Questions and Replies
21 April 2023 - NW80
Bagraim, Mr M to ask the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies
What are the details of the (a) make, (b) model, (c) year of manufacturer, (d) cost and (e) purchase date of all the official vehicles purchased for (i) her, (ii) the former Minister, (iii) the Deputy Minister and the (iv) former Deputy Minister since 1 June 2019?
Reply:
(i) Minster:
(a) Make : NA
(b) Model : NA
(c) Year of manufacturer : NA
(d) Cost : NA
(e) Purchase date : NA
ii) Former Minster:
(a) Make : Audi
(b) Model : Q5
(c) Year of manufacturer : 2022
(d) Cost : R 726 469-25
(e) Purchase date : 10/01/2022
(iii) Deputy Minster:
(a) Make : NA
(b) Model : NA
(c) Year of manufacturer : NA
(d) Cost : NA
(e) Purchase date : NA
(iv) Former Deputy Minster
(a) Make : BMW
(b) Model : Sedan 12 DC, G30, 520 D
(c) Year of manufacturer : 2021
(d) Cost : R 741 044, 54
(e) Purchase/invoice date : 27/07/2021
Thank You.
21 April 2023 - NW548
Basson, Mr LJ to ask the Minister of Water and Sanitation
(a) How does he intend to address the disaster (details furnished) facing the Republic, where dams are not compliant with safety regulations, which is precipitated by his department’s lack of capacity and (b) by what date is it envisaged that a full report on dam safety for the 323 state-owned dams will be available?
Reply:
a) The Department carries out its regulatory function through its Dam Safety Office, which reported to Parliament that of the top 20 largest state dams, only 2 complied 100% with Dam Safety Regulations. The Department’s presentation to Parliament indicated that the shortcoming which was identified by the Dam Safety Office which prevented the other dams from being 100% compliant with the Dam Safety Regulations was that the required five- yearly dam safety evaluations were overdue.
Five-year Dam Safety Evaluations are required to be conducted by an Approved Professional Person (APP). These five-year evaluations are over and above the quarterly and annual inspections conducted by the Department’s operational engineering staff. There is a shortage of APPs in the Department, and this has led to the Department falling behind with its five- yearly dam safety evaluations.
The Department is in the process of finalising the appointment of a panel of Approved Professional Persons (APPs) which will assist to complete and review all required dam safety evaluation reports.
The department has prioritised 18 of the 20 largest dams to have compliant dam safety evaluation reports. with the intension to have the compliance issue resolved by the end of fourth quarter 2022/23 financial year. Unfortunately, contractual negotiations took longer than anticipated, implying that 25% of the largest 20 state dams will be achieved within this timeframe, and the remaining 75% by May 2023. With this additional professional engineering capacity, all outstanding and due dam safety evaluation reports will be completed within the next 18 months.
Even though there are inherent risks to not submitting 5 yearly dam safety evaluations reports on time, it does not necessarily equate to the dams being unsafe, since there are various systems and mechanisms in place to monitor the structural health and performance of our dams. These include routing inspections by dam operators and the monitoring of our dam’s behaviour by Dam Safety Surveillance through various instrumentations, some of which are communicating this data in real-time. All these measures are preventative in nature (serves as early warning) and are aimed at safeguarding our dam infrastructure as well as the public from potential harm.
In addition to general maintenance, the Department also implements a Dam Safety Rehabilitation programme which was established in 2006 to ensure that the lifespan of dam structures is prolonged and to improve the safety of these structures. Since its inception, rehabilitation projects at 43 dams have been completed. Currently, there are 6 dam safety rehabilitation projects underway with 19 projects in the design phase.
(b) The Department is finalising dam safety evaluation reports per dam, and not in consolidated fashion, because the due dates for these reports are staggard and not all due on the same date.
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21 April 2023 - NW793
Horn, Mr W to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
Whether a new service provider has been appointed as the extension of the contract of Datacentrix relating to the provision of court recording technology is about to expire; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what (a) measures are in place to prevent a reoccurrence of the breakdown in court recording services in 2021 when the contract of Datacentrix expired and (b) are the further relevant details?
Reply:
a) The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (DoJ&CD) has appointed Datacentrix (Pty) Ltd on a twelve (12) months contract to maintain and support the existing Court Recording Technology (CRT) solution. However, the twelve (12) months contract with Datacentrix has ended on 25 March 2023.
Therefore, to circumvent the risk of not having CRT maintenance and support in place, the contract with Datacentrix that ended on 25 March 2023 has been extended for a further period of three (3) months ending in June 2023.
This extension is allowing the procurement of a long term maintenance and support contract by the State Information Technology Agency (SITA). SITA has published the bid, with Reference Number RFB 2713-2022, with a closing date of 31 March 2023.
b) Some CRT spare parts have been procured through the Request for Quotation (RFQ) process. The table below provides details of the spare parts:
SPARES |
QUANTITY |
ACR Boundary Microphones |
200 |
ACR Cardioid Microphones |
100 |
SOS Cable |
150 |
20mm Coaxial cabling with XLR Connectors |
80 |
15mm Coaxial cabling with XLR Connectors |
210 |
10mm Coaxial cabling with XLR Connectors |
105 |
Recording Indicator LED Light |
10 |
The extended contract includes the provision of spares and IMACD (Installation, Moves, Additions, Changes and Decommission) to respond to any further breakdowns that may occur.
21 April 2023 - NW713
Khawula, Ms MS to ask the Minister in The Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
Following the recent destruction caused by floods in various provinces in the Republic, what specific monitoring interventions has she made to provide relief to women, children and persons with disabilities who were affected by the floods?
Reply:
As the Department of Social Development (DSD) is mandated to provide social relief, intervention was coordinated through those departments in the respective provinces affected by the floods. The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD), works with the Office on the Status of Women which is situated within the Office of the Premier in all provinces as an entry point for coordination and collaboration.
During the 2022 floods, the DWYPD through the Kwa-Zulu Natal DSD coordinated relief efforts to women, youth and persons with disabilities namely:
(i) 1 000 Sanitary Dignity Packages were distributed which comprised of 10 sanitary pads, wash cloth, toothbrush, toothpaste, roll-on and body lotion. These were donated by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China;
(ii) 200 HappiMe sanitary pad packs were distributed;
(iii) 10 vouchers to the value of R1 000 donated by the One Africa Organisation;
Further, through support from the European Union, the DWYPD has placed technical monitors and data captures in the Offices of the Premier in KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape. Their work is mainly on monitoring Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF) and the institutionalisation of the Gender-Responsive Planning, Budgeting, Monitoring and Evaluation and Auditing framework, among other matters which affect women.
21 April 2023 - NW662
Matumba, Mr A to ask the Minister of Tourism
(a) What process was followed in the appointment of three members of the board of Tourism SA to replace the members who resigned and (b) on what date will the process of appointing board members in accordance with section 16(2) in line with section 13(3) and (4) of the Tourism Act, Act 3 of 2014, be undertaken?
Reply:
I did not receive a handover on which processes were followed in appointing the three Board members by my predecessor.
On Friday 18 April, via a Government Gazette, I will dissolve the SA Tourism Board.
In the same Gazette, I will appoint three Interim Board members in terms of Section 16 (3) (b) of the Tourism Act with experience in Finance, Governance and Tourism.
These three members will have full decision-making powers until such time that the Board is officially appointed.
21 April 2023 - NW229
De Freitas, Mr MS to ask the Minister of Tourism
(1) (a) What total number of Tourism Monitors have been placed in each (i) province and (ii) airport in the 2022-23 financial year and (b) for what period of time; (2) what total number of Tourism Monitors will be placed in the 2023-24 financial year in each (a) province and (b) airport?
Reply:
1. (a) What total number of Tourism Monitors have been placed in each
I have been informed by the Department that the Tourism Monitors contracts are for a period of 12 months.
a) Province |
b) Airport (please add if they are at other airports not listed) |
||
Eastern Cape |
200 |
East London / Port Elizabeth |
0 |
Free State |
100 |
Bram Fischer |
0 |
Gauteng |
230 |
OR Tambo / Lanseria |
80 |
KwaZulu-Natal |
460 |
King Shaka |
0 |
Limpopo |
0 |
Hoedspruit / Polokwane |
0 |
Mpumalanga |
288 |
Nelspruit / Kruger Mpumalanga |
0 |
Northern Cape |
100 |
Kimberley / Upington |
0 |
North West |
100 |
Mafikeng |
0 |
Western Cape |
330(Includes the airport monitors) |
Cape Town / George |
25 |
NB: All the Tourism Monitors are placed at attractions for a period of twelve (12) months
2. What total number of Tourism Monitors will be placed in the 2023-24 financial year in each
(a) Province |
(b) Airport (please add if they are at other airports not listed) |
||
Eastern Cape |
100 |
East London / Port Elizabeth |
|
Free State |
100 |
Bram Fischer |
|
Gauteng |
200 |
OR Tambo / Lanseria |
|
KwaZulu-Natal |
170 |
King Shaka |
|
Limpopo |
60 |
Hoedspruit / Polokwane |
|
Mpumalanga |
200 |
Nelspruit / Kruger Mpumalanga |
|
Northern Cape |
70 |
Kimberley / Upington |
|
North West |
100 |
Mafikeng |
|
Western Cape |
230 |
Cape Town |
|
ISimangaliso Wetlands |
200 |
||
Ezemvelo |
150 |
||
SANBI |
130 |
||
ACSA |
135 ACSA still to allocate the numbers are per their strategic airports with the bulk of those reserved for ORT, CTIA & Ushaka in Durban |
||
TOTAL |
1845 |
I am reviewing the programme and training of the Tourism Monitors.
21 April 2023 - NW441
Ismail, Ms H to ask the Minister of Tourism
a)(i) On what dates did certain board members of SA Tourism tender their resignations and (ii) by what date will the specified vacancies be filled and (b)(i) on what dates were and/or will the posts be advertised and (ii) by what date will the interviews take place?
Reply:
I have been informed that:
(a) (i) Mr. Enver Duminy resigned on 1 February 2023, while Mr. Ravi Nadasen and Ms. Rosemary Anderson resigned on 2 February 2023.
– 2 February 2023
(ii) and (b) (i) and (ii)
On Friday 18 April, via a Government Gazette, I will dissolve the SA Tourism Board.
In the same Gazette, I will appoint three Interim Board members in terms of Section 16 (3) (b) of the Tourism Act with experience in Finance, Governance and Tourism.
These three members will have full decision-making powers until such time that the Board is officially appointed.
