Questions and Replies

Reply:

(1) (a) The breakdown of the vacant posts in national and provincial departments is provided in Annexure A.

(b) The vacancies are reported in Annexure B in terms of the broad occupational post classification.

(2) (a) Posts are vacant in the public service for a median period of 14 months. A breakdown per department is provided in Annexure C.

(b) The individual departments will be best placed to give the specific reasons why each of the posts has been vacant. However, departments in the past have reported that causes and challenges hindering the filling of vacancies include among others budget constraints, reprioritisation of funds, competition with the private sector as well as internal and external administrative challenges. In addition to the processing of amendments to the Public Service Act and the Public Service Regulations, 2016, the Department of Public Service and Administration provides technical assistants to departments on measures to address the challenges that are listed above.

End

Reply:

a) The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) has issued 83 directives from January 2021 to date against municipalities that have failed to manage sewage and causing pollution.

b) (i) The table below depicts a breakdown of the directives issued per province.

Enforcement Actions taken against non-compliant Municipalities *from January 2021 to date
Responsible Regional Office	*NWA Notices Issued	NWA Directives Issued
Eastern Cape	10	8
Free State	6	7
Gauteng	20	18
KwaZulu Natal	21	1
Limpopo	11	13
Mpumalanga	39	22
North-West	5	5
Northern Cape	30	8
Western Cape	12	1
Total	154	83

ii) The consequences of DWS’ enforcement actions are indicated below:

• Five criminal charges laid against municipalities because of non-compliance with the Directives issued.
• Two criminal charges were laid and finalised against Randfontein and Thaba Chweu Local Municipality whereby both municipalities pleaded guilty of all the charges. Both municipalities were subsequently fined by the courts for failure to adhere to the provisions of NWA, among other violations.
• Three cases were referred to National Prosecuting Authority for a decision. The Department has initiated three court interdict applications against the non-compliant municipalities, seeking Court Orders from the courts.

(iii) The DWS conducted 49 follow-up inspections whereby compliance with the provisions of the Notices and Directives is established.

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Reply:

According to the School Realities 2022 available on the DBE website, the number of learners per grade are as follows:

• There are 7 grades in Primary Schools, compared to only 5 grades in Secondary Schools.  If there were an equal number of learners in each grade, we will need 40% more Primary School classrooms than Secondary School classrooms.
• Based on the actual number of learners reported in the School Realities, there were 7 906 918 learners in Primary Schools, compared to only 4 766 312 learners in Secondary Schools.  If there were an equal number of learners per classroom, we will need 60% more Primary School classrooms than Secondary School classrooms.
• The CSIR guidelines simply reflect similar realities.
• Overcrowding is not limited to Secondary Schools.
• Overcrowding is the result of the migration of learners.  This seems to be a combination of the migration from rural schools to urban schools and the migration to specific provinces.
• Overcrowding is also the result of the preference of parents to place their children in better performing schools.

Reply:

National Treasury is concerned with the impact of insufficient and unreliable electricity supply on the broader economy, including SMEs and households. In this regard, National Treasury has, as announced in 2023 Budget Speech, undertaken various interventions. Some aim to reduce the negative impact as a result of load shedding, while other measures aim to encourage an expansion in the country’s generation capacity – particularly from renewables.

The first intervention relates to the measures taken to return ESKOM to stability and sustainability given that ESKOM remains the principal electricity generat.ing entity. National Treasury proposed a total debt relief arrangement for Eskom of R254 billion. This consists of two components. One is for R184 billion, which represents Eskom’s full debt settlement requirement in three tranches over the medium term. The second is a direct take-over of up to R70 billion of Eskom’s loan portfolio in 2025/26. Because of the structure of the debt relief, Eskom will not need further borrowing during the relief period. Government will finance the arrangement through a R66 billion baseline provision announced in the 2019 Budget, and R118 billion in additional borrowings over the next three years.

Secondly, as announced in the 2023 Budget, from 1 March 2023, businesses will be able to reduce their taxable income by 125 per cent of the cost of an investment in renewables. There will be no thresholds on the size of the projects that qualify, and the incentive will be available for two years to stimulate investment in electricity generation capacity from renewables in the short term. Further, there is also a new temporary tax incentive introduced to encourage households to invest in clean electricity generation capacity which can supplement electricity supply. Individuals who install rooftop solar panels from 1 March 2023 will be able to claim a rebate of 25 per cent of the cost of the panels, up to a maximum of R15 000. This can be used to reduce their tax liability in the 2023/24 tax year. This incentive will be available for one year.

Thirdly, also announced in the 2023 Budget, National Treasury will make changes to the Bounce Back Loan Guarantee Scheme (introduced in 2022) to incentivize renewable energy, rooftop solar, and address energy-related constraints experienced by small and medium enterprises. Government will guarantee solar-related loans for small and medium enterprises on a 20 per cent first-loss basis. National Treasury will launch the Energy Bounce Back Scheme in the coming weeks.

For more information, I refer the Honourable Member to the 2023 Budget Review and subsequent Bills introduced in Parliament or published for public comment on the National Treasury website.

Reply:

1. The Small Enterprise Development Agency has adjudicated 78 and signed contracts with 52 access points during the 2022-23 financial year as shown below. The additional twenty-six (26) access points will be contracted during 2023/24 financial year.

Furthermore, since the beginning of the sixth administration, sefa has provided financial support as follows in the rural towns and villages of South Africa:

Township per Province and District

Rural per Province and District

a) The Small Enterprise Development Agency is working with municipalities through the DDM model to expand its co-location points working through Local Economic Development with the municipalities, this will expand its footprint in the rural communities.

Also, over the MTEF period, sefa plans to disburse as follows to rural towns and villages:

Measurement Indicator	FY2023/24	FY2024/25	FY2025/26
Disbursements to township-based enterprises (R’000)	R586 647	R645 312	R709 843
Disbursements to enterprises located in rural towns and villages (R’000)	R938 636	R1 032 499	R1 135 749

Reply:

The Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) and Small Enterprise Finance Agency (Sefa) raise awareness of their products and services particularly in rural communities through entrepreneurship awareness sessions, these are organized by the branches of the entity and in collaboration with municipalities and private sector partners.

Our agencies also use community radio stations, social media platforms, sector specific webinars, and pop-up markets to expose their products and services. Seda will now also use its access points to send out information to the nearby communities particularly in the rural areas where there is no direct presence.

During the 2022/23 year, Seda trained more than fifteen thousand one hundred and nineteen (15,119) SMMEs on various programmes and courses. These includes courses amongst many other Basic Business Skills, Business Start-Up 1, Cybercrimes, HACCP Awareness, Food Safety, QMS, SARS Incentives, Export Awareness, Costing, Empretec, Business Planning, Business Model Canvas, Community Public Private Partnership, Art of Pitching, Customer Care, Retail Management, Design Thinking, Green Economy, etc. Training are needs based and often presented in collaboration with our partners.

As part of reclaiming components of the township economy Seda has also forged key skills development partnerships namely:

• A 3-year partnership with the National Skills Fund (NSF) and W&R Seta to benefit 15 000 beneficiaries. The aim of the project is to recruit unemployed graduates with Accounting and Business Management qualifications to be trained on New Venture Creation, Coaching, and Mentorship Programme to enhance their skills to provide support to Micro Enterprises. Seda will use coaching as an innovative methodology to facilitate and reinforce learning and development support to Micro Enterprises and the unemployed graduates will be trained on new venture creation as well as business coaching to enable them to transfer skills and knowledge to Micro Enterprise owners..

In 2021, DSBD, Seda and Merseta signed an agreement for Merseta to release a discretionary grant to Seda to the value of R 50 million. The funding will be provided in phased approach over a 3-year period. The purpose is to train small enterprises in the Automotive Trade Sector as well as facilitate Artisan Recognition of Prior Learning (ARPL).

