Questions and Replies

Reply:

1. The Health Sector Anti-Corruption Forum (HSACF) has convened its meetings on Nine (09) occasions since 2018, below is the details of the meetings:

#	Date of Meeting
1.	23 August 2018
2.	20 November 2018
3.	27 November 2019
4.	21 May 2019
5.	30 June 2020
6.	02 December 2020
7.	29 June 2021
8.	30 March 2022
9.	21 September 2022

 

In addition, the HSACF has established the Steering Committee that has been mandated to assess all health-related corruption allegations that have been reported. The Steering Committee serves as an operational structure of HSACF and meets more frequently or as and when there are new allegations that has been reported, which requires to go through assessment process.

2. (a) Number of allegations of corruption have (i) been referred to the forum and (ii) resulted in investigations by the HSACF in each year since 2018.

• A total number of eleven (11) allegations were reported to the HSACF in 2018/19/20. All allegations were referred to the relevant entities who are part of the HSACF for formal investigations as per their legislative mandate.

• A total number of twelve (12) allegations were reported to the HSACF in 2020/21. All allegations were referred to the relevant entities who are part of the HSACF for formal investigations as per their legislative mandate.

• A total number of five (05) allegations were reported to the HSACF in 2021/22. All allegations were referred to the relevant entities who are part of the HSACF for formal investigations as per their legislative mandate.

• One (01) allegation was reported to the HSACF in 2022/23. The allegation was referred to the relevant entity who is part of the HSACF for formal investigations as per their legislative mandate.

3. The HSACF has registered quite a significant investigations outcomes or successes in twelve (12) matters that were reported to the Forum and formally investigated by member entities. The below table highlight some of the successes in terms of criminal prosecution, civil recoveries, and medical aid sanctions:

#	Entity Investigated	Investigation Outcomes
1	Health Professional Council of South Africa	Presidential report submitted in May 2022 DC referrals 19 NPA referrals 21 SARS referrals 2 OHSC referral 1
2	Provision of Aero Medical & Patient Transport – NW	Freezing order of former HOD pension to the value of R2 125 113,58 R30 000 000 civil proceeding have been instituted. HOD has been referred for disciplinary and has been dismissed on 13 January 2020 NPA criminal referral for 2 officials (Thapelo Buthelezi & CFO Mr Lekalakala) Disciplinary referral made for CFO who facilitated the irregular payments to Buthelezi EMS Civil proceedings underway to the value of R204 million are being instituted against Buthelezi EMS
3	Provision of Aero Medical & Patient Transport – FS	10 disciplinary referrals. 8 referrals for administrative action. 5 referrals to the NPA
4	National Health Laboratory Services	8x Disciplinary Referrals 11x NPA Referrals 8x finalised investigations 1 x Civil referral: Review application against 8 companies: R172 million. Preservation order obtained
5	Council for Medical Schemes	13 x disciplinary referrals relating to 2 individuals. 1 x criminal referral relating to 18 individuals. 4 x systemic recommendations 53 x investigations concluded (lifestyles, complaints, procurement, regulatory reviews)
6	Office of the State Attorney	Focus Area 1: Maladministration in connection with the affairs of the office of the State Attorney in relation to― (a) legal services that were provided, or procured, by the office of the State Attorney in the performance of its functions as contemplated in section 3 of the State Attorney Act, 1957 (Act No. 56 of 1957), on behalf of― (i) the Gauteng Department of Health and the Eastern Cape Department of Health in respect of claims based on medical negligence; Legal Practitioners Civil litigation instituted to the value of R82 994 347 for potential cash and/or assets recovered. R 217 000 Acknowledgement of Debt - AoD signed 8x disciplinary referrals 15x administration actions referrals 12x criminal referrals Medical negligence cases in Court. Civil litigation instituted to the value of R412 549 298 for potential cash and/or assets recovered. Rand value of potential loss prevented to the amount of R412 549 298 14x disciplinary referrals made. 13x administrative action referrals 7x criminal prosecution referrals Rand value of matters in respect of which evidence was referred for the institution or defence/opposition of civil proceedings to the value of R412 549 298 Focus Area 2: Maladministration in connection with the affairs of the office of the State Attorney in relation to ― the South African Police Service in respect of claims based on wrongful arrest or detention, assault, or malicious prosecution. Rand value of potential cash and/or assets to be recovered to the value of R1 600 000.00 Rand value of potential loss prevented to the amount of R25 747 581 1x disciplinary referral made. Focus Area 3: The procurement of legal services, as contemplated in paragraph 2(a) of this Schedule, by the office of the State Attorney, or payments which were made in respect thereof, in a manner that was― (a) not fair, competitive, transparent, equitable or cost-effective; or (b) contrary to manuals, policies, procedures, prescripts, instructions or practices of, or applicable to the office of the State Attorney, and any related unauthorised, irregular or fruitless and wasteful expenditure which the Department or the State incurred as a result thereof. Rand value of potential cash and/or assets to be recovered to the value of R4 146 476 079. Rand value of actual cash and/or assets recovered to the value of R2 228 773.44 2x disciplinary referrals 5x criminal prosecution referrals Focus Area 4: Irregular conduct by— (a) employees or officials of the office of the State Attorney; or (b) any other person or entity, relating to the allegations referred to in paragraphs 2 or 3 of this Schedule." 27 criminal prosecution referrals 33 Administrative action referrals 28 disciplinary referrals 1x SARS referral 12x systemic recommendations made.
7	South African Health Product Regulatory Authority	5x criminal referral letters have been for referred to NPA to institute criminal prosecutions for fraud in respect of 5 officials who caused the issuing of irregular licenses. 5x disciplinary action referral letters (DCs) have been referred to the South African Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) so that they can be disciplined in line with their policies and the Public Service Act. The investigating team is busy drafting the Final Presidential Report.
8	National Department of Health Medico Legal Claims	18 legal practitioners are being investigated by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) that assisted the Office of the State Attorney in rendering legal services in respect of medical negligence claims on the Gauteng Department of Health and the Eastern Cape Department of Health. 17 claims of legal practitioners still need to be verified by Legal Tax Bill Consultants. The SIU is also busy litigating cases involving Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) with acute profound & partially prolonged in courts costing more than R203 549 298. Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) with acute profound & partially prolonged. Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) with acute profound & partially prolonged. The SIU has investigated Janilite (PTY) Ltd which acted as intermediary in both ECDH & GDH and a settlement of R2 228 773.44 was agreed by the departments with the assistance of the SIU.
9	National Department of Health	The docket has been submitted to the State Prosecutor for decision, this matter relate to senior officials who defrauded the Department of Health millions in subsistence and travel irregularities.
10	Government Employee Medical Scheme (GEMS)	The docket is almost complete, the Investigator is working on concluding financial report based on financial statements. The docket will soon be submitted to State Prosecutor for decision
11	COVID-19 National Proclamation	The final report was submitted to the President in June 2022. The legal outcomes have been presented to Parliament oversight Committees
12	Pretoria Eye Institute	Acknowledgements of debts was signed on this matter with some of the medical schemes that are affected who were involved in claim irregularities.