21 April 2023 - NW290
Buthelezi, Ms SA to ask the Minister of Water and Sanitation
With regard to the water boards and the role that they will be playing in the reconfiguration and/or enhancement of service delivery, what (a) does his department intend to do about the water boards’ own internal challenges of not being able to conduct planned maintenance and/or pay creditors on time and (b) measures will his department put in place to ensure that planned maintenance still goes ahead and is not affected, considering the financial constraints of municipalities in paying for the provision of water?
Reply:
a) To address governance challenges among Water Boards and enhance the role that these entities will be playing to enhance service delivery at local government level; the Department has reviewed the Water Boards in terms of financial sustainability, governance matters and extending services to areas that are not currently serviced. The review and reconfiguration of Water Boards is intended to achieve the following:
- Better economies of scale
- Enhance market capitalisation for infrastructure projects
- Increase water access to un-serviced rural areas
- Enable better cross-subsidisation and increased financial sustainability
- Facilitate differential service delivery levels and tariff modelling across the province
- Enable better working relationships with provincial governments - there has been a general effort to align water boards boundaries with provincial boundaries
- Enable Water Boards to better support Water Services Authorities (WSAs).
b) It should also be noted that non-payment of Water Boards by municipalities threatens financial viability of Water Boards. To address this, the Department of Water and Sanitation in collaboration with National Treasury has put in place the following measures to strengthen billing and revenue collection and address the escalating debt of municipalities to water entities:
- The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) will collaborate with National Treasury to ensure that equitable share allocations are withheld from non-paying municipalities.
- DWS will ensure that standardised credit control and debt recovery processes is in place across all the water boards. This includes consistent enforcement of water limitations/restrictions on non-paying municipalities and legal processes to attach municipal bank accounts where necessary.
- Bulk prepaid meters will be installed by water boards in municipalities with a poor payment record.
- The Minister is further consulting the 144 Water Services Authorities on the outcome of the above-mentioned workshop.
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21 April 2023 - NW366
De Freitas, Mr MS to ask the Minister of Tourism
(1) With reference to the proposal for sponsorship by SA Tourism (SAT) to the English soccer club, Tottenham Hotspur, (a) how, (b) for what reason and (c) on what date was the choice of the specified team arrived at; (2) (a) on what date did the negotiations in this regard (i) commence and (ii) conclude and (b) who represented (i) SAT, (ii) her department and (iii) the soccer club in the negotiations?
Reply:
(1) and (2) According to SA Tourism, the reason for the proposed sponsorship was to market South Africa as a tourist destination, abroad.
Since receiving the report, I sought legal advice and on 22 March, I issued a letter to the Chairperson of the SA Tourism Board, requesting details of the proposed deal with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club. That letter is attached as an annexure. The Board responded on the specified deadline of 29 March, that it will no longer proceed with the transaction, nor will it seek the concomitant requisite approvals for the proposed transaction. The SAT response is attached as an annexure.
21 April 2023 - NW720
Marekwa, Ms GP to ask the Minister in The Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
What progress has her Office made in monitoring the extent of the financial inclusion of women in the financial sector transformation in which mainstreaming of women in the economy is critical for women's empowerment?
Reply:
The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD) has developed a Women’s Financial Inclusion Framework (WFIF) aimed at accelerating the participation of women in the mainstream economy.
The framework serves as a guideline for the development of intervention strategies to enhance the economic empowerment and participation of women in South Africa for institutions both within government and the private sector to tailor, monitor and evaluate the following inclusive objectives in all their plans, policies, and programmes viz:
a) Promote an all-inclusive approach to women’s financial inclusion;
b) Facilitate an enabling operating environment for mainstreaming women’s financial inclusion in government and private sector institutions;
c) Promote financial inclusivity through equitable access to ownership and control of all economic activities for women;
d) Lobby the private sector, non-government organisations and international organisations to incorporate the inclusion of women in their policies, programmes, projects and products;
e) Mobilise resources to support campaigns and programmes that promote the inclusion of women in the economy;
f) Coordinate, collect and disseminate information on best practices relating to the inclusion of women across all sectors of our economy;
g) Strengthen the capacity of women in leadership, management, control and entrepreneurship;
h) Share best practices relating to the economic emancipation of women.
Following the approval of the WFIF, the DWYPD was instrumental in founding the Women’s Economic Assembly (WECONA), which is a coordination platform for the public and private sectors, civil society, business associations and women in business.
WECONA is a national programme actioning an enabling procurement environment by activating public and private sector supply value chains toward a coherent and collaborative approach to achieve women’s economic empowerment. This programme also hinges on outcome 5.1 of the National Strategic Plan on Gender Based Violence and Femicide (NSP on GBVF), Pillar 5 – Economic Power which aims to accelerate initiatives that address women’s unequal economic and social position, through enabling access to government and private sector procurement, employment, housing, access to land, financial resources and other income generating initiatives.
21 April 2023 - NW600
Abrahams, Ms ALA to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
For each province, what total number (a) of parolees violated their parole conditions annually since 01 January 2020, (b) of parolees (i) were re-arrested and/or taken back to jail and (ii) remain out of jail and (c) and/or percentage of absconders remain on the run for certain Schedule 8 offences (details furnished)?
Reply:
a) The total number of parolees who violated their parole conditions annually since 01 January 2020 are follows:
Region |
2020.01.01 to 2020.03.31 |
2020.04.01 to 2021.03.31 |
2021.04.01 to 2022.03.31 |
2022.04.01 to 2023.01.31 |
TOTAL |
EC |
941 |
2013 |
2142 |
2576 |
7 672 |
FSNC |
277 |
765 |
1130 |
1185 |
3 357 |
GP |
0 |
1555 |
2113 |
1871 |
5 539 |
KZN |
810 |
2380 |
2125 |
2950 |
8 265 |
LMN |
189 |
435 |
545 |
437 |
1 606 |
WC |
766 |
2380 |
2125 |
2950 |
8 221 |
GRAND TOTAL |
2 983 |
9 528 |
10 180 |
11 969 |
34 660 |
(b)(i) Total number of parolees re-arrested and/or taken back to jail are as follows:
Region |
2020.01.01 to 2020.03.31 |
2020.04.01 to 2021.03.31 |
2021.04.01 to 2022.03.31 |
2022.04.01 to 2023.01.31 |
TOTAL |
EC |
215 |
419 |
531 |
57 |
1 222 |
FSNC |
234 |
520 |
801 |
797 |
2 352 |
GP |
0 |
566 |
945 |
917 |
2 428 |
KZN |
84 |
265 |
458 |
555 |
1 362 |
LMN |
179 |
405 |
525 |
407 |
1 516 |
WC |
640 |
1 888 |
2 129 |
2 020 |
6 677 |
GRAND TOTAL |
1 352 |
4 063 |
5 389 |
4 753 |
15 557 |
(b)(ii) Total number of parolees who remain out of jail are as follows:
Region |
2020.01.01 to 2020.03.31 |
2020.04.01 to 2021.03.31 |
2021.04.01 to 2022.03.31 |
2022.04.01 to 2023.01.31 |
TOTAL |
EC |
2 481 |
2 451 |
3 473 |
3 882 |
12 287 |
FSNC |
43 |
202 |
271 |
323 |
839 |
GP |
0 |
989 |
1 168 |
954 |
3 111 |
KZN |
2 650 |
4 120 |
3 525 |
5 004 |
15 299 |
LMN |
4 649 |
4 639 |
4 502 |
4 323 |
18 113 |
WC |
126 |
550 |
645 |
670 |
1 991 |
NATIONAL |
9 949 |
12 951 |
13 584 |
15 156 |
51 640 |
(c) The percentage of absconders who remain on the run for certain Schedule 8 offences are as follows:
Region |
Percentage as at 02 March 2023 |
EC |
30,9% |
FSNC |
35,77% |
GP |
50,98% |
KZN |
41,36% |
LMN |
3,4% |
WC |
75.79% |
GRAND TOTAL |
45% |
END
21 April 2023 - NW695
Buthelezi, Ms SA to ask the Minister of Water and Sanitation
With the recent surge in floods in provinces such as KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, what is his department doing to ensure more resilient and protected water and sanitation infrastructure to ensure that his department is not continuously rebuilding infrastructure that are damaged when disasters such as floods occur?
Reply:
Civil engineering designs for water storage infrastructure i.e. Dam Walls, are designed for a safety evaluation flood (SCF) of 1:10 000 year flood conditions to ensure that the structural integrity of the wall would not be compromised by forces anticipated to be associated with such conditions. In addition, the Department is also prohibiting the erection of permanent structures within the 1:100 flood line adjacent to the full supply level of a dam and rivers as a means to safeguard life and livelihood. Wherever water conveyance structures (i.e. large pipe-lines and canals) are elevated and exposed at stream or river crossings, the bridge structure is designed to withstand 1:100 year flood conditions.
The Department takes note of the impact the intense flooding had on trenched pipe-lines during the 2022 floods and will work with research institutions to consider an amendment to engineering design factors, as influenced by climate change.
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21 April 2023 - NW826
van der Merwe, Ms LL to ask the Minister of Home Affairs
(1)With regard to the 22 Afghan nationals who have allegedly been granted permission to enter the Republic to seek asylum, (a) how long will it take his department to adjudicate their claim for asylum and (b) what are the time frames; (2) how long does it take on average from when a person enters the Republic to when they are informed that their claim for asylum has been successful or not; (3) what (a) total number of refugees are currently residing within the borders of the Republic and (b) are the details of the countries that the refugees come from; (4) (a) what is the current backlog in terms of finalising applications for asylum, (b) what total number of asylum applications are turned down annually, (c) how does his department ensure that those who have had their asylum applications rejected, leave the Republic and (d) what total number of deportations have taken place in each of the past 10 years; (5) whether his department has found that the asylum seekers simply stay on illegally because his department does not have the capacity to identify, apprehend and/or deport illegal migrants; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the further relevant details?
Reply:
(1)(a) The department strives to conclude all asylum applications with immediate effect. However, each case is informed by its complexities, the need to conduct research, consult other institutions or further investigations do affect finalization.
(1(b) Same as above.
(2) Same as question 1(a) response.
(3)(a) According to the NIIS which is the system used by the department to record refugees, there are 129 325 refugees ever registered in the system, whilst there are 66 601 of them who are active and 9 363 refugee statuses withdrawn.
(3)(b) The majority of the refugees come from the following countries; Somalia, DRC, Ethiopia, Burundi, Rwanda, Eritrea, Uganda and Zimbabweans.
(4)(a) There are no backlogs in finalising asylum cases at the level of refugee status determination, which is the first instance by adjudication officers. The backlogs usually spoken about are cases already rejected at the first instance and are at the level of appeals which the department is working with UNHCR to address.