Furthermore, information is also provided through the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD), Seda and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa) websites and contact centres. The DSBD also participates in Municipal LED Forums organised by the Municipalities / Provincial and National Government in various Provinces across the country. These include Business Forums, Izimbizo, Summits / Conferences, Community Outreach Programmes, Road Shows and other programmes. The DSBD uses these platforms to share information regarding the services that are available to SMMEs and Co-operatives offered through sefa and Seda. Participants at these engagements are also directed to Seda and sefa offices that are found across the country to acquire further assistance regarding the initiatives of the Department and its agencies.

Reply:

The Giyani Water Treatment Works (WTW) was upgraded by the Mopani District Municipality (DM) through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) funding administered by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA). That component of the WTW functioned briefly after completion but was subsequently shut down due to structural defects at the pump station. The Mopani DM is handling the matter internally to in terms of applying consequence management against responsible parties that were involved in the project.

During the 2022/23 financial year, the Department approved business plans and provided funding through Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG) to address the capacity constraints at the Giyani WTW. The project is implemented in two phases as follows:

• Phase 1 includes, refurbishment of the existing 30Ml/d WTW to restore its capacity to provide water to the 55 villages.
• Phase 2 includes upgrade of the WTW with additional 10Ml/d to meet the current and future water demands in Giyani. This will include refurbishment and upgrade of some components of the failed 6,5Ml/d WTW.

Implementation of Phase 1 is underway with overall progress at 13%. It is anticipated that the project will be completed by December 2023. Phase 2 is being planned and will be funded through the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG). The implementation of this project is planned to commence in April 2024.

 

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Reply:

a) I have been advised that the Gazelles Programme was discontinued at the beginning of the 2022/23 financial year and by the time it was discontinued, a budget of R29.8 million was already allocated to this programme during the Estimates of National Expenditure (ENE) process and the related cash flow already approved by National Treasury.

b) A decision was taken to discontinue the Gazelles programme after the MTEF process had closed. The funds were originally allocated to Seda for the discontinued Gazelles programme, whilst a decision was taken to fund the Blended Finance programme – the Youth Start Up programme, which is implemented by sefa.

c) The misalignment was known at the beginning of the financial year as stated in (a) above and the corrective measure was to request and receive approval from national treasury. The approval was granted in November 2022. There was a two-month delay in getting the related cash flow approved. The cash flow approval was in January 2023. It needs to be noted that the department has not exceeded the overall allocated 2022/23 budget.

During the Adjustment Estimates of National Expenditure (AENE) process, DSBD requested for reprioritisation of the Gazelles allocated budget to the Youth start-up programme to be implemented by sefa under the umbrella of the Blended Finance line item. The reprioritisation was approved by National Treasury and the Department was requested to submit the revised cash flow by the 9th of January 2022.

The cashflow for the discontinued Gazelles programme was in November 2022 and it was decided that the available cash for this programme should be redirected to the Youth start-up programme to ensure that the new programme is not delayed any further. Waiting for the cashflow process to be finalised in line with National Treasury’s timelines was going to result in a delay of two months as the revised AENE cashflow was only approved on 23 January 2023.

Reply:

The Giyani Water Project comprises of three different but interlinked projects namely Nandoni-Nsami Pipeline (Giyani Water Project); Giyani Water Services (reticulation to reservoirs) and Reticulation to 55 villages.

The overall progress for the Nandoni-Nsami Pipeline (Giyani Water) Project is 72%. The 40 km pipeline has been completed. The remaining work includes permanent river crossings, chambers, and pressure testing. Water is being pumped from the Nandoni Dam to the canal at Xixukwana and gravitates to the balancing dam at the Nsami Water Treatment Works. Practical completion for Nandoni to Nsami pipeline was achieved on 05 April 2023. The final completion is anticipated for 30 June 2023.

The overall progress for the Giyani Water Services (reticulation to reservoirs) Project is at 60% with 300km of the 325km pipeline installed. Of the 66 planned connections to the reservoirs, 20 (30,3%) have been completed and are supplying bulk water to the community. However, water is currently supplied on rationing basis due to reduced capacity at Nsami WTW. This is being addressed through refurbishment project for the WTW which is currently under construction. Completion of the project is planned for December 2023.

The Giyani reticulation programme was initiated to complete the water service value chain (source to tap) in August 2022. The reticulation program extends the supply from bulk pipelines to households. The reticulation project will be implemented in two phases.

• Phase 1 for reticulation to 24 villages has commenced. A total of 24 out of 37 contractors have been appointed and are at varying stages of implementation phase. The duration of each contract is for 12 months per village.
• Phase 2 for reticulation to 31 villages is planned for commencement and completion in the 2024/25 financial year.

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Reply:

Energy Availability Factor is currently around 50%. This is a dynamic number highly dependent on operations. Department of Public Enterprises who oversees Eskom operations could provide you with updates regularly on EAF and their respective plans to increase plant availability upon request. In line with the 2019 IRP, we are continuing with procurement of additional MW to augment energy generation capacity pursuant to security of supply.

 

Reply:

The winter outlook indicates an increased risk of supply shortfall against expected demand, with our worst-case scenario indicating that load shedding could intensify to stage eight if our interventions are unsuccessful. Stage 6 loadshedding is the highest stage of loadshedding implemented in South Africa so far. Stage 7 or 8 load shedding has not been implemented.

The NRS048-9 Code of Practice differentiates between loadshedding and load curtailment, the latter being the instructed, partial reduction of demand from large industrial customers. On occasion, load curtailment, up to Stage 4, has been implemented in conjunction with Stage 6 loadshedding.

Each stage of load curtailment is approximately 5% of the large customer demand with Stage 4 load curtailment being up to 1000MW of demand that is removed from the power system.

Reply:

(a)&(b) The collaboration between the Seda and sefa has also improved to the benefit of SMMEs and Co-operatives. One of the initiatives that was undertaken is the development of a common funding template. The funding template provides guidelines to Seda officials when developing business plans that are aimed at raising funding through sefa. In addition to this initiative, there is a Steering Committee that has been established at the national level to guide provinces in respect of areas of collaboration. Seda officials in all provinces were also trained on sefa’s programmes as well as the automated loan origination system.

In the short term, there are concerted efforts to strengthen and streamline collaboration and communications between the DSBD entities (sefa and Seda) with regards to their products, services and especially progress feedback on applications. To this end, the entities identified the following key focus areas of engagement to ensure improved service delivery to our clients:

• The sharing of databases by the entities in order to improve service offerings and efficiencies.
• Pre-investment support to be provided by Seda after sefa has reviewed an application and indicates what Seda needs to assist the client with.
• The sharing of processes, which will be arranged with the Seda provincial network through virtual sessions.
• Amendment of the referral process to focus on process and supported related issues.
• Exposure of Seda Practitioners to sefa processes to gain a better understanding of the entities’ evaluation processes.
• The training of Seda Business Advisors on sefa’s due diligence.
• sefa will also train Seda’s Access Points Service Providers on sefa’s products and application processes, especially in those areas where sefa never receives applications.
• Proper functioning referral system between the two entities.
• sefa to link its pre-invest staff to the various Seda branches.
• Seda will also provide post-investment support. sefa will still provide post-investment monitoring, as required of them as a Development Finance Institution (DFI).

In some of the provinces, sefa’s Investment Analysts are already linked to Seda branches and sefa’s Regional Managers meet with the relevant Seda Branch Managers and Practitioners to discuss sefa referrals. These engagements are very important, and the entities are working on standardizing it in all Provinces.