4. Specified preventative and/or risk-management measures were implemented by the HSACF

1. A series of webinars were successfully rolled out in 2020/21FY under the banner of HSACF Corruption Prevention Program with the following objectives:

• To create public awareness about corruption in the health sector
• To profile the Health Sector Anti-Corruption Forum (HSACF)
• To raise awareness about whistleblowing and witness protection

Amongst the thematic areas in relation to health sector corruption that were discussed include the following:

• The corruption pandemic in South Africa’s health sector
• National Health Insurance (NHI) and its vulnerability to corruption
• Combatting corruption in the private health sector
• When corruption and Covid-19 intersect
• Unpacking whistleblowing protection in South Africa

2. Collaboration with UNODC to implement corruption prevention programs in South Africa’s health sector.

• The HSACF is collaborating with the UNODC to implement corruption prevention initiatives in the health sector, which include strengthening whistleblowing/reporting mechanism and corruption risk assessments. Two (2) health sector entities were identified to implement these projects.

• These entities include HPCSA where a pilot project will be implemented on strengthening their internal whistleblowing/reporting channels and National Department of Health where corruption risk assessments will be implemented in particular around procurement.

3. Corruption Risk Mitigation Plan for COVID-19 Vaccine Roll-Out

• The COVID-19 Corruption Risk Mitigation Plan (CRIMP) was initiated to supports the National Covid-19 Vaccine Roll-Out Plan, led by the Inter-Ministerial Committee, chaired by the Deputy President
• The key objective of CRIMP was to develop and implement a specific anti-corruption lens on the roll-out of the vaccine taking lessons from the PPE investigations.
• The development of the CRIMP was led by DPME, working closely Health Sector Anti-Corruption Forum, convened by the SIU under the ACTT Prog 4.

The specific purpose of CRIMP was to enhance and complement existing efforts by providing:

• Framework and template to assess COVID-19 Vaccine corruption risks.
• Consolidate and Assess (“hack”/stress test) the workstream plans into a single, living anti-corruption risk mitigation plan.
• Act as coordination interface between the IMC work streams and specialist anti-corruption capacity (such as ACTT and its Fusion Centre) where required.
• Act as coordination interface with civil society, business, and labour; and optimise the existing mechanisms (e.g., with the SIU led Health Sector Anti-Corruption Forum) on broadening the anti-corruption response.

END.

Reply:

a) It has come to the Department’s observation that there is a significant amount of research that needs to be conducted to ensure that the ultimate legislation is modern and is not misleading. With limited capacity within the Department and dependency on the Animal Welfare working group, comprising of veterinarians from the national and provincial departments, this has led to delays in finalising the bill.

b) The Animal Welfare working group has drafted the first version of the Bill, which is now being studied carefully for the purpose of benchmarking the draft against international best practices and the latest research publications on animal welfare. With such investigations being necessary the Department is considering placing the project on tender especially because time has elapsed since the completion of the draft.