(4)(b) The total number of asylum applications turned down annually are in the table below:
Year: |
Rejection Numbers |
Rejection % per cases finalised |
2022 |
8 948 |
91% |
2021 |
No new comers |
0% (numbers affected by Covid) |
2020 |
1 916 |
86% (numbers affected by Covid) |
2019 |
22 083 |
92% |
2018 |
16 510 |
91% |
2017 |
25 713 |
92% |
(4)(c) The failed asylum seekers are handed over to the Immigration Officers stationed within the Inspectorate at the Refugee Reception Office (RRO) for processing in terms of the Immigration Act 13 of 2002, for deportation purposes. Upon arrest they are detained at the police station with jurisdiction of the RRO.
(4)(d) The total number of deportations that have taken place in each of the past 10 years is as follows:
Year |
Total |
2012/13 |
105 392 |
2013/14 |
131 907 |
2014/15 |
54 169 |
2015/16 |
33 399 |
2016/17 |
23 004 |
2017/18 |
15 033 |
2018/19 |
24 266 |
2019/20 |
29 376 |
2020/21 |
14 859 |
2021/22 |
20 093 |
(5) Additional human resources will improve law enforcement in immigration, and serve to detect and deport not only failed asylum seekers, but illegal immigrants who entered the country unlawfully with no record as well.
When failed asylum seekers are arrested due to the final rejection of their asylum applications, or abandoning the process by not ensuring they receive the outcome and/or their appeals to the Refugee Appeal Board not succeeding, they must be given the opportunity to apply to the High Court for a Judicial Review of the negative decision. The backlog in the caseload leads to further abuse of the asylum seeker regime, as upon arrest and failed asylum seekers disclosing their intention to take the administrative decision to court, they have to be released and the turnaround time for their court hearing cannot be estimated.
END
21 April 2023 - NW185
Engelbrecht, Mr J to ask the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services
What are the details of the (a) make, (b) model, (c) year of manufacture, (d) cost and (e) purchase date of all the official vehicles purchased for (i) him and (ii) the former Minister and (iii) the Deputy Ministers and the (iv) former Deputy Ministers of his department since 1 June 2019?
Reply:
a) Make |
b) Model |
c) Year Manufactured |
d) Price |
e) Date purchased |
|
i) Minister |
No vehicle was procured for the Minister since the period of 01 June 2019 to date. |
||||
ii) Former Minister |
No vehicle was procured for former Minister since the period of 01 June 2019. |
||||
iii) Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development |
Toyota Lexus |
Lexus IS300 Hybrid |
2020 |
R643 889.60 |
20 March 2020 |
Toyota Lexus |
Lexus ES250 EX |
2022 |
R680 702.25 |
27 September 2022 |
|
iv) Former Deputy Minister |
No vehicle was procured for former Deputy Minister since the period of 01 June 2019. |
21 April 2023 - NW440
Ismail, Ms H to ask the Minister of Tourism
Whether, with reference to the announcement of the resignation of three SA Tourism board members on 4 February 2023, the specified board members who resigned were (a) attending any of the meetings when the sponsorship deal was discussed, (b) part of the quorum when the sponsorship of the R1 billion was approved and (c) part of the decision-making process of the sponsorship to the English soccer club, Tottenham Hotspur; if not, why not, in each case; if so, what are the relevant details in each case?
Reply:
(a) I have been informed by SA Tourism that all three members attended the Board meeting on 27 January 2023 where the Tottenham Hotspur proposal was first tabled for approval.
(b) I have been informed by SA Tourism that one board member attended the meeting and formed part of the quorum. The other two board members tendered their apologies and did not form part of the quorum.
(c) I have been informed by SA Tourism that one board member attended and recorded her dissent with regard to approval of the proposal. Another member, who tendered an apology for the meeting, formally submitted his disagreement and dissent in a letter to the Chairperson.
21 April 2023 - NW563
Matuba, Ms M M to ask the Minister of Water and Sanitation
What (a) steps has his department taken to eliminate underspending by the end of the 2022-23 financial year and (b) were the root causes of underspending in his department?
Reply:
a) The Department has put in place internal control processes to continuously curb underspending including:
- Increased focus on forecast controls over expenditure commitments for projects in year and over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework to mitigate risks of under expenditure.
- Stringent expenditure controls for sound financial management principles, ensuring that public resources are utilized efficiently; incurred obligations are cleared in a timely manner; and abuse/misappropriation of public money is prevented.
- Collaborative service delivery implementation plans with capacity building initiatives are also being implemented with diverse stakeholders within the water sector including Water Boards, Municipalities, Provincial Governments, Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs and National Treasury.
- Regular monitoring of progress and management of areas of underperformance to proactively redirect funds to projects with capacity to absorb additional budgets.
- The Department is implementing the Infrastructure Procurement Strategy and Policies.
b) The following have been identified as root causes of underspending:
- Lack of financial governance skills amongst Water Service Authorities
- Inadequate project management capacity by Implementing Agents resulting in under-expenditure
- Court Judgement issued on 25 February 2022, which prohibited advertising of new bids for goods and services and impacted on capital expenditure for major and mega projects
- Complex public procurement system that contributed to delays in the procurement of goods and services
Implementation of these interventions by the Department has resulted in significant improvements from the last financial year expenditure to the year-to-date expenditure.
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20 April 2023 - NW960
Buthelezi, Mr EM to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises
What consequence management interventions will his department take against the 31 out of the 38 board members of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) who failed to attend the compulsory induction training, considering that the specified training plays a pivotal part in their ability to manage the crippling state of SOEs?
Reply:
There are currently 6 Boards within the Department’s portfolio of State-Owned Companies, comprising 50 Board members. To date, all the Directors have been inducted.
Board induction process is undertaken jointly between the Department and the SOC when a new Board is appointed. This is not a compulsory process in that there is no legislative requirement prescribing Board induction. Rather, it is a good governance practice that has been adopted and implemented by the Department.
In addition, an introductory meeting is held with the Minister and the Board wherein key issues pertaining to inter alia Shareholder’s expectations are outlined. Moreover, the Company itself prepares and undertakes an ongoing Board training programme upon identification of individual Board members’ areas of development.
Further, the Company reports on its Board training and development to the Shareholder on a quarterly basis as part of its Quarterly Report to the Shareholder, to enable the Department to monitor both the Board and Company’s performance against set targets.
Remarks: Reply: Approved / Not approved
Jacky Molisane PJ Gordhan, MP
Acting Director-General Minister
Date: Date:
20 April 2023 - NW897
Masipa, Mr NP to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
Whether she will provide Mr N P Masipa with a detailed record of (a) horses that have died as a result of the African Horse Sickness in the period 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2022 and (b) the stock levels of blood vaccines at the Onderstepoort Biological Products; if not, in each case, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details in each case?
Reply:
a) Recording of animals that die because of controlled animal diseases is done at provincial level while the national Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) only records the number of outbreaks. DALRRD is however, in the process of collating and verifying data in this regard, which will be submitted once verified.
b) Below is the total amount of blood vaccines available at Ondersterpoort Biological Products as at 29 March 2023:
Blood Vaccine Type |
In Packaging Department |
In Distribution Department |
TOTAL |
Anaplasmosis |
271 |
0 |
271 |
Redwater African |
4709 |
849 |
5558 |
Redwater Asiatic |
1480 |
627 |
2107 |
Heartwater |
2870 |
163 |
3033 |
More batches of Anaplasmosis currently being tested are expected to be released at the end of April 2023 and the production of more blood vaccines is planned for April and May 2023.
20 April 2023 - NW537
Arries, Ms LH to ask the Minister of Social Development
What is the suite of interventions and support that her department has provided to persons who were displaced by the recent floods in the Republic?
Reply:
When a disaster occurs DSD partners with different stakeholders to provide humanitarian assistance to affected households and individuals, it is at the point where it is determined who will provide which assistance.
The role players that DSD partners with are provincial departments of SASSA, the National Disaster Management Committee, ProvJocs and disaster coordinating forums at provincial levels, as well as NatJoints at National level. The list of persons or households to be provided with assistance are verified by the Provincial or Local Disaster Management Response Unit.
REPLY:
Interventions that were provided by DSD during the recent floods
PROVINCE |
SUITE OF INTERVENTIONS PROVIDED BY DSD/SASSA |
Eastern Cape |
A total of 1,850 people were affected, and SASSA intervened as follows:
Chris Hani District, Joe Gqabi District and OR Tambo District
The total assistance provided by SASSA Eastern Cape Region was to 1024 individuals at an amount of R1, 569,035.00 |
Gauteng |
Sedibeng |
KwaZulu-Natal, |
On 10 February 2023 KwaZulu Natal experienced severe rainfalls which resulted into flood disasters. A total of 84 incidents were reported with 3010 households affected.
The total assistance to all affected families is R 23 760 |
Limpopo |
|
Northern Cape |
|
North-West |
|
Mpumalanga |
All municipal districts were affected;
In total SASSA provided cash vouchers to 45 clients to the value of R78 490.00 In Nkomazi Local Municipality, 1 701 households were affected and eight (08) cases of loss of life reported, and none of these families were displaced. SASSA formed part of the district and provincial disaster management structures. The other partners including Gift of the Givers, Red Cross business also provided assistance and donations consisting of food parcels, gel stoves, blankets, mattresses, collapsible structures, sponges, tarpaulins, children’s clothing and sanitary towels. SASSA is still conducting assessments of the households referred by DSD, assessments and cash vouchers issued so far at the value of R11 940.00. The households where loss of life was reported are still being assessed. The affected families were not relocated to temporary accommodation, although some houses were damaged hence the provision of collapsible structures by the Dept. Human Settlement. |
20 April 2023 - NW1200
Wilson, Ms ER to ask the Minister of Health
With reference to the reply by the Minister of Finance to question 2330 on 6 July 2022, what are the details of (a) the amount of the Health Promotion Levy that was allocated to his department, (b) the amount that has been spent on the various health programmes and (c)(i) each of the specified programmes, (ii) the amount that has been spent on each programme and (iii) strides that each of the programmes has made in improving health in the Republic
Reply:
a) The allocated amount was R48 366 000 in 2022/23
b) R24 437 000 was spent in 2022/23.
c) (i)&(ii) The programme named Chronic Diseases Disabilities & Geriatrics spent R24 437 million on health promotion activities which aim to promote wellness, reduce the common risk factors underlying the priority Non-Communicable Diseases as well as to screen for these NCDs and link persons to care.
(iii) The following strides are made:
- In 2021 PRICELESS reported evidence-based gains from the Health Promotion Levy (HPL), including
- The national urban household purchases of taxable beverages by volume fell by 51% (Kantar) with a 29 % decrease in sugar intake.