Reply:

                                                                                                        

Response

PROVINCE	CHILD AND YOUTH CARE WORKERS	SOCIAL AUXILIARY WORKERS	SOCIAL WORKERS	LEARNER SUPPORT AGENTS	CARE AND SUPPORT AGENTS	Grand Total
EASTERN CAPE	38	15	63	913	6 221	7 250
FREE STATE	54	1	64	93	1 650	1 861
GAUTENG	10	21	137	415	2 860	3 443
KWAZULU NATAL	0	6	72	698	4 876	5 652
LIMPOPO	0	0	73	121	3 241	3 435
MPUMALANGA	12	20	30	320	1 422	1 764
NORTH WEST	0	18	55	130	1 343	1 546
NORTHERN CAPE	0	3	17	40	827	887
WESTERN CAPE	0	9	95	178	450	732
Grand Total	114	93	606	2 907	21 637	26 570
Source: Persal, January 2023

Reply:

The question posed by the Hon Member, falls under the Executive Authority of the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education in the Eastern Cape, not the Minister of Basic Education.  The MEC for Education in the Eastern Cape is best suited to respond to the question.  

Reply:

I have been advised:

that the relationship between the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda), Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa) and the North-West Development Corporation (NWDC) is both strategic and complimentary.

Currently the NWDC does not provide funding to SMMEs in the province, they provide access to finance by linking SMMEs that require business funding with other Development Finance Institutions including, but not limited to, sefa. Additionally, NWDC also provides access to markets and access to industrial infrastructure to SMMEs funded through sefa.

Furthermore, the NWDC offers non-financial support only to the clients that it has previously facilitated access to finance for by linking them with DFIs. In essence the relationship with our agencies is a complementary relationship.

Reply:

The appraisal of educators, in terms of the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) from 2010  and the Quality Management System (QMS) since 2021, is a provincial competency. 

The question asked by the Honourable Member, falls within the Executive Authority of the Member of the Executive Council (MEC); and not the Minister of Basic Education.  Therefore, the question should be directed to provinces.

Reply:

The National Education Infrastructure Management System was decommissioned on 31 March 2023, and the data was moved to the property module of the Education Infrastructure Management System.  Concurrent with the said process is the updating of the information on the system conducted by Provincial Education Departments. The updated reports will be released as soon as these processes are concluded.

Reply:

(a) The Department of Basic Education condemns schools which have grown intolerant of black learners, male and female, keeping their Afro hair to a point of even cutting learners’ hair; as it happened in the Endlozana Primary School, kwaNongoma; thus negatively impuning on the learners' dignity and their religious beliefs; as they belong to the Nazareth Church.  This practice is unconstitutional, intolerant and misaligned with the spirit of diversity and social inclusion in schools, expressed in the education policy frameworks to guide such matters. 

Schools that are affected by this phenomenon often quote the School Codes of Conduct that tend to require children to dress their hair in a particular fashion.  Many years ago, when this matter of hair arose for girls, the Sector resolved that School Codes of Conduct must be periodically reviewed for prejudice and discrimination; and immediately revised when findings of the review points out to existence of discrimination.  Currently, the Department is working with the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), Equal Education Law Centre (EELC), and the Centre for Child Law to develop an human rights compliant exemplar code of conduct for schools in order to assist schools to avoid human rights violations of whatever nature.

(b) Provincial Education Departments will be in a position to activate consequence management (i) support principals and (ii) teachers regarding prevention and management of discrimination, prejudice and related intolerance in school management.

Reply:

(a) Government aims to pay all service providers within a 30 day time period. The late payment in KZN is related to difficulties experienced in that province linked to the inability of a service provider to fulfil its obligations in terms of a recent tender.

(b) The NSNP in the provinces, has since been stabilised; and feeding in schools has been fully restored.

Reply:

Response: (a)(i)(ii)

(a) (i)

Single medium schools are schools that use only one medium of instruction for all learner in all grades. Table1 indicates that majority of schools in the country were English medium schools (5 875) followed by Afrikaans medium schools with 1 004 schools.

Table 1: Number of single- medium schools, by province, in 2022

Province	Afrikaans	English	IsiNdebele	SiSwati	IsiXhosa	IsiZulu	SeSotho	SePedi	SeTswana	TshiVenda	XiTshonga
EC	111	755	0	0	120	0	1	0	0	0	0
FS	41	240	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
GT	115	686	1	0	0	3	0	0	1	0	0
KZN	3	1 264	0	0	1	28	0	0	0	0	0
LP	26	1 446	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	4	2
MP	24	337	3	1	0	2	0	0	0	0	2
NC	155	78	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
NW	58	525	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
WC	471	544	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
National	1 004	5 875	4	1	121	33	2	4	1	4	4

 

a) (ii)

Parallel medium schools are schools that offer two or more mediums of instruction in different classes in the same grade for all grades in the school. Table 2 below reflects the proportion of schools that may be regarded as English parallel medium schools.

Table 2: Number of single- medium schools, by province, in 2022

Province	Afrikaans/English	English/IsiNdebele	English/Siswati	English/IsiXhosa	English/IsiZulu	English/SeSotho	English/SePedi	English/SeTswana	English/TshiVenda	English/XiTshonga
EC	156	12	0	3 614	0	20	0	1	0	0
FS	97	8	0	5	9	367	0	34	0	0
GT	239	60	3	20	126	81	27	59	8	13
KZN	69	29	1	172	3 807	2	1	0	1	0
LP	35	1	0	0	0	1	1 431	23	455	327
MP	73	80	327	2	229	1	92	38	0	119
NC	128	1	0	6	0	0	0	130	0	0
NW	42	0	0	5	1	16	0	881	0	0
WC	464	0	0	159	0	0	0	0	0	0
SA	1 303	191	331	3 983	4 172	488	1 551	1 166	464	459

 

(b)(i)(ii)

Response is attached.

Reply:

The Mopani District Municipality has the responsibility of developing and maintaining water and sanitation services infrastructure within its area of jurisdiction as a Water Service Authority (WSA). The Department of Water and Sanitation is supporting the Municipality through various programmes to ensure infrastructure is developed for the efficient provision of water services to communities. This support is provided through the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) and Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG) for groundwater development (drilling, equipping and distribution) to augment water supply to communities in Mopani DM.

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Reply:

Yes, Eskom has launched a number of incentive-based demand side response mechanism customised for different market segments. This is over and above the long standing DMRE lead demand side tax incentive scheme pursuant to Income Tax Regulation12L. Department of Public Enterprises who oversees Eskom operations would be willing to provide you more information in respect of their programmes should you request.

Reply:

The Department of Employment and labour has already initiated a process to ensure that the hiring of foreign nationals is done in an orderly and regulated manner that is consistent with our constitution, the International Treaties and Regional and SADC Protocols that are in existence or that we have signed.

We have already released for public comment, a Draft policy and the proposed Employment Services Amendment Bill that seeks to repeal the current sections 08 and 09 of the Employment Services Act with a comprehensive new chapter in the Act.

The Chapter has includes provisions that allows the Minister of Employment and Labour to introduce regulations around limits or quotas on the number of foreign nationals that can be employed in specific sectors of our economy.

The Draft Policy and the proposed Bill are currently at NEDLAC for consultations with Social Partners in terms of the NEDLAC Act for the next two months. We will finalize the government internal processes thereafter to receive the necessary certifications during August/September. Our plans are to approach Cabinet to approve the Bill for tabling in Parliament during October this year.

Reply:

On 12 May 2023, the Department dèmarched US Ambassador Reuben E. Brigety for a meeting with Minister Naledi Pandor, where the Minister expressed South Africa’s deep disappointment and outrage about the manner in which Ambassador Brigety had convened a press conference on 11 May 2023, and levelled allegations regarding the sale of ammunition by South Africa to Russia, via the US sanctioned Russian naval vessel, Lady R. The Minister strongly condemned the actions of the Ambassador, which were particularly distasteful, especially so soon after the visit to Washington by the Special Envoys appointed by President Ramaphosa. The envoys were well received by all US interlocutors and discussions were productive.

In this context, the press conference held by the US Ambassador was counter to the spirit of the engagement with senior officials and politicians in Washington DC.The Minister informed the US Ambassador that South Africa respects all conventions on arms sales through the provisions outlined in the National Conventional Arms Control Convention (NCACC), and if there was any violation of our laws, criminal charges would be laid if evidence is provided. Following the Minister’s address to Ambassador Brigety, he informed the senior officials that he would issue an unreserved public apology.