Reply:

(1)(a) The current status of specified vaccines available is as follows:

VACCINES IN STOCK	AVAILABILITY (Y)/(N)	COMMENT
Anaplasmosis	Yes	N/A
Heartwater	Yes	N/A
Redwater Asiatic	Yes	N/A
Redwater African	Yes	N/A
Anthrax	Yes	N/A
Black Quarter	Yes	N/A
Pasteurella	Yes	N/A
Elephant Skin Disease	Yes	N/A
Tetanus	Yes	N/A
Bluetongue	Yes	Product available in stock but already invoiced to a client
African Horse Sickness	No	Product going into production on the week ending 17 March 2023 and available on the market the week ending 7 April 2023.
Lumpy Skin Disease	No	Product available end April 2023.
Pulpy Kidney Alum	No	Product available end April 2023
Brucella S19	No	Product available end May 2023.
Brucella Rev 1	No	Product available end May 2023.
Rift Valley Fever Live	Yes	Product available in stock – minimum quantities, in planned production
Rift Valley Fever Inactivated	Yes	Product available in stock more than 500 000doses
Botulism	No	Product available end April 2023.

(b)(i),(ii) List of vaccines in stock and not in stock. Please refer to the table below. Please refer to the table below.

 

(i) VACCINES IN STOCK	(ii) VACCINES NOT IN STOCK
Anaplasmosis	Bluetongue
Heartwater	African Horse Sickness
Redwater Asiatic	Lumpy Skin Disease
Redwater African	Pulpy Kidney Alum
Anthrax	Brucella S19
Black Quarter	Brucella Rev 1
Elephant Skin Disease	Rift Valley Fever Live
Tetanus	Rift Valley Fever Inactivated
	Botulism

1. Expected date on which vaccines currently not in stock would be available: Please refer to the table below.

Vaccine	Expected Date of Delivery to the Market
Bluetongue	Product awaiting Quality Control results due the week ending 10 March 2023. Product to be distributed to the market week ending the 24 March 2023.
African Horse Sickness	Product going into production on the week ending 17 March 2023 and available on the market the week ending 7 April 2023.
Lumpy Skin Disease	Product expected delivery date end April 2023.
Pulpy Kidney Alum	Product expected delivery date end April 2023.
Brucella S19	Product expected delivery date end May 2023.
Brucella Rev 1	Product expected delivery date end May 2023.
Rift Valley Fever Live	Product awaiting packaging and will be available to the market the week ending 17 March 2023.
Rift Valley Fever Inactivated	Product awaiting packaging and will be available to the market the week ending 17 March 2023.
Botulism	Product expected delivery date end April 2023.

All vaccines above are scheduled for production in March 2023 and April 2023, and to undergo quality testing in April 2023 and May 2023.

2. The other vaccines that may replace unavailable vaccines are imported products of companies from other countries. Bluetongue, African Horse Sickness and probably Rift Valley Fever, as far as we know are only produced at OBP. Vaccines such as Brucella S19 may be replaced with vaccines from companies such as MSD Animal Health which makes available a vaccine known as RB 51 which has the advantage that it can be given to animals older than 8 months. A vaccine such as S19 normally has a restricted age of between 4 and 8 months. S19 provides much longer protection. Botulism may be available from combination vaccines from similar pharmaceutical companies. All other vaccines may have alternative products.

3. The Department is supporting the Entity in its three-pronged long-term strategy to satisfactorily meet market vaccine demands. The four-pronged strategy as approved by the entity includes:

• Implementing a sustainable planned and preventative maintenance programme;
• Seven-year critical equipment recapitalisation plan;
• Finding an alternative manufacturing site for its vaccines;
• Completing the Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) facility project; and
• To augment the Entity’s strategy, the Department will also be looking at ways of supporting the entity in its renewable energy initiative as well as infrastructure recapitalisation programme.

Reply:

(1) The Department is taking the following epidemiological responses to contain measles outbreak:

a) Measles campaign vaccination

Nationwide mass measles vaccination campaign is conducted in all 52 districts to contain outbreak by administering additional measles dose to all children from 6 months to 15 years regardless of their previous history of measles vaccination.

b) Epidemiological and clinical management of cases and contacts.

• All confirmed measles outbreak cases are epidemiologically investigated through field visits, and support to the affected areas are provided by both provincial and national teams.
• All suspected measles outbreaks are confirmed by the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD) to be due to measles virus infection.
• There is clinical management of cases including isolation, administration of Vitamin A, management of complications and follow-up of close contacts.

c) Intensified Measles surveillance

• Measles surveillance is intensified to actively seek additional cases both in public and private health facilities.
• Health workers are urged to be on the alert to detect, investigate and appropriately manage cases.
• There is an ongoing full investigations of possible outbreaks in non-affected districts and urgent measures to strengthen surveillance are implemented.

d) Enhanced communication

Various Risk Communication and Community Engagement platforms are used to raise awareness in the communities about the disease and its prevention - and alerted to report people with measles symptoms and to ensure that children are fully vaccinated according to the national schedule.

e) Establishment of Outbreak Response teams

Outbreak teams have been established at district, provincial and national levels. The following work streams have been established within the national outbreak response team:

• Case management (including contact tracing)
• Surveillance and reporting
• Risk Communication and Community Engagement
• Supplementary vaccination campaign planning and execution – includes vaccine procurement and data management sub-streams.