-
- In a self-reported Langa survey of young adults ( 18- 39 y), on taxable beverages showed a 37% reduction by volume and 31% decrease in sugar intake.
-
- In a Soweto Study of teenagers, young adults, and older adults, the frequency of Sugar Sweetened Beverages intake amongst heavy consumers fell from 10 beverages per week pre HPL to 4 beverages per week one year post HPL.
- In 2022, the Department approved the National Strategic Plan for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases 2022 – 2027 (NSP NCDs) which adopts an integrated person centered approach and is inclusive of population level interventions.
The NSP NCDs aims to promote wellness, reduce modifiable risk behaviour, enhance management and control of non-communicable diseases in particular hypertension and diabetes and empower communities, patients and their families.
- The 2022/23 Annual Performance Quarter 1 to Quarter 4 Reports confirm increased health seeking behaviour as the total screened for diabetes for Q1 was 2 550 479 which increased to 18 838 794 in Q4. Total screened for hypertension for Q1 was 2 654 572 which increased to 19 270 634 in Q4.
- The Health Promotion Levy was implemented in 2018. Strides in terms of health outcomes manifests in the long-term (at least 10 years), since long established behavioural practices that contribute to ill-health, takes time to reverse.
END.
20 April 2023 - NW755
Cachalia, Mr G K to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises
Whether, considering that during the presentation of the Budget Speech on 22 February 2023, the Minister of Finance, Mr Enoch Godongwana, indicated that the National Treasury has commissioned an independent assessment of Eskom’s operations, he, in his capacity as the sole shareholder for the Government in Eskom, has been informed of the terms of reference of the specified inquiry; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? NW854E
Reply:
The key objective of the study is to provide National Treasury with independent advisory services on the operational challenges impacting on the appropriate interventions that will turn around the operations of the entity. The service provider “will be reviewing and advising on the operational challenges being experienced at the existing power plant level, appropriateness and effectiveness of maintenance regime being implemented, the level capital expenditure required for the existing power plants”. The service provider will be required to visit all the power plants in the Eskom network and engage with various divisions within Eskom and the Department of Public Enterprises.
Remarks: Reply: Approved / Not Approved
Jacky Molisane Pravin Gordhan, MP
Acting Director-General Minister of Public Enterprises
Date: Date:
20 April 2023 - NW1204
Masipa, Mr NP to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
Based on her department’s update on 24 October 2022 regarding the footandmouth disease vaccination programme in which it was stated that vaccination campaigns run continuously in the affected provinces, what (a) evidence are the decisions based on to conduct the vaccination campaigns, (b)(i) vaccines and (ii) dosages were used in each case and (c) is the percentage of animals that were vaccinated; (2) whether the vaccination was repeated; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, how often; (3) whether the vaccines were matched with strains of different events; if not, why not; if so, what (a) is the evidence in this regard and (b) were the outcomes?
Reply:
(1)(a) Decisions to conduct the vaccination campaigns are based on:
- Where positive locations are well managed; fenced-in properties;
- Where there is no direct contact with animals on neighbouring farms, only the animals on the positive properties are vaccinated; and
- Where positive locations are communal areas, that are not separated by fences from other animals, then cattle in the surrounding area are also vaccinated (either based on natural geographic boundaries or large roads or based on shared grazing/water sources or set distances).
(b)(i) The vaccine used in all cases is Aftovaxpur.
(ii) More than 600 000 animals were vaccinated i.e. one dose per animal.
(c) On well-fenced properties, 100% of cattle are vaccinated. In communal areas, vaccination coverage is difficult to determine, but in most cases 80% coverage is reached.
2. Where animals are intended for slaughter, only one vaccination was done. Where animals are intended to be kept long term, a second vaccination was done. If cattle are in a permanent FMD Protection Zone with vaccination, they are vaccinated 3 times a year on a continuous basis.
3. South African Territories (SAT) FMD viruses, which cause the outbreaks in the region, are generally stable viruses. The vaccine does not necessarily need to be matched every time before animals are vaccinated.
(a)(b) The different virus strains contained in the Aftovaxpur vaccine are ones that have been shown to cause a wide spectrum of protection against most SAT viruses circulating in the region, so the vaccine matching is good.
20 April 2023 - NW1201
Wilson, Ms ER to ask the Minister of Health
What is the total number of (a) deaths that are caused by (i) obesity and (ii) obesityrelated illnesses annually, (b) persons who have been diagnosed with diabetes since 1 January 2023 and (c) persons who are suffering from hypertension currently?
Reply:
a) (i) Causes of death are statistically derived from death certificates. Obesity will be one of the underlying causes of a health condition that does not appear on the death certificate and therefore a distinct number of deaths caused by obesity is not available. It was observed during the COVID-19 surges that there was link between obesity and deaths.
(ii) Obesity is one of the risk factors for diabetes and hypertension and statistics for these two conditions are provided below.
b) According to the DHIS report, the total number of persons who have been diagnosed with diabetes since 1 January to 28 February 2023 is 46 330.
c) Statistics for hypertension is not collected routinely. We make use of surveys to guide planning and decision making in this regard. According to the SA Demographic and Health Survey 2016, the prevalence for males 15 years and above is 44% and for females of the same age category is 46%.
END.
20 April 2023 - NW1065
Graham-Maré, Ms SJ to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
What is the progress with respect to Land Claim Reference number 6/2/2/D/51/79/1158/56; (2) (a) what are the relevant details of the (i) claimant and (ii) property in question and (b) on what date (i) was the claim published in the Government Gazette and (ii) will the claim be finalised; (3) whether there are any outstanding requirements on the part of the claimants that might delay the process; if not, what (a) is the position in this regard and (b) are the reasons for the delay; if so, what are the outstanding requirements?
Reply:
1. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) does not have record of the above-mentioned claim reference number. It would be appreciated if DALRRD can be provided with further details on the claim such as claimants details, claim name, property description etc.
(2)(a)(ii),(ii)(b)(i),(ii) Falls away
(3)(a),(b) Falls away.
END
20 April 2023 - NW1202
Masipa, Mr NP to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
What steps did her department take with regard to the remedial actions prescribed in the Public Protector South Africa Report 44 of 2018/19 in relation to allegations of maladministration and undue delay by the Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries?
Reply:
No remedial actions have been taken at this stage. The Public Protector’s Report 44 of 2018/2019 relating to allegations of maladministration by the Free State Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) and the former Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) involving the handling of an outbreak of brucellosis on the farm of Mrs Ronel Behrens (“the Report”) was found to contain serious irregularities and material errors of law and fact, which vitiated the investigation and remedial action which form the basis of the report.
The Report is under judicial review to be set aside with case number 82234/19. The required application documents were served on the Office of the Public Protector on 8 November 2019 and on the complainant (Mrs Behrens) on 19 November 2019.
In July 2021, the Office of the Public Protector requested a settlement with the newly formed Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) and DARD in the matter. On 15 June 2022, the Office of the Public Protector agreed that the Report be set aside and the original complaint remitted back to the office of the Public Protector for an investigation de novo. The settlement is enrolled to be made an order of court in May 2023.
The Report is effectively set aside, and DALRRD has been advised to await the outcome of the review process before implementing any remedial actions, if necessary.
20 April 2023 - NW1015
Montwedi, Mr Mk to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
(a) What is the success rate of the AgriBEE programmes that were implemented by the Land and Development Bank of South Africa (Land Bank) on behalf of her department and (b) how will the Land Bank successfully implement the blended finance programme when they have dismally failed to implement the AgriBEE?
Reply:
a) The Land and Agricultural Development Bank (Land Bank) of South Africa is not implementing any AgriBEE programme on behalf of the Department. The Land Bank was appointed as the fund manager of the AgriBEE Fund. In terms of the Memorandum of Agreement between the two parties, Land Bank performs the following functions on behalf of the Department:
- Manage and administer the Fund which includes receiving annual allocations in respect of the Fund and keeping them in a dedicated AgriBEE Fund account.
- Conduct due diligence assessments on suitable applications received from the Department and provide due diligence reports thereof to aid the Department in the appointment of qualifying applications according to the fund criteria.
- Disburse funds to approved applications on written instruction by the Director General of the Department.
Based on the above, evaluation and approval of applications for support through the AgriBEE Fund remains the responsibility of the Department and not that of the Land Bank.
b) Land Bank has never failed to implement AgriBEE programmes as it was never its responsibility to do so. With regard to the Blended Finance Scheme, the Land Bank has the responsibility to implement and the following has been done to ensure successful implementation:
- The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) and Land Bank agreed on the criteria and qualifications for the Blended Finance Scheme as well as the scorecard to ensure alignment by all branches of the bank to the blended finance scheme concept document.
- DALRRD has not imposed additional processes for approval by Land Bank to ensure applications are received, analysed, processed and approved by the Land Bank within reasonable and agreed timelines.
- DALRRD convened a workshop with Land Bank on 4 April 2023 to assess the norms and standards Land Bank uses to approve applications for Blended Finance; as these must be aligned to industry technical standards to avoid deserving applications being rejected by the Bank and the objectives of the scheme not being realised. The workshop was attended by DALRRD technical experts and bankers from all Land Bank’s branches across the country to ensure alignment with Land Bank officials to agreed processes and technical standards.
- A steering committee for Blended Finance has been established to oversee performance by all participating financial institutions (PFIs) and will monitor performance by the PFIs and unlock challenges that hamper implementation by these banks.
- The Land Bank has appointed a senior manager to oversee the partnership with DALRRD and DALRRD has likewise appointed a senior manager to oversee the successful implementation of the Blended Finance Scheme.
20 April 2023 - NW908
Abrahams, Ms ALA to ask the Minister of Social Development
With regard to the review of the SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) clients in each province for the period 1 January 2022 to date, (a) how are clients selected for review, (b) what number of clients have been selected for review of each type of social grant, (c) what number of clients (i) have been and (ii) must still be reviewed in each province, (d) what number of grants have since been stopped as a result of the client (i) not coming forward in each province and (ii) no longer meeting the means test and qualifying criteria, (e) what means of communication is used to notify clients of the review and (f) what recourse do clients have if they did not receive any communication from SASSA notifying them of the review and whose grant has subsequently been stopped by SASSA as the client did not present themselves for the review?
Reply:
1 (a) In terms of Regulation 30(2) of the Social Assistance Act (Act No. 13 of 2004), SASSA may conduct a review at any time when it has a reason to believe that the beneficiary's circumstances, including financial circumstances, may have changed. These reviews are often triggered when SASSA beneficiaries are found on databases indicating that they may be in receipt of income that they’ve not declared. Similarly, a large portion of the reviews are also triggered by the the office of the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) audit finding, which also involves database checks.