The President’s office reiterated that no concrete evidence has been provided to support the claims made by Ambassador Brigety, and that the investigation had been initiated before the Ambassador publicly announced his accusation. It was further indicated that the retired judge appointed to head the investigation, would use any evidence US intelligence officials could provide over the alleged sale of ammunition.

Following the meeting between Minister Pandor and US Ambassador Brigety and the telecon with Secretary of State Blinken, as well as the subsequent meeting between the ANC and Ambassador Brigety, wherein the latter reiterated his apology, it is not contemplated that any further steps will be taken with regard to his removal.

 

Reply:

1. Given the devastating impact of the non and late payment of small enterprise suppliers by government, the Department following consultations with National Treasury and the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME) made recommendations to the Standing Committee on Appropriations and Appropriation Bill, to strengthen the enforcement of compliance to the 30-day payment obligation to ensure that all organs of state will pay invoices to small enterprises within the required timeframe of 30 days. The Department is also working with National Treasury to strengthen regulations on the reporting requirements for the late payment of supplier invoices to differentiate between small enterprise suppliers and large enterprise suppliers. This will enable the Department to specifically follow-up on the late payment of small enterprise suppliers as we do not regulatory authority as it stands.

2. We are in the process of amending the National Small Enterprise Amendment Bill that will allow for the establishment of the Ombuds Office which is going to allow for dispute resolutions including nonadherence to the 30-day payment rule.

Reply:

The Order by the North Gauteng High Court (Gauteng Division; Pretoria) to amongst others, ensures that there is uninterrupted electricity supply to public schools, was against the Minister of Public Enterprises, and not against the Minister of Basic Education (see para 55).  The Minister of Basic Education was not cited in the matter.

Reply:

What programmes and opportunities  are in place to expose learners in music? 

1. Music as a Curriculum Offering

The Department of Basic Education's (DBE) Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS)  caters for  Music as one of the examinable subjects for learners and schools up to Grade 12 level.

2. Music as a Co-Curricular and Enrichment  Activity in Schools

The DBE annually prescribes a music syllabus that is distributed to schools for participation in the South African Schools Choral Eisteddfod (SASCE). Primary and Secondary schools, including farm and special schools are afforded the platform to participate in this event. The DBE also works with Provincial Education Departments and other organisations like AssitejSA, in promoting other music genres, including indigenous and traditional music. 

Reply:

a) Lady Frere (known as Cacadu) is supplied by the Machubeni Water Supply Scheme through the Macubeni Water Treatment Works (WTW). The water interruptions currently experienced are caused by ongoing power/electrical outages that resulting in reduced pumping hours from Machubeni WTW. The short-term interventions in place to ensure water availability include:

• On-going water carting to the affected areas including Cacadu town.
• A backup diesel generator at the WTW
• A long-term intervention to resolve the water supply challenges at Lady Frere is through construction of a bulk pipeline from the Lubisi Water Treatment to supplement water supply to the supply Cacadu town and the surrounding villages. The project started in March 2019 and is planned for completion by 31 August 2023.

The Ngqushwa Local Municipality has an existing Bulk Water Supply Scheme that is managed by Amatola Water which distributes water to the communities of Ngqushwa. The limited capacity of the Peddie Water Treatment Works (WTW), water losses and with loadshedding impact negatively on reliable water supply. Two water tankers are currently carting water to the affected areas of Ngqushwa and surrounding villages as an interim measure to ensure water availability. The medium to long-term interventions include:

• Management of water losses by replacing sections of pipelines from the Peddie Water Treatment Works towards Lover’s Twist through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant. The project is in progress and is planned for completion by 31 July 2023.
• An upgrade of the Peddie Water Treatment Works from 6Ml/day to 11Ml/day
• Upgrade of the Sandile Water Treatment Works from 17Ml/day to 27Ml/day to augment water supply to Ngqushwa. The project is in progress and is planned for completion by 31 August 2023

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Reply:

a) During the visit of the Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr LH Loong, two Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were signed between South Africa and Singapore namely: the MoU on Information and Communications Technology aims to exchange best practices in ICT, digital technologies and artificial intelligence and robotics and the MoU on Skills Development promotes exchange and training of best practices in the areas of digitalisation, leadership and governance, Women’s Empowerment, Youth Development and Education, Science and Innovation, Port Management and Trade and Economy.

b) The successful implementation of the MoUs would enhance competitiveness and develop skills in science and innovation. More than a 1000 South Africans have already been trained under the auspices of the Singapore Development Programme. Singapore has agreed to purchase more food products from South Africa while South Africa also requested market access for South African meat (including beef, lamb, pork and ostrich) products to the Singaporean Market.

Reply:

a) In the current year 2023/24, the focussed research on the clean coal technology intervention through the Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) is undertaken through ring-fenced partnership funding between the South African government and the World Bank. It may be necessary to allocate a budget dedicated to this research in support of the just energy transition policy more sustainably.

b) The clean coal research represents a partnership amongst the DMRE, National Treasury, Eskom and the World Bank. The Council for Geoscience was elected as an implementing agent in 2021 to lead the research and implements the same through strategic partnerships to optimise the research outcomes and its application to use the abundant coal resources responsibly and in line with our multi-lateral commitment on climate mitigation measures.

Mintek currently has the following coal-related research projects: (1) Gasification of waste coal fines and co-gasification of low-grade coal and (2) Rare earth elements (REE) leaching from coal discards. We are currently in discussions with a funding agency to extract REE from acid mine drainage. Recent publications from Mintek research activities include:

1. Literature review on the extraction of ultra-clean coal and rare earth elements from coal discards by ultrasonic-assisted chemical treatment,
2. Characterisation of coal for the simultaneous extraction of rare earth elements and ultra-clean coal,
3. Co-Carbonization of Discard Coal with Waste Polyethylene Terephthalate towards the Preparation of Metallurgical Coke, and
4. Mineralogy and distribution of rare earth elements in the Waterberg coalfield high ash coals.

Mintek has budgeted R10 million for the next three years of its funds in coal-related research, and the funding is anticipated to increase as more funds are being sought.

Reply:

1. The DWS has no records of water use registration nor authorisation for the properties in question.

2. The DWS has no records of water use registration nor authorisation for the property in question.

3. The DWS has no records of water use registration nor authorisation for the properties in question.

The department will investigate whether there is unlawful use of water at the properties enquired about.

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Reply:

1. The aim of the National Presidential SMME and Co-operatives is to cultivate an enabling environment for the development, and nurturing of innovative ideas and best practices across the whole spectrum of small business development in the country. The awards recognise and celebrate outstanding SMMEs, SMME financiers, entrepreneur support organisations and success stories from Enterprise Supplier Development programmes.

The Department does not only recognise excellence but most importantly, the platform serves as a catalyst for business development and growth in that businesses are assessed to determine their development needs. The DSBD further seeks partnerships with other ecosystem players to provide mentorship, incubation support, training support and any relevant interventions aimed at assisting businesses to scale.

a) The department establishes incubators across all sectors of the economy to nurture and develop ideas from entrepreneurs and further provide business development support and financial support through its agencies.

Reply:

Schools are provided with basic electricity as per the Regulations relating to Minimum Uniform Norms and Standards for School Infrastructure. If there is a need for additional supply for contingencies, schools provide these from their Norms and Standards for School Funding allocations, or make requests to their provincial departments for such.

Reply:

1. (a) The number of cards that expired are as follows :

1. April 2023=838 420
2. May 2023= 2 652 151
3. June 2023= 1 524 963

(b) The expiry date on the cards have been extended to 31 December 2023, hence the current gold cards can still be used to access funds in the clients bank account. Beneficiaries are able to access their grants using the expired cards.

2. The expiry date on the cards have been extended to 31 December 2023 thus providing clients and the Postbank an additional 8 months to replace the cards.