(b) Children from 6 months to 15 years are given an additional measles dose at Early Development Centres, Primary schools and High schools.

END.

Reply:

1. The honourable member should note that nurses do not register with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA), but with the South African Nursing Council (SANC).

(a)-(b) As per the information received from the SANC, the total number of nurses whose membership was terminated or their names removed due to their registration lapsing is 21 332 over the period of 2021 to 2022, as per the table below. The reasons are also reflected in the very table below.

Table 1.

	Reason for removal
Province	Deceased	Removed - Administratively	Removed - At own request	Removed - Disciplinary	Removed - Non-payment of annual fee	Grand Total
Eastern Cape	14	2	8	1	3020	3045
Free State			3		1086	1089
Gauteng	24	3	32	5	5257	5321
KwaZulu-Natal	39	5	27	0	4708	4779
Limpopo	16		2	3	1622	1643
Mpumalanga	2	2	1	0	929	934
North-West	8		5		1362	1375
Northern Cape	1		0	1	343	345
Outside RSA			4		84	88
Western Cape	7	6	21	0	2679	2713
Grand Total	111	18	103	10	21090	21332

2. In order to assist nurses with their lapsed registration, the Department has successfully signed Resolution 3 of 2019 at the Public Health and Social Development Sectoral Bargaining Council (PHSDSBC) which is an agreement on payment of annual statutory registration fees in respect of health and social development professionals (including Nurses)

The objective of the Resolution amongst others is to:

- Introduce mandatory deductions of professional registration fees from salary of employees by PERSAL as required by the respective statutory professional bodies in the Health and Social Development Departments.

- Assist in the monitoring of potential risks and compliance with registration requirement for appointment and practice as stipulated in the respective Statutory Professional bodies in the departments

END.

Reply:

a) Not all hospitals have been exempted from the load-shedding. However, the National Department of Health has provided Eskom with a total of 213 hospitals to be considered for possible exclusion from loadshedding. About 67% of these hospitals are supplied by municipalities while Eskom supplies about 33% of the identified hospitals. Out of the 213 hospitals, 76 hospitals have been exempted of which 26 are directly supplied by Eskom and 50 by Municipalities. The number of hospitals exempted to date have doubled since the meeting held on 22 September 2022 between Eskom and National Department of Health. To date, there are 7 hospitals exempted in Eastern Cape, 9 in Limpopo, 15 in KZN, 4 in Mpumalanga, 4 in Western Cape, 2 in Northern Cape, 3 in North West, 14 in Free State, and 18 in Gauteng provinces. Should there be a need of hospitals names per province, a breakdown list of hospitals is available on request.

b) Load-shedding has a negative impact to the provision of health services at primary health facilities, hospitals, community health centres, clinics, EMS centres including the forensic laboratories. In order to reduce the impact of load-shedding, the National Department of Health is seeking for the financial support to assist with the effective delivery of the following areas:

(i) Additional funding support for fuel, oil including the servicing of generators. The hospitals have been forced to use its budget on fuel, oil and medical gas just to keep healthcare facilities running. With persistent stage 6 load-shedding, greater energy demand is placed on generator capability which requires increased fuel consumption and vast expenditure.

(ii) Additional funding support for the installation of dedicated lines for certain key hospitals that are deeply embedded within the Eskom’s or Municipal networks rendering exclusion impossible in their current state as bigger loads are to be exempted.

(iii) Additional funding support for the roll-out of the solar energy + battery storage as back-up supply to all the clinics, CHC’s, hospitals, EMS centres including the forensic laboratories.

END.

Reply:

Steps the department has taken to raise awareness amongst the public about the prevention and management of cholera.

After the WHO reported that the cholera outbreak had occurred in Malawi and Mozambique, and other countries in the SADC regions, the National Department of Health alerted all the provinces about the cholera outbreak. The provinces were requested to use the risk assessment and contingency plan tools to assess their capacity for preparedness and readiness for cholera outbreak. The National Department of Health met with the provinces to discuss the plans and actions required in preventing and controlling the spread of cholera. Steps that were taken to raise awareness amongst the public about the prevention and management of cholera are outlined below as follows:

a) Prevention and Control

The National Department of Health has activated the Multisectoral National Outbreak Response Teams (MNORT), which includes members from the National Department of Health, National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), provinces and the World Health Organization (WHO). The focus areas include surveillance; water, sanitation and hygiene; social mobilisation; Risk Communication and Community Engagement. The MNORT meetings are held on weekly basis (Fridays) to discuss the ongoing cholera outbreak in the country.

• A public announcement was made to inform and alert the public about the outbreak of cholera.
• All provinces received cholera guidelines and case investigation forms.

b) Surveillance

Disease surveillance, preparedness and outbreak response activities to detect outbreaks rapidly are ongoing in the provinces and at national level.

c) Water and sanitation interventions

The long-term solution for cholera control lies in access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation. Actions targeting environmental conditions including the implementation of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) solutions to ensure use of safe water, basic sanitation and good hygiene practices in cholera hotspots are being addressed. 

d) Community Engagement

Community engagements were conducted in all provinces, and distribution of Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) pamphlets and posters to teach the public about potential risks, symptoms of cholera, precautions to take to avoid cholera, when and where to report cases and to seek immediate treatment when symptoms appear continues to take place.