(b) Number of clients selected for review per social grant type is reflected in table 1 below:
Table: 1 Number of Clients per Social Grant Type
GRANT TYPE |
TOTAL CLIENTS |
OLDER PERSON'S GRANT |
42942 |
DISABILITY GRANT |
17065 |
CHILD SUPPORT GRANT |
8559 |
FOSTER CHILD GRANT |
8793 |
CARE-DEPENDENCY GRANT |
3097 |
DG GRANT-IN-AID |
1841 |
GRANT-IN-AID |
188 |
OAG GRANT-IN-AID |
1904 |
TOTAL |
84389 |
(c) (i) Number of clients that have been reviewed per Province is displayed in table 2 below:
Table: 2 Number of Clients per Province
PROVINCE |
NUMBER OF CLIENTS |
Eastern Cape |
4531 |
Free State |
5137 |
Gauteng |
6868 |
KwaZulu Natal |
20029 |
Limpopo |
5049 |
Mpumalanga |
4336 |
Northern Cape |
1401 |
North West |
3004 |
Western Cape |
8193 |
Total |
58548 |
(ii) Number of clients still to be reviewed per each Province is reflected in the table below:
Table 3: Number of Clients to be Reviewed.
PROVINCE |
CLIENTS |
Eastern Cape |
3234 |
Free State |
1488 |
Gauteng |
2625 |
KwaZulu Natal |
6871 |
Limpopo |
2422 |
Mpumalanga |
2236 |
Northern Cape |
2817 |
North West |
1892 |
Western Cape |
2256 |
TOTAL |
25841 |
d (i) Number of social grants that have been stopped since clients are not coming forward in each province:
(ii) Number of grants stopped due to clients no longer meeting the means test and qualifying criteria in each Province:
(e) SASSA uses registered mail sent via the post office as provided for in Regulation 30 of Social Assistance Regulations. By law, the onus is on the beneficiary to ensure that the contact details are up to date with the Agency.
(f ) The Regulations makes it the responsibility of the clients to notify the Agency of any changes in personal details. This will enable SASSA to share important information with the client as it uses the details captured on the application form.
The legislation follows three steps. The first is notify the client of a review. The second is to suspend their grant, if they do not respond to the review request. This caters for beneficiaries who did not get the communication, as they would / should approach SASSA if their grant is suspended, to find out why. They will then be notified of the review, and should they complete the review and still qualify for the grant, the suspension will be lifted. The third and final step is cancelling the grant if the beneficiary does not come forward for the review or approach SASSA after being suspended.
20 April 2023 - NW526
Herron, Mr BN to ask the Minister of Social Development
What is the reason that the (a) Government has failed to increase the Social Relief of Distress grant from R350,00 per month to cushion the poor against inflation and (b) specified grant is still regarded as a temporary grant which will end in 2024?
Reply:
a) Government has been unsuccessful in its attempt to increase the value of the Social Relief of Distress grant due to fiscal constraints. The Department is also concerned that since its implementation in 2020, the value has remained unchanged and is not keeping pace with inflation which directly translate to the value of the grant decreasing every year as the inflation increases. The Department approached the National Treasury with a proposal to increase the value of the grant. However, the request was not favourably considered due to fiscal constraints.
b) Yes, whilst the Department appreciates that the grant has been extended to March 2024, it remains a temporary grant. An agreement on the future of the COVID-19 SRD (cSRD) has not as yet been reached, nor what should replace the grant when the temporary arrangement comes to an end. However, the Department is currently exploring options to introduce a more sustainable permanent intervention aimed at addressing the needs of working age population.
20 April 2023 - NW1240
Lees, Mr RA to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises
Whether any Government guarantees have been used by the SA Airways in order to (a) lease, (b) purchase and/or (c) acquire any aircraft since 2 September 2021; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
a) No guarantees were used by SAA for lease of aircraft since 2 September 2021.
b) No guarantees were used by SAA for purchase of aircraft since 2 September 2021.
c) No guarantees were used by SAA to acquire aircraft since 2 September 2021.
The reason guarantees were not used for any of the above is because the conditions for recapitalization of SAA requires that all government guarantees to SAA should be cancelled upon disbursement of funds from government.
Remarks: Reply: Approved / Not Approved
Ms. Jacky Molisane PJ. Gordhan, MP
Acting Director-General Minister
Date: Date:
20 April 2023 - NW757
Essack, Mr F to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises
Whether, considering that during a press conference in early February 2023, the Chairperson of the Eskom Board promised that they were working to ensure that a 60% Energy Availability Factor (EAF) on Eskom’s generation capacity is achieved by 31 March 2023, and noting that a few weeks later Eskom executives pointed out the EAF target set was no longer attainable, he still has full confidence in the Eskom Board now that the Eskom Board has failed to achieve a key target that it had set for itself on the EAF; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the (a) reasons and (b) relevant details?
Reply:
Yes, I have full confidence in the Board.
Eskom is currently facing very constrained energy availability:
- Kusile units 1, 2 and 3 are not available until later in the year, due to the damaged flue. This removes 2100MW.
- Koeberg unit 1 is offline and undergoing refurbishment to extend the life of the unity by 20 years.
- There are a number of units on outages - both planned and unplanned (plus not being returned to service on time). This results in a total unavailability ranging between 15000MW and 18000MW.
In addition, renewable energy projects which are under construction at present do not, yet supply an adequate number of megawatts.
Nonetheless, the Board and management of Eskom have developed a Recovery Plan for the next 18 months, which will ensure incremental gains at each power station.
The public – both residential and areas and business, can also make an important and sizeable contribution to reducing demand by a careful use of geysers, lights and other water heating equipment.
Remarks: Approved / Not Approved
Jacky Molisane PJ Gordhan, MP
Acting Director-General Minister
Date: Date:
20 April 2023 - NW1203
Masipa, Mr NP to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
(1) Whether her department has a national contingency response plan to outbreaks of the foot-and-mouth disease and/or a generic plan for high-impact transboundary and trade sensitive diseases to regulate emergency practices during the outbreaks of controlled animal diseases; if not, why not; if so, (2) whether the plan is available to persons such as provincial state veterinarians; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (3) whether the plan is implemented efficiently; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; (4) whether she and/or her department have made a decision in making a process framework with regard to the outbreak of controlled animal diseases; if not, why not; if so, what are the details of the (a) persons involved, (b) the role of the persons and (c) advice given to date in the interest of transparency?
Reply:
1. Yes.
2. Yes. The contingency plan has been made available to provincial state veterinarians through the Provincial Directors.
3. The implementation of the plan differs across provinces and offices and is mainly influenced by the resources each office/province has allocated to veterinary services. The implementation of the contingency measures is also affected by the structure in the provinces where in some provinces the direct supervisors of animal health technicians have other priorities than disease control measures.
4. Yes, the process framework is already included in the general contingency plan.
(a) Chief Director: Animal Production and Health; Director: Animal Health; Provincial Directors concerned and State Veterinarian(s).
(b) Once an outbreak of national importance is notified and confirmed, the National Director: Animal Health and the Chief Director: Animal Production and Health, who is also the Chief Veterinary Officer, decide on appropriate control measure(s).
(c) In most cases, the advice given to farmers is:
- Only buy animals from confirmed healthy herds/flocks; avoid visiting and buying from auctions which have multiple unknown origin animals and therefore high risk;
- confine animals to avoid contact with other animals and possible infected material and improve biosecurity measures on the farm;
- avoid people/vehicles/equipment entering the farm as they may have been in contact with other animals or infectious material;
- for African Swine Fever: avoid feeding swill (leftovers or kitchen waste); if this is not possible ensure that the food is cooked thoroughly to inactivate the virus (the virus can remain infectious in meat for months); the added benefit is that you will be destroying other diseases with the cooking such as measles, Foot and Mouth Disease, Pseudorabies etc.
20 April 2023 - NW1197
Clarke, Ms M to ask the Minister of Health
What total number of trauma cases have been recorded as (a) crush injury patients and/or (b) crush syndrome patients in (i) public and (ii) private healthcare facilities in each province (aa) in (aaa) 2019, (bbb) 2020, (ccc) 2021 and (ddd) 2022 and (bb) since 1 January2023?
Reply:
(a)(b)(i)(ii) Public health facilities have not been routinely collecting data classified as crush injury and crush syndrome. However, the National Indicator Datasets(NIDS) started collecting information in 2020 on trauma. This data is classified as Accident and Emergency (Casualty) and Trauma unit headcount – Emergency; and Accident and Emergency (Casualty) unit headcount - non-Emergency.
Table1 below indicate overall data on Accidents and Emergency and Trauma Unit headcount for both -Emergency and Non-Emergency by Province
Table 1: Accident and Emergency (Casualty)and Trauma Unit headcount for both emergency and non-emergency from April 2020 to March 2023.
Province |
Item |
April 2020 to March 2021 |
April 2021 to March 2022 |
April 2022 to March 2023 |
Eastern Cape |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) and Trauma unit headcount - Emergency |
268 810 |
305 553 |
299 033 |
Eastern Cape |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) unit headcount - non-Emergency |
241 718 |
972 401 |
263 069 |
Free State |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) and Trauma unit headcount - Emergency |
108 553 |
125 891 |
125 269 |
Free State |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) unit headcount - non-Emergency |
207 144 |
211 880 |
200 482 |
Gauteng |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) and Trauma unit headcount - Emergency |
512 255 |
610 102 |
583 984 |
Gauteng |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) unit headcount - non-Emergency |
252 813 |
343 101 |
421 900 |
KwaZulu-Natal |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) and Trauma unit headcount - Emergency |
381 960 |
405 307 |
409 092 |
KwaZulu-Natal |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) unit headcount - non-Emergency |
492 142 |
607 715 |
637 989 |
Limpopo |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) and Trauma unit headcount - Emergency |
244 131 |
291 818 |
280 911 |
Limpopo e |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) unit headcount - non-Emergency |
241 488 |
277 484 |
235 426 |
Mpumalanga |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) and Trauma unit headcount - Emergency |
211 346 |
244 998 |
243 611 |
Mpumalanga |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) unit headcount - non-Emergency |
121 188 |
173 050 |
146 162 |
Northern Cape |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) and Trauma unit headcount - Emergency |
65 657 |
69 208 |
65 665 |
Northern Cape |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) unit headcount - non-Emergency |
102 883 |
111 587 |
115 623 |
Northwest |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) and Trauma unit headcount - Emergency |
110 555 |
123 935 |
113 856 |
Northwest |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) unit headcount - non-Emergency |
137 592 |
152 883 |
125 648 |
Western Cape |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) and Trauma unit headcount - Emergency |
736 083 |
885 693 |
906 388 |
Western Cape |
Accident and Emergency (Casualty) unit headcount - non-Emergency |
|
|
|
National Total |
4 436 318 |
5 912 606 |
5 174 108 |
Note: data for Western Cape for non -emergency not available
(a)(b)(i)(ii) Data has been requested from the private health care facilities and is not readily available. This will be made available to the honourable upon receipt.