The Postbank has also introduced a card less solution to enable clients to access funds in their bank accounts, thus reducing the dependency on a card. This cardless solution is a permanent solution that will enable beneficiaries to access payment at the participating retailers.

Postbank has also reached an agreement with certain merchants who will assist them with the issuing of cards. More information on this will be communicated by the Postbank in due course.

Clients are also able to use their own bank accounts to receive their social grant payments. SASSA has increased its front office capacity to accommodate an expected increase of clients to address this challenge.

Reply:

The Department will take a lead in the medium to long-term in the modernisation of the NSNP in schools, which will include:

(i) A proposal to create economies of scale to improve the programme;

(ii) A modern electronic stock management system for high quality inputs;

(iii) An extensive local economic empowerment  with a focus on women, youth and people with disability;

(iv) The introduction of the Home Grown School Feeding with direct links with small holder farmers;

(v) The encouragement of Provinces to join transversal contracts, such as the liquid gas (RT51); and

(vi)The introduction of a Modern IT/Real time data system.

Reply:

Department of Minerals Resource and Energy

(aa) Total procurement for 2021/2022 financial year amounted to R1 168 164 849,84 of which R278 887 344,36 was spent on SMMEs.

(i) Percentage allocated to SMMEs = 24% (R278 887 344.36)

➢ Qualifying small enterprises = 7% (R77 835 797.00)

➢ Exempted Micro Enterprises = 17% (R201 051 547.36)

(ii) Cooperatives = 0%

(iii) Township enterprises = **

(iv) Rural enterprises = **

** The information for township enterprises and rural enterprises was not kept separately. The two categories are included in the QSE and EME as part of the qualification criteria for preferential purposes in line with the Preferential Procurement Regulations 2017.

bb) Figures from 1 April 2023 will be available by end of the first quarter.

COUNCIL FOR GEOSCIENCE (CGS)

(aa) Total procurement spend for the financial year 2021/22 amounted to R 234 968 715 of which R99 819 497 (42%) was spent on small, medium and micro-enterprises which includes cooperatives, rural enterprises and township enterprises.

(bb) The amount expensed towards the SMME cohort for the current year since April will be consolidated at the end of the quarter ending June.

MHSC

MHSC have in total appointed 103 service providers / companies during 2021-22 financial and from 1 April 2023 to 12 May 2023. The percentages are as follows:

1. Small – 48 companies were appointed from 103 service providers equal to 47%.
2. Township Enterprises - 60% (29) of the small companies of 48 are township enterprises.
3. Medium - 26 companies were appointed from 103 service providers equal to 25%.
4. Micro – 12 companies were appointed from 103 service providers equal to 12%.
5. Big – 17 companies were appointed from 103 service providers equal to 17%.
6. Cooperatives – No appointments made to the cooperative companies.
7. Rural enterprises – No appointments made to the rural enterprises.

NERSA

(b) (i) NERSA’s spend on Qualifying Small Enterprises and Exempt Micro Enterprises was as follows (aa) 2021-22 - R31 288 179 (bb) 2022-23 - R69 159 653 (cc) Since April 2023 – The reports are prepared quarterly. The first report will be available at the end of June 2023 (ii) Cooperatives – None (iii) Township enterprises – No data is kept on the category (iv) Rural enterprises – No data is kept on the category

SDT

For the financial year that ended 31 March 2022, the State Diamond Trader spent a total of R5,597,000 on procurement of goods and services, with the percentages allocated as follow

1. Small-, medium- and micro-enterprises: 91%
2. Co- operatives : 0%
3. Township enterprises : 0%
4. Rural enterprises :0%
5. Other: 9%

NECSA

(aa)(i) The total values for procurement with small, medium and micro-enterprises for the FY 2021/2022 period are as follows:

Necsa Group: R84 936 240, 28 (9%)

[Necsa: R 43 531 148.59 (12%)

NTP: R 25 994 130.96 (6%)

Pelchem: R 15 410 960.73 (12%)]

(bb)(i) The total values for procurement with small, medium and micro-enterprises for 01 April 2023 to date are as follows:

Necsa Group: R11 086 614 (16%)

[Necsa Company: R 7 681 574.29 (15%)

NTP: R 2 996 467.22 (26%)

Pelchem: R 408 572.34 (6%)]

(aa)(iii) The Necsa Group conducts business with enterprises that are situated in the townships under a broad umbrella of enterprises that are at least 51% Black-Owned and the figures of expenditure for the FY2021/22 period are as follows:

Necsa Group: R175 169 709.52 (18.7%)

[Necsa: R 72 387 163.52 (19%)

NTP: R 64 299 294.54 (15%)

Pelchem: R 38 483 251.46 (30%)]

(bb)(iii) The figures for the business conducted with enterprises that are situated in the townships under a broad umbrella of enterprises that are at least 51% Black-Owned for the period 01 April 2023 to date are as indicated below:

Necsa Group: R28 035 116 (40.6%)

[Necsa Company: R 20 741 548.04 (41%)

NTP: R 4 619 747.17 (40%)

Pelchem: R 2 673 820.39 (42%]

(aa)(ii), (bb)(ii), (aa)(iv) and (bb)(iv)

The Necsa Group does not currently conduct business with cooperatives and rural enterprises.

NNR

(aa) The NNR’s total procurement budget for the 2021/2022 financial year was R74 842 438 of which 68% was spent on the designated groups, equalling R46 056 045.

(bb) Since April 2023, the NNR has spent R5 536 879, which is 84% of the total budget of R6 571 080 on designated groups.

NRWDI

The National Radioactive Waste Disposal Institute, which is a Schedule 3A public entity, conducts its procurement in line with the applicable procurement regulations and prescripts as issued by the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, National Treasury.

Such procurement is conducted in alignment with the PPPFA, and BEE levels have been considered in terms of preference points in the awarding of bids. As a result, there is no information that is requested or captured in the entity’s records that reflects (i) small-, medium- and micro-enterprises, (ii) cooperatives, (iii) township enterprises and (iv) rural enterprises.

SADPMR

No, the SADPMR will not be able to furnish the details required. The Procurement Regulations 2017 were applicable from 1st of April 2022 until 15 January 2023 and the procurement thereof was aligned to the requirements. With effect from 16 January 2023 the new Preferential Procurement Regulations 2022 came into effect and are implemented accordingly. An internal policy with specific preferential procurement goals has been put in place, these goals include enterprises owned by black people, enterprises owned by black women, enterprises owned by youth, enterprises owned by people with disabilities, local content and production as well as Small, Medium and Micro enterprises. A minimum of three of the goals are applicable for each bid or tender that is issued by SADPMR.

SANEDI

 

Comprehensive breakdown of the procurement allocation
	2021-2022 FY	2022-2023 FY	2023-2024 FY
(i)Number of Small-, Medium- and Micro-Enterprises.	65 SMMEs	22 SMMEs	0
(ii)Number of Cooperatives.	0	0	0
(iii)Number of township enterprises.	0	0	0
(i) Number of rural enterprises.	0	0	0

There is no Skills Development and Localization policy in place and going forward SANEDI will have an approved policy in place.

Mintek

Mintek is a research council that is mandated to promote mineral technology, and to foster the establishment and expansion of industries in the field of minerals and products derived therefrom through research, development, and technology transfer. The annual budget allocation from the Department is primarily allocated to human capital development, research activities, and industry development broadly; namely, small-, medium- and micro enterprises and large enterprises. As a Schedule 3B government business enterprise, Mintek procures in accordance with the PPPFA and the PFMA. As a result, Mintek does not pre-allocate its procurement budget as per the specified categories (i.e., small-, medium- and micro-enterprises, cooperatives, township enterprises and rural enterprises).