Awareness was raised about prevention through:

• Development and distribution of posters and flyers
• Giving health talks on community radio stations
• Cholera prevention and management messages were shared using departmental social media.
• Continuous health education is conducted in health facilities.

END.

Reply:

1. The Pandemic Treaty deliberation are still in the conceptualisation of a Zero Draft framework and negotiations have not yet commenced. South Africa participated in discussions focussing on the development of the Conceptual Draft Document which is a framework and outline of the envisaged pandemic instrument that looks at background, methodology and approach to be used during the development of the negotiation tool. South Africa was represented by our Health Attache to Geneva and the United Nations, Ms Lebogang Lebese, who is based in the South African Mission in Geneva.

2. South Africa is championing the cause of access and equity in pandemic preparedness and response. Therefore, the technical input to the Conceptual Zero draft referred to above, was centred around strengthening of the framework in the areas of “operationalisation of the instrument and on achieving equity” with emphasis on seven types of equitable access on Tools; Essential Supplies (strengthening supply chains and shortening supply lines); Financing; Vaccines; Health Workforce; Disease Surveillance and detection of zoonotic and environmental risks; and Equitable ramping up and diversification of manufacturing.

3. The Pandemic instrument discussions have not yet reached the stage of discussing a second draft. South Africa participated in further discussion on developing the Conceptual Zero Draft framework and was represented by our Health Attache, who was also joined by our Ambassador Mr Mxolisi Nkosi, the South African Permanent Representative to the United Nations office in Geneva and other international organisations in Switzerland.

END.

Reply:

1. The response to parliamentary question 2091 that which was provided on 17 June 2022 indicated a total vacancy posts of 27 137 for doctors, nurses and emergency medical services personnel in the Republic. As of 28 February 2023, there were 18 804 vacant posts of doctors, nurses and medical care personnel. This demonstrates a 31% achievement rate in the filling of vacant posts.

a) The main reason for the recorded vacant posts is general budget cuts introduced by National Treasury. These cuts also affect Compensation of Employment (CoE) negatively resulting in not all posts being filled simultaneously.

b) As demonstrated above in order to reduce the vacancy rate by 31%, the Department introduced several interventions which amongst others, include:

• (i) Prioritisation of the posts in the Annual Recruitment Plan – where funding permits;
• (ii) Prioritisation of the posts for conditional grant funding;
• (iii) Filling of replacement posts considered and approved weekly;
• (v) Advertisements published National wide through print media.

c) Filling of these vacant posts will be prioritised in all provinces as per above method to ensure that there is no over expenditure of Compensation of Employment (CoE).

d) Posts are prioritised according to the availability of funding and the Annual Recruitment Plan as informed by the service delivery model.

2. (a) The Department working together with Provincial Departments of Health and National Treasury has put in place mechanisms to ensure that all eligible South African Citizens and Permanent Residents are allocated to accredited medical internship positions within the Cycle that applicants qualify for. This is evident by the conclusion of allocating 2 505 medical interns applicants in the January Annual Cycle 2023.

Only 55 applicants are still to be allocated as they were not eligible due to various reasons e.g., applicants declining the posts and preferring to wait for the next cycle.

(b) All eligible applicants will again be given an opportunity during the Midyear Cycle which will start on the 1 July 2023.  

3. (a) The Department working together with Provincial Departments of Health and National Treasury has put in place methods to ensure that all eligible South African Citizens and Permanent Residents are allocated to medical community service positions within the Cycle applicants qualify in. This is evident by the conclusion of allocating 2 509 medical community service applicants in the January Annual Cycle 2023.

(b) All other eligible applicants, who met the allocation requirements later, will again be given an opportunity during the Midyear Cycle which will start on the 1 July 2023.  

(4)   Registration of foreign qualified medical applicants with the Health Professions Council of South Africa (HPCSA) is a multi-layered process. The HPCSA has to satisfy itself that applicants studied in legally recognized Institutions, by both the health and regulatory authorities of the countries of training. Applicants are required to submit several documents that will assist the HPCSA to establish their competency, including the hours that they would have spent in training and the domain training completed. As most of them study in non-English speaking countries, for example China, Russia and Turkey, documents have to be translated into English and notarized before the HPCSA  can submit them to relevant committees of the board to make a determination about the equivalence of their training to that provided in South Africa. Any delays in one of the steps in this process ordinarily lengths the processing of applications.

END.

Reply:

a) The vacancy rate in the Public Service is 12.12% as at 31 December 2022 which is the end of the 3rd quarter of the 2022/2023 financial year (source PERSAL).

b) The list of vacant posts per salary level in National and Provincial Departments is attached as Annexure A and B.

c) The filling of a post within a department is the responsibility of the relevant Executive Authority in terms of Section 3(7) of the Public Service Act, 1994. The practice of recruitment is therefore decentralised to the relevant Executive Authority.