The NIDS has been reviewed to start collecting data from 2023 classified as:
- Sport related trauma – new
- Pedestrian vehicle accident – new
- Motor vehicle accident – new
However, the crush syndrome medically defined as “the systemic manifestations” resulting from crush injury, which can result in organ dysfunction (predominantly acute kidney injury, but multisystem organ injury can also occur), or death is not included in the NIDS.
END.
20 April 2023 - NW1046
Masipa, Mr NP to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
Whether she will (a) release a report on the status of the open cases of Foot-and-Mouth disease outbreak in the provinces that were affected by the specified disease and (b) indicate if the biosecurity measures are in place; if not, why not, in each case; if so, what are the relevant details in each case?
Reply:
a) Yes. Updated reports on Foot and Mouth (FMD) are released on a frequent basis, depending on the stability of the situation, and the latest report is dated 28 March 2023. In the most recent report, there are 183 FMD outbreaks that are open with the World Organization for Animal Health (founded as OIE), while 12 outbreaks have been resolved and closed. Please refer to Annexure A: 2021-2023 Report on Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak.
b) Biosecurity measures are applied in all cases of FMD outbreaks:
- Quarantine notices are placed on all affected premises as soon as the suspicion of FMD is notified.
- Biosecurity measures will differ, depending on the situation on the ground at a particular location, but always includes the prohibition of movement of FMD susceptible animals and unprocessed products from affected locations.
20 April 2023 - NW1259
Essack, Mr F to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises
1. What are the terms of suspension for suspended Denel Dynamics CEO Sello Ntsihlele, is it with full pay or with no pay? (b) if it is with pay, how much has Denel Dynamics paid him to date since his suspension? (c) When is Denel Dynamics expected to conclude its disciplinary processes against Mr. Ntsihlele?
Reply:
According to the information received from Denel:
a) Mr. Ntsihlele was put on precautionary suspension with full pay as per Denel policy on 18 November 2022.
b) The cumulative salary paid from November 2022 to March 2023 is R 360 325.13.
c) Denel Dynamics is expected to conclude its disciplinary processes against Mr. Ntsihlele in May 2023.
I would like to emphasize that Denel's policy on precautionary suspension aligns with the Labour Relations Act, which mandates employees to be suspended with full pay while investigations into allegations against them are being conducted. Denel remains committed to ensuring that its disciplinary processes are carried out in a fair, transparent manner and in compliance with the law.
As the Minister of Public Enterprises, I will continue to closely monitor the situation and take appropriate action to address any concerns that may arise.
Remarks: Reply: Approved / Not approved
Jacky Molisane PJ Gordhan, MP
Acting Director-General Minister
Date: Date:
20 April 2023 - NW1194
Montwedi, Mr Mk to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
Whether her department has reported to the Land Claims Court (LCC) on progress made with the finalisation of land restitution claims lodged by 31 December 1998, as required by the Land Action Movement of South Africa judgements; if not, why not; if so, what (a) date did her department indicate in its report to the LCC as the date it envisages to finalise the outstanding claims and (b) amount would it cost her department to finalise the outstanding claim; (2) whether she will make the latest report available to the public; if not, why not; if so, by what date?
Reply:
(1)(a) The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights reports to the Land Claims Court (LCC) at six months intervals regarding the settlement of outstanding old order claims. This progress includes the backlog reduction strategy, the budget allocations and referral of cases to the LCC. The report does not include a specific date envisaged for finalisation of the outstanding claims as there are outstanding processes that require approval from dependencies which are outside the control of the Commission/Department.
(b) The total amount of R65bn will be required to settle old order claims.
2. Yes. Please refer to Annexure A.
20 April 2023 - NW1113
Groenewald, Dr PJ to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises
Whether any of the contractors who have been appointed at Eskom has a direct and/or indirect connection to Chancellor House; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details of the (a) contractors, (b) contract, (c) time and (d) total amount?
Reply:
According to the information provided by Eskom, I can address your questions as follows:
a) Contractors: Eskom has conducted a search of their Vendor Master system and found no direct contracts between Eskom and Chancellor House. Please note that this search is limited to formal business relationships on record and does not include any informal relationships Chancellor House may have with any of Eskom's suppliers.
b) Contract: Not applicable, as there are no direct contracts between Eskom and Chancellor House according to the search conducted by Eskom.
c) Time: Not applicable, as there are no direct contracts between Eskom and Chancellor House according to the search conducted by Eskom.
d) Total amount: Not applicable, as there are no direct contracts between Eskom and Chancellor House according to the search conducted by Eskom.
Eskom has assured me that they follow proper procurement processes, in alignment with the principles of section 217 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. These processes are designed to ensure transparency and prevent potential conflicts of interest. If you have any concerns and evidence. Kindly make such evidence available to me about potential indirect connections between Chancellor House and Eskom's contractors, further investigation may be necessary to identify and address any such relationships.
Remarks: Approved / Not Approved
Jacky Molisane PJ Gordhan, MP
Acting Director-General Minister
Date: Date:
20 April 2023 - NW678
Siwisa, Ms AM to ask the Minister of Social Development
(a) On what date is it envisaged that her department will start the process of establishing new shelters for family units and (b) what criteria will be utilised to identify the (i) location and (ii) province for such shelters?
Reply:
a) There are no plans to establish new shelters for family units due to the fact that shelter services are integrated. There is no separation of family and individual victims in a shelter. The Department has developed minimum norms and standards for shelters and the intersectoral shelter policy to guide provision of the shelter service. Both guideline and the policy advocates for keeping family together. The set-up of a shelter makes provision in the accommodation arrangements that families are kept together however, all other activities/services are integrated. (Please may we respond to the question-any specific dates for the establishment of the family units shelters?)
b) There is no specific criteria to establish family unit in shelters apart from the shelter minimum norms and standards;
- The upcoming shelter establishment will focus on districts without shelters in the country (KwaZulu-Natal, Northern Cape, Limpopo and North West)
- KwaZulu-Natal - Zululand, Northern Cape – Namaqua and John Toalo Gaetsewe Districts, Limpopo – Waterberg, Sekhukhune and Vhembe Districts and North West – Dr Kenneth Kaunda and Ngaka Modiri Molema)
20 April 2023 - NW516
Gondwe, Dr M to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration
What total number of public servants did the Republic have in its employment in the (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22 financial years; (2) as at 1 January 2023, what total number of public servants does the Republic have in its employment?
Reply:
1. The total number of public servants that were in the employ of the Public Service as reflected on PERSAL for the 3rd quarter ending 31 December 2022 is:
(a) 1 154 799 in 2020/21 financial year, and
(b) 1 155 203 in the 2021/22 financial year.
2. The data of the total number of public servants as at 01 January 2023 is not yet available on PERSAL, however, the total number of public servants during the 3rd quarter ending on 31 December 2022 is 1 166 354.
End
20 April 2023 - NW1058
Mileham, Mr K to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises
Whether, in the recent Independent Power Producers Distribution and Generators Conference hosted by Eskom on 28 February 2023 and on an Eskom slide entitled Performance Overview: Private Renewable Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPPP): Projects 1 megawatts, there is a nuclear project in progress representing 56 megawatts of generation; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the (a) relevant details of the specified project and (b) reasons that the project is a private REIPPPP project?
Reply:
According to the Information received from Eskom
a) Relevant details of the 56 MW nuclear project under the private or non-DMRE REIPPP programme.
This is an Eskom Holdings Steam Generator Replacement (SGR) project. The Grid Access Unit within Distribution processed an application received from Koeberg Nuclear Power Station (KNPS) to increase its power output.
The existing KNPS operating licence expires in 2024, and its continued operation thereafter depends on critical refurbishments which include among other things, the SGR project.
The conclusion of the project will add 20 operational years to the KNPS and increase its power output by approximately 56 MW.
(b) Reason that the project is a private REIPPPP project
All projects that are not participating in the government-regulated generation capacity procurement programme managed by the IPP Office in the DMRE, are considered private REIPPPP projects.
The IPP Office is the sole procurer of generation capacity required for the growth of the economy on behalf of the government.
Therefore, the Eskom nuclear project is not part of the regulated generation capacity procurement programme under the IPP Office.
Remarks: Approved / Not Approved
Jacky Molisane PJ Gordhan, MP
Acting Director-General Minister
Date: Date:
20 April 2023 - NW988
Arries, Ms LH to ask the Minister of Social Development
What is the total number of persons who have received physio-social support from her department following the recent floods in the respective provinces?
Reply:
Province |
Number of persons benefiting from psycho-social support |
Kwa Zulu – Natal |
27 200 |
Northern Cape |
211 |
Limpopo |
103 |
Mpumalanga |
2478 |
Free State |
59 |
Total |
At the time of responding to this question, Western Cape, Gauteng, North West and Eastern Cape provinces had not yet responded.
20 April 2023 - NW775
Masipa, Mr NP to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
Whether she will furnish Mr N P Masipa with the details regarding the status of the draft amendment Bill to the Animals Protection Act, Act 71 of 1962, including who is drafting the amendment, noting that consideration has apparently been given to putting the drafting of the specified amendment out to public tender; (2) (a) how far has the drafting of the Bill progressed and (b) what is the anticipated timeline for completion of the draft, including (i) completion of drafting, (ii) public participation and request for submissions and (iii) submission to Cabinet?
Reply:
1. Yes, the first draft of the Animals Protection Bill has been completed. The draft was considered by the Animal Welfare working group which comprises of provincial representatives on animal welfare. Due to the amount of research required to be undertaken; as well as the sensitivity around animal welfare and the need for benchmarking with the international community and practices, the Department is of the opinion that it does not have sufficient capacity and decided to place the project on tender.
2. (a),(b)(i),(ii),(iii) The first draft of the Bill is in place. It is anticipated that the consultant will start their work in the first quarter of 2023/24 and conclude the assignment in 6 months. The consultant will be required to consult broadly, including the gazetting of the draft document for public comments, and also arranging consultations with focus groups with expertise in animal welfare. The Bill will be submitted for public consultations a month after completion; and processed to Cabinet in the first quarter of 2024/25.
20 April 2023 - NW637
Maotwe, Ms OMC to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises
(1) Whether following the widely published interview with the former Chief Executive Officer of Eskom, Mr A De Ruyter, in which he claims that he informed him about criminal activities by a senior government official in relation to Eskom coal contracts, he immediately took steps to ensure that Mr De Ruyter report the criminal activities that he had uncovered, if not, what was his position in this regard, if so, what are the relevant details ?