CENTRAL EENERGY FUND

Reply:

There are 967 small and unviable schools in KwaZulu-Natal. The province plans to have a phased-in approach to the rationalisation process over several years to mitigate the challenges of scholar transport in particular.  The first stage will focus on small and mis-aligned schools, where transport will not be required.  This will be followed by the targeted 255 of the 967 schools in the 2023/4 financial year.  These are 185 small primary schools with less than 50 learners, and 70 secondary schools with less than 100 learners across the Province. No identified school where transport is required, will be closed or merged until all transport arrangements are finalised and therefore no parent will be financially affected.

Reply:

a) I have been advised that the reversal in the payment was due to a difference of opinion, between Microsoft and the Department of Small Business Development, regarding the currency in which the payment needed to be made.

b) The Department made the payment to Microsoft in South African Rand, but Microsoft insisted on receiving the payment in US Dollars. The payment had to be reversed in order to make the payment in US dollars.

Reply:

a) The Department has prioritize the establishment of Shelters in districts without Shelters in the current financial years, 2023/2024 and 2024/2025.

b) Below is the details of the Shelter establishment:

PROVINCES	DISTRICTS	DATES
North West	Ngaka Modiri Molema	June 2023
	Dr Kenneth Kaunda	31 March 2025
KwaZulu-Natal	Zulu-land	31 March 2024
Northern Cape	Namaqua	November 2023
	John Taolo Gaetsewe	31 March 2025
Limpopo	Sekhukhune	31 March 2024
	Vhembe	31 March 2025
	Waterberg	31 March 2025

The above table reflect four (04) shelters to be established in the current financial year, 2023/2024. The remaining four (04) will be established in the next financial year 2024/2025 due to budget limitations.

Reply:

1. This is an annual practice which has been institutionalized over the last 10 years, to maximise spending and effectiveness of conditional grants. Such withholding and reallocation of grants is published in Government Gazette No. 48327 of 29 March 2023.

On 17 February 2023 National Treasury initiated the process of stopping and re-allocating the 2022/23 conditional grant allocations in terms of section 18 of the Division of Revenue Act (Act No. 5 of 2022) (DoRA), as amended by the Division of Revenue Amendment Act (Act No. 15 of 2022) (DoRAA). NT issued 171 letters to all under-performing municipalities on 17 February 2023 covering about 11 conditional grants that were reflecting under-performance against the 2022/23 conditional grant allocations. This process was done in consultation with the transferring national accounting officers/ departments that are responsible for the administration of the conditional grants.

The 2022/23 mid-year expenditure reports in terms of section 10 of the 2022 DoRA as amended and section 71 and 72 of the Municipal Finance Management Act, 2003 (Act No. 56 of 2003) (MFMA) were utilized to determine if the municipalities are under-performing against their allocations as they report to both National Treasury and to the transferring officers.

In terms of section 18 of DoRA and section 38 (2)(a) of the MFMA the affected municipalities were afforded an opportunity to make a written presentation to National Treasury, by providing a motivation on why the grants should not be stopped. The municipalities were required to submit the motivation to the National Treasury within seven days after the receipt of the letters regarding expenditure against their allocations and project progress on the ground.

In total an amount of R7.4 billion was proposed to be stopped from municipalities in terms of section 18 of the Division of Revenue Act, 2022 (Act No. 5 of 2022) for various conditional grants due to their poor performance or slow spending as proposed by either the Transferring Officer (national department) administering the conditional grant or National Treasury. An amount of R2.7 billion was ultimately not transferred from the initial proposed amount of R7.4 billion. The details of the proposed non-transferred amounts per conditional grant per province are in the tables as per of Annexure A.

2. The stopping and non-transfer of the conditional grants against underperforming municipalities is to assist municipalities to address any issue hindering the spending of their conditional grant allocation in that year i.e. late approval of projects, late procurement, litigation etc., and re-allocate to municipalities that are ready to spend and have shovel ready projects. This is because the funds would not in any case be spent by the municipalities’ funds are proposed to be stopped from, therefore minimizing underperformance of the overall programme. Once these municipalities have addressed their challenges and they are ready, it will be able to spend its future annual allocations which are not normally affected by in year spending.

Therefore, the stopping of the allocation is to ensure efficiency in spending and protecting against possible misuse and usage of the conditional grants for operational purposes while the municipality is being supported to resolve its challenges.

3. With respect to infrastructure conditional grants, specific support includes technical support and assistance provided by DCoG’s Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) for infrastructure delivery. Further, the municipalities that are affected by the stopping / suspension process due to governance and financial challenges will continue receiving support from NT, DCoG and the relevant stakeholders under the MIG cost reimbursement and invoice verification which has been a continuous process over the years. This is a process of safeguarding the cash in the interim before stopping of allocations is considered. In this case municipalities only have their funds transferred once an invoice against work done has been verified by MISA, provincial government, and national government.

The National Treasury has also made funds available in various forms of capacity support in ensuring municipalities and provinces have the capacity to implement infrastructure projects. For example, five per cent of the Municipal Infrastructure Grant and Integrated Urban Development Grant may be used for project management units in municipalities and 3 per cent of the Urban Settlements Development Grant can be used for capacity in metropolitan municipalities, and continuous financial management support and guidance by both National and Provincial treasuries on the usage and reporting of conditional grants is provided to municipalities in this regard.

Various other conditional grants provide for the option to convert part of the capital infrastructure grants for technical support to capacitate municipalities to spend more effectively. This could be in the form of engaging district municipalities to implement stalled projects on behalf of struggling municipalities, utilization of both national entities and municipal entities to assist municipalities (either through a service level agreement (SLA) or agency vs. principal option) to roll out struggling projects. National Treasury further utilizes the services of the provincial treasuries to assist struggling municipalities in terms of the system of “delegated municipalities” while National Treasury focusses on the non-delegated ones. A host of experts are also available to these municipalities through the support of the Municipal Finance Improvement Programme (MFIP) from National Treasury.

The National Treasury and relevant department administering the grants (Transferring Officers) with the support of the respective provinces have fulfilled their obligations in supporting the municipalities. On a quarterly basis, the national transferring officers conduct quarterly meetings across the country with the municipalities that receive their grants to assess performance of the previous quarter and advise municipalities on how to mitigate the challenges causing them to underperform. In addition, the national transferring officers conduct site visits to confirm the performance reported by municipalities align, where National Treasury is sometimes also invited.

Further CoGTA holds under-performance meetings with targeted municipalities to get to the root causes of underperformance. MISA also plays a crucial part in that it provides technical support to municipalities that experience challenges in the implementation of their infrastructure programmes.

Despite all the interventions in place, some municipalities still underspend. It is ultimately the responsibility of municipalities to take up the support provided and make their own decisions but still be accountable.

Annexure A

details of the proposed stopping amounts per conditional grant per province

Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG)

Integrated National Electrification Programme (INEP) Grant

Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG)

Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG)

Energy Efficiency Demand Side Management (EEDSM) Grant

Neighbourhood Development Partnership Grant (NDPG)

Informal Settlements Upgrading Partnership Grant (ISUPG)

Public Transport Network Grant (PTNG)

Urban Settlements Development Grant (USDG)

Rural Roads Asset Management Systems (RRAMS) Grant

Annexure B

The following 171 municipalities received letters of intention to stop a portion of their conditional grants:

Eastern Cape (22 letters)

• Buffalo City;
• NMA Nelson Mandela Bay;
• Amatole District Municipality (DM);
• Joe Gqabi DM;
• O.R. Tambo DM;
• Alfred Nzo DM;
• Dr Beyers Naude Local Municipality (LM);
• Makana LM;
• Ndlambe LM;
• Kou-Kamma LM;
• Mbhashe LM;
• Great Kei LM;
• Emalahleni LM;
• Dr AB Xuma LM;
• Enoch Mgijima LM;
• Elundini LM;
• Senqu LM;
• Walter Sisulu LM;
• Ngquza Hill LM;
• Port St Johns LM;
• Matatiele LM; and
• Winnie Madikizela-Mandela LM.