The Minister for the Public Service and Administration and the DPSA support departments through policy and setting of norms and standards in order to efficiently fill vacancies within the parameters of the legislative framework. The responsibility to fill such vacancies resides with the relevant Executive Authority.

End

Reply:

1. (a) The total number of interns and learners appointed during (i) 2019/20 is 25 711, (ii) 2020/21 is 22 347 and (iii) 2021/22 is 22 303.

The breakdown per province and national is as follows:

Provincial/ National Departments	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	Grand Total
Eastern Cape	4 441	4 654	2 555	11 650
Free State	0	1 430	895	2 325
Gauteng	1 888	3 079	2 122	7 089
KwaZulu-Natal	2 592	3 337	5 155	11 084
Limpopo	3 187	3 187	2 348	8 722
Mpumalanga	912	824	680	2 416
National	8 839	4 384	4 637	17 860
Northern Cape	689	689	629	2 007
North-West	693	593	526	1 812
Western Cape	2 470	170	2 756	5 396
Total	25 711	22 347	22 303	70 361

(b) Paragraph 6.2 of the Directive on Developmental programmes in the Public Service states “ in line with the principle of open competition for these opportunities ,an executive authority shall ensure that all opportunities for developmental programmes within his / her department are advertised openly as contemplated in Regulation 65 of the Public Service Regulations and the selection shall be in line with the principles pertaining to the selection process contained in Regulation 67 of the Public Service Regulations”.

2. Based on the above prescript (Paragraph 6: Recruitment of Candidates into Developmental Programmes) of the Directive on Development in the Public Service, which is aligned with the prescripts of the (a) Public Service Act of 1994 and/or (b) Public Service Regulations of 2016, it is expected that all Heads of Departments comply with the provisions of this Directive.

End

Reply:

The service termination in the Public Service is administered through PERSAL system, which is the function that is decentralised to the Departments. Based on the available data on PERSAL as at 01 March 2023, the following information has been extracted in response to the parliamentary question:

(a)

(i) Resigned employees	60 896
(ii) Deceased employees	24 317
(iii) Transferred employees	4 549*
(iv) Normal retirement	54 395
(iv) Discharged from duty	8 548

* Transfer within the Public Service is not regarded as termination of service

(b) The available data on PERSAL does not provide any reasons for the normal retirement, death, transfer and discharge, but it provides reasons for resignations. The main reasons for resignations include better remuneration, resignation from position, other occupation, personal grievances and nature of work. The detailed list of reasons sourced from PERSAL is attached.

 

(c) (i) The table below reflects service terminations according to the age group

Age category	<=20	21-30	31-40	41-50	51-55	56-60	61-65	66+	TOTAL
Retirements	0	37*	19*	25	865	23511	29777	161	54395
Discharged	11	656	2136	2336	1816	1422	169	2	8548
Resignations	242	12733	18664	12380	5509	7477	3799	92	60896
Deceased	2	685	3192	7148	5970	5602	1694	24	24317
GRAND TOTAL	255	14111	24011	21889	14160	38012	35439	279	148156

*This is how it is captured op PERSAL.

(ii) The table below reflects service terminations as per race category.

Race Category	White	Asian	Coloured	African	Total
Discharged	847	301	1305	6095	8548
Retirements	6879	1638	4444	41433	54395
Resignation	7951	2064	7322	43559	60896
Deceased	998	410	1 735	21 174	24 317
Grand Total	16675	4413	14806	112261	148156

End

Reply:

As mentioned in the previous reply to parliamentary question 633 posed by Dr MM Gondwe (DA), the filling of posts within a department is the responsibility of the relevant Executive Authority in terms of Section 3(7) of the Public Service Act, 1994. The practice of recruitment is therefore decentralised to the relevant Executive Authority.

The information on the filling of the post (in terms of the minimum requirements) can be obtained directly from the relevant Department.

End

Reply:

The Department of Water and Sanitation is aware of the allegations and referred the matter to the Internal Audit Unit for investigation.

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Reply:

a) The matter of the Director-General is managed by the Presidency.

1. Not applicable.
2. Not applicable.

b) There is no Chief Operations Officer post in the National Department of Human Settlements.

1. Not applicable.
2. Not applicable.

c) The erstwhile Chief Financial Officer left the employ of the National Department of Human Settlements when her contract came to an end on 28 February 2022.

1. Not applicable.
2. Not applicable.

Reply:

a) state-owned entities do not account, and/or report to the Minister of Public Service and Administration.

b) The Minister of Public Service and Administration does not have powers pertaining to the appointments, remuneration and employment conditions of Chief Executive Officers and top executives of any state-owned entity. Therefore, this question should be addressed to the departments which play an oversight role against the state-owned entities, such as Public Enterprises, Minerals and Energy, etc.