Reply:
1. There have been many initiatives in Eskom after the State Capture period to identify corrupt individuals, contracts and payments. A number of individuals and companies have been charged, dismissed or required to pay back money that was earned through illegal or improper means. Among these are ABB, McKinsey and others. The above is a result of the work of SIU, DPCI and Eskom’s own investigations.
2. In terms of section 34 of PRECCA, I am advised that:
- a) Mr De Reyter is a “person who holds a position of authority” as the Chief Executive Officer of Eskom and therefore bears a duty to report corrupt transactions to the DPCI in terms of that section; and
- b) I am excluded from the definition of such persons in section 34(4) of PRECCA.
3. In addition, the following law enforcement and other actions relating to Eskom should be noted:
a) Various measures taken by the Department of Public Enterprises and reported to Parliament regarding the implementation of the recommendations of the Zondo Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector, including Organs of State regarding Eskom in particular;
b) The cancellation of coal supply agreements and construction contracts by Eskom with a value of approximately R11 billion ;
c) Litigation by Eskom that declared invalid coal supply agreements to an approximate value of R3.7 billion;
d) Preventing further losses of approximately R10 billion to Eskom by setting aside other coal supply agreements and constructions contracts;
e) Eskom defending arbitrations brought by contractors with an approximate value of R7.2 billion;
f) Eskom pursuing claims with a value of approximately R4.8 billion against suppliers and former directors of Eskom;
g) Eskom recovering approximately R2 billion unlawfully paid by Eskom to service providers;
h) SIU investigations and Eskom disciplinary action regarding 14 coal transportation service providers concerning payments from 01 January 2010 to 31 January 2021;
i) Ongoing internal investigations into 4 diesel suppliers to Eskom;
j) SIU referrals of 5,635 matters to Eskom for institution of disciplinary proceedings against employees for their failure to submit financial declarations, declare or get approval for doing work outside of Eskom, as a result of lifestyle audits, whistleblower reports and other internal investigations;
k) Pending criminal cases or referrals to the National Prosecuting Authority by law enforcement in at least 125 instances and a further 65 referrals to the Asset Forfeiture Unit relating to Eskom;
l) The Department of Public Enterprises finalising external advice regarding it launching applications to have several former directors of Eskom declared delinquent; and
m) The inclusion of at least 25 former senior executives at Eskom in a database of individuals dismissed for their involvement in state capture and corruption at Eskom.
4. When Mr De Ruyter advised me of this further investigation, I understood that law enforcement (specifically, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation) was involved in the investigation.
5. I have no additional knowledge or evidence of “criminal activities by a senior government official in relation to Eskom coal contracts” referred to in the Question.
Remarks: Reply: Approved / Not approved
Jacky Molisane PJ Gordhan, MP
Acting Director-General Minister
Date: Date:
20 April 2023 - NW955
Cebekhulu, Inkosi RN to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
Whether her department has any plans and/or programmes in place to invest in and/or assist rural farmers by providing processing plants for the proper slaughtering and processing of meat in line with international standards; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
Yes, the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, provides support for processing infrastructure through the Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP). It should be noted that the programme is demand driven, thus the support is reliant on the number of applications received.
20 April 2023 - NW1231
Abrahams, Ms ALA to ask the Minister of Social Development
(1) What is the total number of (a) medical assessment doctors required to service the (i) existing and (ii) forecasted SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) client base in each province and/or region and (b) vacancies in each province and/or region; (2) Whether all SASSA medical assessment doctors have been successfully remunerated in each month since their employment; if not, what total number of doctors remain unpaid; if so, what are the relevant details; (3) Whether SASSA medical assessment doctors are remunerated per client or per hour; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what is the total cost breakdown of SASSA medical assessment doctors in each region?
Reply:
1. (a)(i) and (ii) A total of 315 doctors are contracted by SASSA. Regional distribution is provided on table 1 below. Due to the limited supply of doctors, SASSA contracts all the doctors who respond to the call for services and meet the requirements of the bid specifications.
TABLE 1: MEDICAL ASSESSMENT DOCTORS PER REGION
Region |
Number of Doctors |
Assessments |
Number of Doctors |
Projected Assessments |
Number of Doctors |
Projected Assessments |
Eastern Cape |
30 |
47,677 |
30 |
47,369 |
30 |
47,369 |
Free State |
32 |
48,481 |
32 |
48,168 |
32 |
48,168 |
Gauteng |
49 |
76,633 |
49 |
76,138 |
49 |
76,138 |
KwaZulu-Natal |
74 |
135,325 |
74 |
134,450 |
74 |
134,450 |
Limpopo |
49 |
57,257 |
49 |
56,887 |
49 |
56,887 |
Mpumalanga |
25 |
44,747 |
25 |
44,458 |
25 |
44,458 |
Northern Cape |
26 |
59,401 |
26 |
59,017 |
26 |
59,017 |
North West |
19 |
39,877 |
19 |
39,619 |
19 |
39,619 |
Western Cape |
11 |
104,570 |
18 |
103,894 |
22 |
103,894 |
TOTAL |
315 |
613,968 |
322 |
610,000 |
326 |
610,000 |
In the Western Cape, assessments are also done by the Department of Health through Service Level Agreements held with the District Health Systems.
The increase in the number of directly contracted assessing doctors is specifically to deal with sporadic backlog development in the Eden/Karoo areas of the Western Cape.
1 (b) There are no vacancies as SASSA does not employ doctors within their staff establishment but contracts them for a period of 3 years as service providers to conduct assessments.
2. All doctors have been paid to date for claims submitted. Table below provides details per region:
TABLE 2: PAYMENT PROFILE OF DOCTORS PER REGION
Payment Profile of Doctors Per Region Whose Invoices have not been Paid |
||||
Region |
Number of Doctors |
Total Number of Doctor not Paid |
Total Amount Owed to Doctors |
Actions to ensure that Doctors Owed are paid |
Eastern Cape |
30 |
0 |
0 |
None |
Free State |
32 |
0 |
0 |
None |
Gauteng |
49 |
0 |
0 |
R 601,854.96 worth of services rendered but not yet invoiced by the medical practitioner. |
KwaZulu-Natal |
74 |
0 |
0 |
None |
Limpopo |
49 |
0 |
0 |
None |
Mpumalanga |
25 |
0 |
R401,293 worth of services rendered but not yet invoiced by the medical practitioner. |
|
Northern Cape |
26 |
0 |
0 |
None |
North West |
19 |
0 |
0 |
None |
Western Cape |
11 |
0 |
0 |
R183 489,30 worth of services rendered but not yet invoiced by the medical practitioner. |
TOTAL |
315 |
3. Doctors are contracted and remunerated per assessment and not per hour. The total cost of assessments as at 31 March 2023 per region is detailed below:
Region |
Expenditure as at 31 March 2023 |
Eastern Cape |
9,742,460.08 |
Free State |
9,337,308.93 |
Gauteng |
13,414,069.13 |
KwaZulu-Natal |
26,061,820.41 |
Limpopo |
10,615,727.60 |
Mpumalanga |
8,281,485.36 |
Northern Cape |
13,388,668.93 |
North West |
8,263,634.98 |
Western Cape |
19,508,799.61 |
TOTAL |
118,613,975.03 |
20 April 2023 - NW777
Masipa, Mr NP to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
With regard to the statement made by her department in November 2021 that the most probable time in which a colloquium can be held is the first quarter of the next financial year and that the financial year is almost finished, on what date will the Colloquium on Animal Welfare, raised by her department and/or the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, be held?
Reply:
The colloquium on Animal Welfare will be held once a consultant to conduct the necessary background research and develop the Bill has been appointed. This is envisaged to be facilitated within the first quarter of the 2023/24 financial year.
20 April 2023 - NW734
Cebekhulu, Inkosi RN to ask the Minister of the Public Service and Administration
Whether, with regard to the treatment of persons with disabilities by public servants that has been reported to be unkind, dismissive and marginalising, her department has programmes and inter-departmental collaborations in place to train public servants to professionally attend to those with disabilities at various public service institutions in a professional and appropriate manner; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
The National School of Government is rolling-out the Disability Mainstreaming Course. The training materials are available in Braille and Software enabled programmes. Training and development in the Public Service is framed by a range of policy statements and legislation, particularly the White Paper on Public Service Education and Training, the White Paper on Human Resource Management, the Public Service Regulations, and the Strategic Framework on the Development of Human Resources in the Public Service.
Ultimately, through this course, we want to create a positive reaction in the Public Service, a reaction that will bring about change that will open-up a space for Persons with Disabilities to assume their rightful position in our democratic society, where there is respect for their human dignity and where they experience equality and freedom.
This course is framed in the context of the Public Service ethos and its partnership with disability movement organisations. It is designed in accordance with the objectives of the JobACCESS Strategic Framework on the Recruitment, Employment and Retention of Persons with Disabilities in the Public Service, along with its Implementation Guidelines and Plan, and the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, (WPRPD), 2015. The strategic objective of the course is, in the main, to contribute to the transformation of the Public Service workplace, and to also impact on the social
transformation of society through appropriate service delivery, by valuing diversity, removal of discrimination against Persons with Disabilities, and contributing to the vision of universal design and access.
The purpose of this training course is to facilitate the inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in the workplace, and removing barriers that prevent their successful participation in the job market. Learners can develop presentations and raise awareness to the benefit of supporting a diverse workplace, and with benefits to the employers, employees, customers, and the community. Learners will be equipped to know what the legal requirements, the Codes of Good Practice and manuals on the employment of Persons with Disabilities are.
Qualifying learners are capable of: Communicating benefits and rights of Persons with Disabilities in the workplace; facilitating equitable representation for Persons with Disabilities in the workplace and conducting interventions to remove barriers for Persons with Disabilities in the workplace. Also, qualifying learners will be able to: Apply the DPSA Monitoring and Evaluation Framework; effectively report on disability issues in their organisations; understand the needs and challenges of Persons with Disabilities in the workplace; understand the needs and challenges of the employer (manager) appointing and managing a Person with a disability in the workplace; compile effective action plans for their organisations; advise line managers and human resource units on disability management issues in the workplace and a standardised approach and strategies aimed at organisational implementation of the Strategic Framework.
Overall, the 5-day training will result in enhanced skills, knowledge and abilities of disability programme managers. Specific outcomes as outlined in the Unit Standard from which the course credits are derived are as follows:
- Communicate benefits and rights of Persons with Disabilities in the workplace (Specific Outcome 1).