Free State (17 letters)

• Mangaung;
• Fezile Dabi DM;
• Letsemeng LM;
• Kopanong LM;
• Mohokare LM;
• Masilonyana LM;
• Tokologo LM;
• Matjhabeng LM;
• Nala LM;
• Setsoto LM;
• Dihlabeng LM;
• Nketoana LM;
• Phumelela LM;
• Mantsopa LM;
• Ngwathe LM;
• Metsimaholo LM; and
• Mafube LM.

Gauteng (9 letters)

• City of Ekurhuleni;
• City of Johannesburg;
• City of Tshwane;
• Emfuleni LM;
• Midvaal LM;
• Lesedi LM;
• Mogale City LM;
• Merafong City LM; and
• Rand West City LM.

KwaZulu-Natal (34 letters)

• EThekwini;
• UThukela DM;
• UMzinyathi DM;
• Amajuba DM;
• Zululand DM;
• UMkhanyakude DM;
• King Cetshwayo DM;
• Harry Gwala;
• UMzumbe LM;
• UMuziwabantu LM;
• Ray Nkonyeni LM;
• UMshwathiLM;
• UMngeni LM;
• Msunduzi LM;
• iNkosi Langalibalele LM;
• Alfred Duma LM;
• eNdumeni LM;
• Nquthu LM;
• UMvoti LM;
• Newcastle LM;
• Dannhauser LM;
• eDumbe LM;
• uPhongolo LM;
• Ulundi LM;
• Jozini LM;
• Big Five Hlabisa LM;
• UMhlathuze LM;
• Mthonjaneni LM;
• Nkandla LM;
• KwaDukuza LM;
• Maphumulo LM;
• Greater Kokstad LM;
• UMzimkhulu LM; and
• Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma LM.

Limpopo (20 letters)

• Mopani DM;
• Vhembe DM;
• Capricorn DM;
• Sekhukhune DM;
• Greater Giyani LM;
• Greater Letaba LM;
• Greater Tzaneen LM;
• Musina LM;
• Thulamela LM;
• Makhado LM;
• Blouberg LM;
• Polokwane LM;
• Lepelle-Nkumpi LM;
• Thabazimbi LM;
• Lephalale LM;
• Bela-Bela LM;
• Mogalakwena LM;
• Modimolle-Mookgophong LM;
• Elias Motsoaledi LM; and
• Makhuduthamaga LM.

Mpumalanga (14 letters)

• Chief Albert Luthuli LM;
• Msukaligwa LM;
• Mkhondo LM;
• Dr Pixley ka Isaka Seme LM;
• Lekwa LM
• Dipaleseng LM;
• Emalahleni LM;
• Steve Tshwete LM;
• Emakhazeni LM
• Thembisile Hani LM;
• Thaba Chweu LM;
• Nkomazi LM;
• Bushbuckridge LM; and
• City of Mbombela LM.

Northern Cape (23 letters)

• Richtersveld LM;
• Nama Khoi LM;
• Kamiesberg LM;
• Hantam LM:
• Karoo Hoogland LM;
• Khâi-Ma LM;
• Ubuntu LM;
• Umsobomvu LM;
• Emthanjeni LM;
• Kareeberg LM;
• Renosterberg LM;
• Thembelihle LM
• Siyathemba LM;
• Siyancuma LM;
• !Kai !Garib LM;
• !Kheis LM;
• Tsantsabane LM;
• Dawid Kruiper LM;
• Sol Plaatjie LM;
• Dikgatlong LM;
• Joe Morolong LM;
• Ga-Segonyana LM; and
• Gamagara LM.

North West (13 letters)

• Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati DM;
• Moretele LM;
• Madibeng LM;
• Rustenburg LM;
• Moses Kotane LM;
• Ratlou LM;
• Ditsobotla LM;
• Ramotshere Moiloa LM;
• Naledi LM;
• Mamusa LM;
• Lekwa-Teemane LM;
• City of Matlosana LM; and
• JB Marks LM.

Western Cape (19 letters)

• City of Cape Town;
• Cape Winelands DM;
• Matzikama LM;
• Cederberg LM;
• Saldanha Bay LM;
• Swartland LM;
• Witzenberg LM;
• Stellenbosch LM;
• Breede Valley LM;
• Langeberg LM;
• Overstrand LM;
• Cape Agulhas LM;
• Kannaland LM;
• Mossel Bay LM;
• George LM;
• Bitou LM;
• Knysna LM;
• Prince Albert LM; and
• Beaufort West LM.

NB!! Details of the amounts stopped per province, per municipality and per conditional grant are attached as an annexure (Government Gazette No. 48327 of 29 March 2023).

Reply:

There is no intention to rescind the decision to table the said report in the National Assembly as the fact-finding report was intended for internal use by management.

Reply:

I have been advised that;

a) The Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) Preferential procurement allocation:

(aa) 2021/22: R29 154 571.56 (total procurement spending)

1. SMMEs: R3 873 228.25 – 13.2% of total procurement.
2. Co-operatives: R0.00
3. Township enterprises: R2 817 196.92 – 72.7% of SMME.
4. Rural enterprises: R1 056 031.33 – 27.3% of SMME.

(bb) 2022/23: R44 535 493.44 (total procurement spending)

1. SMMEs: R13 366 125.02 – 30% of total procurement.
2. Co-operatives: R0.00
3. Township enterprises: R9 367 783.78 - 70.1% of SMME.
4. Rural enterprises: R3 998 341.24 – 29.9 % of SMME.

b) The Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) Preferential procurement allocation:

(aa) 2021/22: R491 353 796 (total procurement spending):

1. SMMEs: R176 083 798 – 35% of total procurement.
2. Co-operatives: R0.
3. Township enterprises: R95 085 251 - 54% of SMME.
4. Rural enterprises: R49 303 463 - 28% of SMME.

(bb) 2022/23: R392 054 198 (total procurement spending)

1. SMMEs: R172 205 153 – 44% of total procurement.
2. Co-operatives: R0.
3. Township enterprises: R84 380 525 – 49% of SMMEs.
4. Rural enterprises: R46 495 391 - 27% of SMMEs.

c) The Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa) Preferential procurement allocation

(aa) 2021/22: 95 233 357 (total procurement spending):

1. SMMEs: 60 203 272– 63.22% of total procurement.
2. Co-operatives: R0.
3. Township enterprises: - R54 845 813.18 – 91.10% of SMME.
4. Rural enterprises: - R5 357 458.82 – 8.89% of SMME.

(bb) 2022/23: R86 691 884.74 (total procurement spending)

1. SMMEs: R 66 274 556.00– 76.45% of total procurement.
2. Co-operatives: R0.
3. Township enterprises: – 60 059 248.96 – 90.62% of SMMEs.
4. Rural enterprises: R6 215 307.04 – 9.38% of SMMEs.

Reply:

The question asked by the Honourable Member, falls within the Executive Authority of the MEC for Education in Gauteng, not the Minister for Basic Education.  The Honourable Member is advised to direct the question to the responsible MEC. 

Reply:

a) What are the reasons for the overspending of 119.2% on claims projected for the second and fourth quarter but were paid in the third quarter of the financial year?

I have been advised that Departments are required in line with section 40 (4) of the PFMA Act No.1 of 1999 to provide National Treasury with a breakdown per month of the anticipated revenue and expenditure for the financial year, on the 28th of February, which is one month before the beginning of a financial year.

The National Treasury approved monthly cash flow projections are drawn down per month from April and kept in the departmental bank account referred to as the Pay Master General (PMG) account. Payments are processed once fully compliant documents are submitted to Finance.

The reason for the cashflow variance of 119.2% is the timing misalignment between actual cash disbursement and planned cash payout. Factors that contribute towards this misalignment are milestones in projects either being delayed or reached earlier than the cash flow. In instances of goods and services, it could also be due to early or late deliveries of orders.

Finance can only process transactions upon receipt of fully compliant supporting documents.

b) Why was it necessary to pay the claims in the third quarter of the financial year, when they were projected for the second and fourth quarters?