End

Reply:

a) Section 154 of the Constitution provides that the national government and provincial governments must support and strengthen the capacity of municipalities to perform their functions. The Department of Cooperative Governance (DCOG), through the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA), provides technical support and builds the capacity of municipalities to effectively plan, deliver, operate, and maintain their service delivery infrastructure. MISA has to-date deployed 5 technical professionals, that includes 4 professionally registered built environment professionals, to support Bojanala Platinum District Municipality (BPDM) together with the local municipalities under its jurisdiction, in accordance with the District Development Model (DDM).

The Lethabong Township road in question is a district road that falls under the responsibility of the North West Department of Public Works and Roads Department (hereinafter known as the Department). The North West Provincial Route Number for Lethabong Road is D1344. MISA’s technical support to BPDM includes coordinating and monitoring the Department and all other implementing agents of infrastructure in the district to ensure successful completion.

b) It is a provincial road and the province appoint contractors. The project duration is estimated to be four (4) months.

End.

Reply:

a) To address the challenges, the Department has discussed this matter with various stakeholders including the South African Local Government Association, provincial Departments responsible for local government. A framework, including amendments to the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act No. 117 of 1998, is presently being developed to address the challenges.

b) NIn this regard various measures are in place, the Department is presently finalising the Code of Conduct for Councillors Regulations, which is aimed at addressing the issues around walk-outs during council meetings. While the matter around walk-outs are not unique to councils in coalition arrangements, this intervention will assist in ensuring that meetings proceed and council operations are not stalled. Coupled with that intervention, the Department will continue to support municipalities in terms of section 154 of the Constitution.

End.

Reply:

In responding to the question, it is important to first contextualise the widespread and sometimes inaccurate use of the term municipal dysfunction. Municipal dysfunction refers to a situation where a municipality is not functioning as it is supposed to and the discharge of a municipality’s constitutional responsibilities is impaired for some or other reason. However, there are various degrees of municipal dysfunction ranging from dysfunction which is less serious or temporary in nature requiring only appropriate support to rectify and dysfunction that implies a full-blown crisis in the financial and service delivery affairs of a municipality warranting intervention. Often, the use of the term “municipal dysfunctionality” is construed to mean that a municipality is in crisis which is not necessarily the correct interpretation.

The 165 municipalities referred to by the President in his State of the Nation Address, are municipalities that the National Treasury has identified in its annual municipal financial health assessment to be in financial distress. This means that according to the 13 indicators used by the National Treasury to measure the financial health of municipalities based on their audited financial statements, these municipalities are showing signs of existing, recurring and/or potentially serious financial problems. Again, this should not be construed as a necessary crisis in the municipality’s financial affairs.

The assessment is just one of the many early warning systems developed by the National Treasury to indicate where problems are emerging in a municipality’s financial health and if used proactively as early warning systems should be, to avoid these problems from morphing into a financial crisis. This results of this annual assessment should be interpreted alongside many of the in-year monitoring systems already institutionalized by the National Treasury including the monthly S71 reporting process. The National Treasury also publishes on a quarterly basis municipal performance indicators outlined in Section 138 and 140 of the MFMA. S138 indicators are used to indicate “serious financial problems” in a municipality whilst S140 indicators refer to a “financial crisis”. Serious financial problems should ideally be addressed via a discretionary financial recovery plan prepared by the respective province whilst financial crises require that the Provincial Executive Committees institute a mandatory intervention in terms of Section 139(5) of the Constitution and imposes a financial recovery plan on the municipality.

In terms of the delegation of responsibility, the National Treasury shares the responsibility for the oversight of municipal finances with the Provincial Treasuries. The role of the National Treasury is to develop the policies, regulations, norms and standards required to improve financial management and reporting in municipalities and the National Treasury is also responsible for directly monitoring the performance of the 17 largest municipalities responsible for 80 per cent of municipal expenditure. The remaining 239 municipalities are monitored by the respective Provincial Treasuries.

The role of the Provincial Treasury is to implement S213 of the Constitution and to assist the National Treasury in enforcing compliance with the measures established in terms of S216 of the Constitution and chapter 2 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (no: 56 of 2003 as amended).

Apart from the development of early warning systems which help municipalities to identify the extent of their financial problems where they exist, there are several other support initiatives which the NT has focused on to strengthen and enforce transparency, improve fiscal discipline and promote the better use of municipal revenue. These include initiatives focused on improving budget compliance, such as the Municipal Budget and Reporting regulations which aim to standardize the format of municipal budgets, the adoption of a realistically funded and credible budgets by municipalities, integration and management of the revenue value chain, providing technical support to build municipal financial management capacity through the Municipal Finance Improvement Programme (MFIP), resolution of municipal financial problems through the development of financial recovery plans, the introduction of a Standard Chart of Accounts for municipalities (mSCOA) and processes to deal timeously with financial misconduct and consequence management.

National and Provincial Treasuries also engage municipalities annually through budget and benchmark engagements where the tabled budget is subjected to a rigorous assessment prior to adoption by the municipal council.

There are also mid-year performance assessments which provide an opportunity to assess the financial and service delivery performance of the municipality against the adopted budget and effect the necessary adjustments. National Treasury also enforces compliance in terms of s18 of the Municipal Finance Management Act by ensuring that any municipality who adopts an unfunded budget must develop a credible funding plan which seeks to gradually improve the financial position of the municipality and achieve a funded budget status. The implementation of these funding plans is monitored on a quarterly basis by the Treasuries.

