. The interventions will cover the sector at large including all categories of farmers. The interventions are also being aligned to the pronouncements delivered by the Minister of Finance during his budget speech.

The proposed interventions are:

• Customers with dedicated supply infrastructure should apply for load curtailment.
• Customers supplied by the same feeder/ substation can group together and apply for load curtailment.
• Review the schedule (duration and or time) where possible, to accommodate the needs of the majority of customers (the criteria will be based on impact/number of commercial customers).
• Customers in municipal supply areas where switching is done by Eskom and where possible, to exempt/curtail, municipalities to be allowed to do own switching to accommodate customers.
• Reconfigure the network to allow possible isolation where possible.
• Install micro grids, PV’s and battery containers for critical loads especially during critical times such as harvesting, irrigation and refrigeration; this will require customers to identify the essential load.

• As announced during the DALRRD Budget Vote Speech, the Department is establishing the Agro-Energy Fund at the Land Bank. This is a blended finance instrument where the state will provide a grant on a sliding scale per producer category combined with a loan from the Land Bank. The focus of the Agro-Energy Fund is on energy intensive agricultural activities. These include irrigation, intensive agricultural production systems, and on-farm cold chain related activities. The blended thresholds and caps per category of producer are:

• a large-scale producer will receive 30% grant funding to be matched with a 70% loan portion, where the grant amount is capped at a maximum of R1.5 million;
• a medium-scale producer will receive a 50% grant to be matched with a 50% loan portion, where the grant is capped at a maximum of R1 million; and
• a smallholder producer will be supported by a grant portion of 70% to be matched with a 30% loan. For this category, the maximum grant funding is capped at the maximum of R500 000.

Table 1: Grant Limits

Farmer Categorization	Large Scale Farmer	Medium Scale Farmer	Small Scale Farmer
Turnover	>R10m <R50m	>R1m-R10m	>R50k -R1m
% Grant of the Cost (valid Quotation)	30%	50%	70%
Land Bank Loan Component	70%	50%	30%
Grant Caps	R1.5m	R1m	R500 000

• Grant caps will be according to Table 1 above; however, the cost of the infrastructure needed by the farmer will be informed by the farmer’s farm energy requirements assessment based on the kilowatts. The pre-assessment by a competent expert registered with the South African Photovoltaic Industry Association (SAPVIA) will be key so that the correct fit for purpose system is installed.

• The Blended Agro-Energy facility will be used by qualifying producers for the purchase of Capital Equipment and Infrastructure (CAPEX) for alternative energy sources directly linked to energy-intensive farming operations.

Table 2: Common high energy consuming activities at farm level

Dairy Farming	Piggery	Poultry	Field Cropping	Horticulture including (Greenhouse)
Milk cooling machinery	Heating	Lighting	Cold Storage	Cold Storage
Lighting	Ventilation	Feeding machinery	Tilling	Irrigation
Milking machinery	Lighting	Ventilation	Irrigation	Ventilation
Feeding machinery	Feeding machinery	Heating		Lighting

NB: the list is not exhaustive

Reply:

(a) The following zones are in place for Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) control purposes. These zones are not unique to South Africa but is an accepted international way to deal with zones of different FMD risk in a country.

• The FMD Infected Zone, which is the Kruger National Park and adjacent game reserves. This zone is permanently FMD infected, due to the presence of FMD infected buffalo which are permanent carriers of the disease;
• the FMD Protection Zone is the zone adjacent to the Kruger National Park, with mainly communal cattle and small stock farming areas. It is assumed that these are the communities that are referred to in the question above, although the term “red zone” is not used officially or internationally; and
• the FMD Free Zone is the rest of the country, although this status is currently suspended due to outbreaks that occurred between 2019 and 2022.

The high risk posed by the buffalo in the infected zone is the reason for the permanent protection zone in the adjacent communities. The control approach is multi-layered, to provide for prevention of outbreaks, early detection of outbreaks, and limiting the spread of outbreaks as much as possible. The layers include fencing around the Kruger National Park, routine vaccination of cattle populations in the protection zone adjacent to the fence, regular inspection of all cattle in the protection zone, and movement control for cloven hoofed animals and products out of the protection zone. If the above system of prevention works well, then no outbreaks are reported in the protection zone and the zone serves its purpose well. That is currently the status. Should an outbreak occur in the protection zone, the systems are in already in place to detect the disease quickly and prevent its further spread.

(b) If there are reports of FMD in a specific part of the protection zone, premises with cloven hoofed animals in that area will be placed under quarantine to prevent further spread of the disease. Animals in such areas cannot be moved or marketed until the quarantine has been lifted. Farmers in the protection zone, in areas without active FMD outbreaks, are unfortunately negatively affected by the permanent restrictions placed on the area. Provision is made for moving of unvaccinated animals out of the protection zone. These animals are subject to quarantine and testing prior to movement and government subsidises the payment of some of these tests for non-commercial movements. There is also a drive to promote market access for farmers within the protection zone and government is engaging with a number of stakeholders in this regard.

Work on supporting the development of a system to improve market access for producers in FMD high risk areas as part of efforts to reduce the risk of live cattle movements to markets in areas of low risk including the previously WOAH-recognized FMD free zone without vaccination has been proposed. This work involves the setting up of feedlots and quarantine camps to support this activity particularly for animals intended for slaughter.

Reply:

a) The Department has increased the rollout of the e-visa system to 34 countries. All countries that the Republic has diplomatic relations with, can now apply for a tourist visa on the e-visa system or are exempted from visa requirements for short-term visits.

b) All technological challenges associated with the rollout of the e-visa system have been resolved. The e-visa system has been successfully enhanced and is fully operational.

END

Reply:

The Minister of Finance is not directly responsible for managing any major infrastructure budgets, as such budgets reside within the appropriate national and provincial departmental budgets, municipal budgets or that of a public entity or state-owned entities. Each organ of state is responsible for maintaining appropriate and effective infrastructure budgets. From a national budget perspective, it is recognised that the issue of ageing infrastructure in South Africa has been a longstanding challenge, including for both rural and urban municipalities. There have been some proactive measures taken to address this issue. Here are some examples from the local government sphere:

• Since the 2013/14 financial year, the local government equitable share (LGES) includes a maintenance estimate of 10 per cent. This amounted to R5.6 billion in maintenance funding for municipalities to recover the cost of providing free basic services to indigent households in 2021/22, and it will be R7.1 billion in 2023/24. These funds are unconditional transfers, meaning that they are discretionary in nature. So, the municipality has the choice of whether to use them for maintenance or any other priority or budget commitment.

• Several reforms have been implemented following the review of infrastructure conditional grants in 2014. The Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) includes provisions for infrastructure renewal and upgrades, a provision for road maintenance projects, as well as the ability for municipalities to develop Infrastructure Asset Management Plans using 5 per cent of their allocations. Small and rural municipalities are the main beneficiaries of this grant.

• The government has provided training and capacity building programs for municipal officials and staff to improve their skills and knowledge in infrastructure planning, management, and maintenance. Since 2012, we have been pioneering the development of critical infrastructure delivery skills in municipalities through the implementation of the Infrastructure Skills Development Grant (ISDG). Since its inception, more than three hundred people have been professionalised and/ or certified within the built environment. These professionals then exercise their expertise to manage, operate and maintain public sector or municipal infrastructure.

These proactive measures are aimed at improving the quality of infrastructure in rural municipalities, which is critical for the provision of basic services, promoting economic growth, and improving the quality of life for rural communities.