- Facilitate equitable representation for Persons with Disabilities in the workplace (Specific Outcome 2).
- Conduct interventions to remove barriers for Persons with Disabilities in the workplace (Specific Outcome 3).
The National School of Government participates in the Disability forums convene by the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities. The National School of Government signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities for the implementation of a customised Disability Mainstreaming Course. The Agreement is funded by the United Nations Population Fund aimed at capacitating officials in the mainstreaming of disability into operations.
The NSG also offers Championing Anti-Discrimination in the Public Service as a free, online course. This Course has been specifically developed for public servants to intervene in, and ultimately to end, discrimination in the public service, amongst public servants, and by public servants against the public. The public sector is an extension and reflection of society. Yet, it is this very public sector that is compelled to uphold, promote and protect a legislative and ethical higher ground. The public servants are responsible for implementing the National Development Plan (NDP) 2030 and Medium-
Term Strategic Framework (MTSF) 2019-2024, which are based on promoting and protecting the South African Constitution and Bill of Rights, in addition to meeting continental (AU Agenda 2063) and international (UN SDGs) obligations.
The Course includes the complexities of difference, power and privilege, the need to claim agency rather than victimhood, to routinely and safely intervene when witnessing discrimination, and to act as allies to the marginalised. In this way, the public sector will contribute significantly to building a society in which everyone’s rights are realised, a public sector that is compassionate, just and ethical, for a capable, developmental state. The purpose of this Course is to examine our beliefs, attitudes, thinking and behaviour to strengthen public sector officials to be capable of combatting discrimination wherever they may find it. This Course provides information on the key concepts, principles and application of Championing Anti-Discrimination in the Public Service. The participants are encouraged to continue with conversations about this programme content with peers, colleagues, friends and family, privately and in public. It is designed to be accessible for all public servants. Throughout the course participants do ‘Knowledge Checks’ facilitated by the NSG on-line system. They are only deemed to have succeeded at the course, and so to be eligible for a certificate of completion once they have achieved 75% at the Knowledge Checks. Participants will be awarded a Certificate of Completion after completing the programme, which they can print out for themselves online.
End
20 April 2023 - NW1077
van der Merwe, Ms LL to ask the Minister of Social Development
Whether proper consideration has been given to the proposal by the Institute for Economic Justice and the Socio-Economic Rights Institute of SA that the Social Relief of Distress grant be increased to a minimum of R413 in line with inflation, considering that the cost of living has risen substantially since the R350 grant was first introduced in 2020; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
Yes. The Department is concerned that since the inception of the COVID-19 SRD (cSRD) the value of the grant has never increased resulting in the purchasing power of the grant diminishing and not keeping pace with inflation. Food inflation is likely to increase the vulnerability of the poor and further compounding the triple challenge of poverty, inequality and unemployment. The research and modelling work conducted by the Department in 2021 and 2022 supported a proposal to increase the value of the provision. Subsequently, the Department made a request to National Treasury for an inflationary increase to the value of the grant from R350 to R420 with the next iteration (2023/24), but the proposal was not approved by the National Treasury. The Department will continuously engage with the National Treasury to consider the inflationary increase to the cSRD grant.
It must be understood that DSD is implementing a decision of government as announced by the President during SONA in February 2023 based on the resources that have been allocated by NT.
20 April 2023 - NW858
Komane, Ms RN to ask the MINISTER OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISES
What investigative measures has he taken to confirm the allegations made by the former Chief Executive Officer of Eskom regarding fraud and corruption at Eskom? NW964E
Reply:
1. The work done since 2018 to date to address corruption within Eskom is as follows:
a) Contracts cancelled by Eskom because of SIU’s investigations:
- Coal Supply Agreement (CSA) - R6.955 bn.
- Build contracts – R4.128 bn.
- Total – 11.083 bn.
b) Contracts declared invalid by the courts.
- Tegeta – Brakfontein/Majuba Coal Supply Agreement - R3.7 bn.
c) Savings/Losses Prevented
- CSA: Setting aside Brakfontein CSA – R2.684 bn.
- CSA: Cancellation of Koorfontein CSA - R5.550 bn.
- Build Contract matter before Dispute Arbitration Board - R400 m.
- Prevention of future losses – R1.45 bn.
d) Evidence referred to assist Eskom in the defence of five contractors' claims of R7.2 bn before the Dispute Arbitration Board.
e) Approximately R4,8 bn is being claimed against suppliers and former directors of Eskom.
f) Eskom and SIU successfully recovered R2 bn unlawfully paid to Trillian, Deloitte, ABB, and Meagra Transport CC.
g) SIU launched investigations into 14 coal transportation service provider concerning payments from 01 January 2010 to 31 January 2021.
- Five employees were suspended, one resigned during the interview with the investigating team and one resigned prior to commencement of the investigation.
- The official who resigned during the interview received R3.1m from one of the vendors under investigation.
- The SIU Tribunal granted an order in October 2021 to freeze R11.5m held in a bank account of an entity, which a senior Eskom official was a signatory, and the official was dismissed.
- 15 criminal cases are being investigated in relation to coal transport contracts.
h) Four diesel suppliers implicated in potential wrongdoing are under investigation.
i) SIU has referred the following 5620 matters to Eskom for institution of disciplinary proceedings:
- 5464 for failure to submit financial declarations that are integral in preventing and detecting conflict of interest concerning the management of Eskom's resources.
- 135 for failing to declare or get approval for doing work outside of Eskom.
- 11 officials were red flagged through lifestyle audits.
- 10 officials referred through whistle blower reports.
- 14 officials referred concerning findings from build contract investigations.
- 1 official in relation to coal transportation contract.
j) Eskom officials who failed to declare their conflict of interest and/or who conducted business with Eskom:
- 334 officials have been identified who are potentially linked to entities that are Eskom’s vendors with 161 of them potentially linked to entities that received payment from Eskom.
k) Total of 134 officials were referred for disciplinary proceedings relating to conflict of interest. 116 cases have been finalised as follows:
- 67 guilty.
- 18 not guilty.
- 19 resigned.
- 4 retired.
- 8 withdrawn.
- All cases are being evaluated to determine the prospects of civil recoveries.
l) 11 Eskom officials were red flagged through lifestyle audits and referred for disciplinary proceeding. The cases were finalised as follows:
- 7 guilty.
- 2 not guilty.
- 1 resigned.
- 1 retired.
m) Eskom has opened 11 criminal cases for investigation by law enforcement agencies with the view to ensure that perpetrators of state capture are prosecuted.
n) 2 cases of corruption are before the courts, one relates to ABB and another one relates to former Acting GCE Mr. Koko.
o) The SIU has recommended the restriction of 76 vendors who are linked to Eskom officials.
p) A total of 112 referrals have been made to the NPA.
- Conflict of interest: 14 matters referred.
- Build contracts: 73 matters referred.
- Coal procurement/transportation: 15 matters referred.
- IT contracts: 10 matters referred.
q) A total of 65 referrals have been made to the Asset Forfeiture Unit.
- Build contracts – 61 matters referred with restraint orders totalling R1.48 bn obtained.
- Coal procurement/transportation – 15 matters referred.
- IT contracts – 10 matters referred.
r) The DPE is currently finalising consultations with CIPC with the view to imminently launch director delinquency proceedings against 13 former directors of Eskom.
s) 25 names of former senior executive of Eskom have been identified for inclusion into a centralised database of individuals dismissed for their involvement in state capture or who resigned from Eskom to avoid accountability for state capture. The database will be used to monitor those individuals who abused their positions of authority in one sphere of government and/ or entity, do not resurface in another.
Remarks: Reply: Approved / Not approved
Jacky Molisane PJ Gordhan, MP
Acting Director-General Minister
Date: Date:
20 April 2023 - NW838
Shaik Emam, Mr AM to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
Given the fact that the agricultural sector lost thousands of jobs as per the last quarter employment statistics report, what are the reasons that there is a reluctance within her department to take advantage of the indigenous plants in the Republic, for example strelitzia reginae and pelargonium, including cannabis and many other indigenous plants grown particularly by the first indigenous persons of the nation, which are used for medicinal purposes internationally to enhance the sector, boost job creation and encourage small, micro and medium enterprises, as well as small-scale farmers?
Reply:
There is no reluctance on the side of the Department Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) to take advantage of indigenous plants in the Republic. This position is demonstrated through DALRRD’s support of research on several indigenous plants which have actual or potential use in agriculture and agro-processing. This includes research on a number of indigenous plants (such as African Ginger, African wormwood); the research focus include, amongst others:
- development of suitable or optimal cultivation practices to prevent harvesting of plant material from the wild;
- phytochemical analyses of active ingredients of the plants to elucidate or confirm potential useful characteristics;
- collection, storage and characterization to maintain its genetic diversity; and
- product development and value-adding.
It should be noted that bioprospecting (which cover commercial application) of indigenous plants is subject to the National Environmental Management: Biodiversity Act (NEMBA), 2004 (Act No. 10 of 2004). This requires complex compliance conditions which hinders commercial exploitation of indigenous plant and investment. Plants used traditionally in agriculture (such as maize, wheat, etc.) are excluded from the provisions of NEMBA.
DALRRD is currently developing the Cannabis Master Plan, which aims to unlock the economic potential of the Cannabis sector.
20 April 2023 - NW896
Masipa, Mr NP to ask the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
What is the total number of horses that were (a) vaccinated, (b) not vaccinated on time and (c) not vaccinated at all for the African Horse Sickness in each province due to the lack of vaccines at Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022; (2) what are the reasons (a) that OBP has not been able to produce vaccines on time since 1 January 2020 up to 15 March 2023 and (b) for the delays in producing the needed vaccines; (3) what (a) actions have been taken and (b) mitigating factors are in place to correct the problem?
Reply:
1. In the current financial year Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) sold 49 364 doses of horse sickness vaccine.
a) (i) In 2021, 6236 equines were vaccinated (ii) 2022, 5898 equines were vaccinated In the African Horse Sickness (AHS) surveillance zone and AHS free zone, the number of equines vaccinated is known as permission is required from the Veterinary Authority for vaccination. |
(b)(i)(ii) The Department does not keep records of animals vaccinated for any endemic disease in the country even though it encourages owners to vaccinate their animals. AHS is endemic in the rest of the country, no records of numbers vaccinated is kept. |
(c)(i)(ii) OBP produced enough vaccine during 2020 for the market. Thereafter until 2023 disruptions due to equipment breakdown and load-shedding started which disrupted consistent production supply. |
2. (a)(b) responded by in 1(c)
3. (a) OBP is currently refurbishing critical equipment and has commenced in procuring new equipment.
(b) Negotiations are currently taking place to consider contract manufacturing with the aim of increasing OBP production output.