I have been advised that cash flow projections and plans are based on estimated values and dates. As part of cash flow management and compliance with Treasury Regulations 8.3.2, claims are processed within 30 days of receipt by Finance.

It should be noted that the utilisation of the available cash did not lead to overspending on the overall vote.

Reply:

a) The DWS is participating in nationwide discussions to find sector wide solutions to the impact of loadshedding on delivery of water and sanitation services. This challenge requires collaboration with municipalities, water boards and ESKOM, among other institutions. DWS proposed recommendations for consideration are as follows.

1. Water Boards and municipalities should maximize water treatment while electricity is available.
2. Water Boards and municipalities should revise the minimum operational levels for their reservoirs to increase storage capacity.
3. Water Boards and municipalities should endeavour to increase their water treatment and reservoir storage capacity to enable them to better manage periods of load shedding. Households should be encouraged to install their own storage capacity, such as rainwater catchment tanks.
4. All municipalities and Water Boards should either apply to Eskom for exemptions from load shedding (where they obtain electricity directly from Eskom) or work with their municipal electricity departments to isolate their water and sanitation infrastructure. In some cases, where water and sanitation infrastructure cannot be isolated from local electricity grids, it may not be possible. In some instances, making this effective might require additional switching and cabling to limit the size of affected electrical supply zones. Where Eskom directly supplies a strategic installation (such as a major Water Board pump station) it may be necessary for Eskom to limit the electricity supply zone area so as not to impede their load shedding options.
5. Municipalities which are water service authorities should develop integrated response plans to keep water flowing during load shedding. These response plans should be integrated across the water and sanitation, electricity, and other divisions of the municipality.
6. Eskom should quickly review its processes for dealing with requests for exemptions from load shedding for water and sanitation infrastructure, with a view to making them more simple and quicker.

 

 

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The intensity of the flood conditions has necessitated a review of the operating rules for government water schemes to ensure that there is some level of attenuation in the impoundment areas of large dams. Cognisance is taken of the changes in weather patterns caused by climate change. The department is putting in place flood mitigation operation strategies to ensure readiness to mitigate the impact of floods in the large dams and other government schemes. Notwithstanding the efforts of the department, there will still be risks where extreme weather conditions result into peak surface runoff over concentrated areas, since this could result in flood conditions within a very short period.

a) In urban areas, it will be required from municipal town planning units to review stormwater conveyance capability as well as to maintain such systems to reduce the impact of such rainfall.

b) The Department’s Water Resource Planning unit is collecting information which will assist with the review of operating rules to further mitigate the risk associated with flood related peak flows.

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Reply:

a) In relation to evaluation, I have been advised that the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) periodically conducts different types of programme evaluations depending on the life cycle of an intervention/project or a programme. Just an example, in 2021/2022 financial year, the Spaza Shop Support Programme (SSSP) was subjected to a process evaluation. The purpose of the evaluation was to assess the effectiveness of the SSSP and to determine if the programme is achieving its intended objectives. The recommendations(information) derived from the evaluation were used to inform the programme review, enhance performance, and leaning. Furthermore, I have been advised that the department is finalising an impact evaluation of the Incubation Support Programme (ISP). The purpose of the impact evaluation is to determine how the beneficial impacts can be strengthened. The envisaged information/ outcomes from this evaluation will be used to inform current (review) and future policies including intervention design around small enterprise support.

b) Entities and the DSBD’s Research Units use programme performance data to identify shortcoming in programme implementation and opportunities to enhance access to finance and financial inclusion. Entities’ programmes performance data was further used as an input in the formulation of the National Integrated Small Enterprise Development (NISED) Strategic Framework. The NISED Strategic Framework outlines government’s future policy direction for the SMME and Co-operatives sector.

Reply:

The Department engages in a number of activities to raise awareness about the projects that impact youth in communities. These projects include Second Chance Matric Programme (SCMP), Presidential Youth Employment Initiative (PYEI), Funza Lushaka Bursary Scheme, Early Childhood Development (ECD) and Social Mobilization. The roadshows are sometime organized by the Department and in other cases are implemented in partnership with other government departments.

The awareness events are designed to target different learners and youth. The first approach is to reach out to learners who just wrote the matric exams in October/November of the previous year. After the announcement of matric results, the members of the public are made aware about the opportunities to rewrite, remark or recheck. The information is captured at the back of the statement of matric results.

The attached document is the copy of the Statement of Results that every learners receives. The document provides information regarding the readmission, combination of results as well as registration for learners who would like to rewrite the exams. The information entailed provides the dates and locations where learners may register rewrite.

The second approach is the public awareness campaigns that target the broader community members, especially youth. The campaigns include the Ministerial Roadshows, Career Weeks and events of other Departments: 

1. Ministerial Roadshows

The Department hosts and organizes the Roadshows in Provinces in coloration with the Provincial Education Departments (PEDs). In most cases, the roadshows are led by the Minister or Deputy Minister and usually enjoy the support of the MECs of Education as well as municipal authorities. The roadshows have proven to be an effective campaign that receive a broader support from different structures that include unions, tribal authorities, non-governmental organisations.

At the roadshows, the Department invites organisations that include the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), Khetha Career Centre, Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme, Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and universities to share information about opportunities available for young people.

Officials of the local government structures that include Mayors, counsellors are usually supportive and willing to invite youth in their constituencies to attend. More importantly, media houses at national, provincial and local levels tend to promote and publicize the events.

 2. Career Weeks

Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) organizes National Career Weeks throughout the country where DBE presents the Second Chance Matric Programme (SCMP) at the events. The events are organized in all provinces and attracts a number of youth.

3. Events of other Government Departments

Occasionally, the DBE is invited by entities to share information about the SCMP. In some cases, events are organized by private organisations.

The third approach involves the sharing of information using different media platforms. The DBE uses Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BasicEd/), Twitter (https://twitter.com/DBE_SA/) to share the information about the Programme. The Department also broadcast through radio and television to inform the public where to access the Programme. Through this website link: https://www.education.gov.za/Programmes/SecondChanceProgramme.aspx the Department reaches many young people who access to the Internet. Furthermore, the Department has a dedicated WhatsApp line (063 696 7246), where members of the public send through their queries concerning the Programme.

The Department has developed promotional material that include the Z-Cards, banners that are shared with many organisations. Z-Cards are foldable guide in a portable format that contain information about the SCMP.

In conclusion, the Department continues to reach out to members of the public about all its programmes, not just the SCMP.

Reply:

(1) The Department of Basic Education, in collaboration with a team of reading experts from civil society organisations, academia, Provincial Education Departments (PEDs), and schools - developed the Integrated National Reading Sector Plan, whose aim was to contribute to the improvement of reading outcomes, especially for learners in primary schools.  The Sector Plan was premised on the understanding that sustainable improvements in reading require a comprehensive response, which involves more than just classroom interventions.  It was therefore, developed to provide a framework that would allow the Sector to implement comprehensive reading promotion activities.  From this plan, provinces went on to develop and implement their contextualised plans, informed by the integrated National Reading Sector Plan. 

In its quest to strengthen reading literacy, particularly in the face of the evidence of learning losses, the Department decided to review the Sector Plan as part of bolstering up its response to the current challenges.  Further to the challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the DBE carried out the Thrive by Five Index in Early Childhood Development (ECD), which revealed that a number of children start school not on track with their developmental outcomes; and thereby, not school ready.  The review of the strategy therefore, takes into account that when the Sector Plan was conceptualised, ECD was still part of the Department of Social Development.  The revised strategy will therefore, give a sharpened focus to improving the teaching and learning of African Home Languages reading literacy on a large scale, in both the emergent and early grade phases (ECD and Foundation Phase). 

(2) On the matter pertaining to provincial budgets, the Honourable Member is requested to direct his question to the Members of Executive Council (MECs) as this matter rests within their purview.