End.

Reply:

The Department of Environmental Affairs, Forestry and Fisheries, as the custodian of the legal and regulatory frameworks that control environmental issues, can answer to this question with the necessary specificity and rigor. In order to achieve the goals stated in section 27 (3) of the Disaster Management Act, 57 of 2002, the NDMC's job is to coordinate the necessary actions aimed at reducing the likelihood of a complete blackout.

End.

Reply:

(1)

Designation	(a) Destination	(b) Total costs	(i) Accomodation	(ii) Travel	(iii) any other cost
(i) Minister Dlamini-Zuma	Brazil, Ethopia, Benin, Angola and Botswana	R122 885,45	00	R122 145,45	R740
(iii) Deputy Minister	Indonesia,Kenya, Rwanda Malawi Germany	R527 766	R233 610	R294 156	None

(2)

Designation	Total incurred on domestic air travel
(a) Minister Dlamini-Zuma	R490 431,11
(b) Deputy Minister Nkadimeng	R340 680,40

 

End.

Reply:

Since the query is being posed in her individual capacity, it should be directed to the Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities.

End.

Reply:

(a ) Root Cause Analysis. The root cause of the prolonged power failure in Pellissier was the insulation failure of the 3 x single core cables constituting the 11kV blue phase cables connecting the 11kV side of transformer no.1 to the 11kV switchgear. The 11kV fault on the Oberholzer feeder only aggravated the matter but it was cleared without any damage to the cable feeding Oberholzer feeder from Pellissier DC.

(b ) Steps taken to prevent a re-occurrence

The 2 x 33/11kV transformers were tested and they tested clean at Pellissier DC. The 33/11kV Transformer no. 2 was re-energized and all load was taken by 14h30 on Saturday, 11th of November 2022. This was with the exception of the faults experienced at the Bitterbessiebos substation, Vierperdewa, and Lantern miniature substations.

 

The 33kV circuit breaker on Transformer 1 at Pellissier DC was badly damaged. This circuit breaker is being replaced with the 33kV circuit breaker that was utilized for the 33kV General de Wet feeder. The cable on that feeder has been out of commission for an extended period of time. The 33kV circuit breakers are old and they will be replaced when the 33kV Switchgear bid is appointed for.

The Protection on the 33/11kV Transformer no. 1 at Pellissier DC is currently being upgraded with Numerical Protection Relays so that it can be of the same technology as the 33/11kV Transformer no. 2. This transformer will be out of commission until the upgrades are completed.

Pellissier DC is currently carried by the 33/11kV Transformer no. 2 and the loading on the transformer is in order. The damaged NER was replaced, and the replacement NER is now connected and hot commissioned. Pellissier DC is now stable, and the redundancy will be regained when the 33/11kV Transformer no. 1 is back in service.

End.

Reply:

a) The majority of poor households are still not registered by municipalities, which is one of the main reasons of the Free Basic Service program's low uptake by poor households. The following are just a few of the many causes for this, among many others:

Most municipalities are using the self targeting approach, waiting on indigent beneficiaries to approach municipalities to declare their indigent status. Most of the indigent households are not aware of the programme due to lack of awareness raising campaigns and communication strategies in most municipalities.

Major challenges on treatment of informal settlements and backroom dwellings. No verification tools to check the authenticity of the municipal indigent registers. Indigent policies not costed and tabled and adopted in municipal councils.

b) The following are the steps that will be taken by the department to expedite the increase in the uptake of the Free Basic Service programme by indigent households:

Ongoing support will continue to be provided to municipalities to update their indigent registers. The department will continue to support municipalities in developing indigent policies that are in line with the National Indigent Policy Framework and the Implementation Guidelines. The department has included an indicator in the Non-Financial Census (NFC) questionnaire requesting municipalities to indicate whether the indigent policies have been tabled in the municipal council together with the budget for the respective financial year.

This will enable the department to intervene and support municipalities that are not tabling the municipal indigent policies in council. In its interactions with municipalities, the department will continue to communicate and encourage municipalities to undertake a comprehensive roll out of free basic services programme so as to address some of the critical root causes in the low uptake of the of the Free Basic Service programme.

The department will also be hosting quarterly forums with the provincial COGTAs to share best practices and strategize on the mechanisms to effectively and efficiently support municipalities in the roll out of the FBS programme.

End.

Reply:

1. No, the Minister does not have the powers referred to in the question. These are competencies of the South African Police Service and the municipal police service, where applicable, as contemplated in section 205 of the Constitution read with sections 13, 14, 64E and 64F of the South African Police Service Act, 1995 (Act No.68 of 1995).
2. N/A. 

End.

Reply:

The Western Cape is home to multiple Siyahlala Informal Settlements. In order for the department to investigate and respond, it is advised that the Honourable member make it clear for which town or municipality the informal settlement in question is situated.

End.

Reply:

As the appointment and recognition of headmen/women is a provincial competence, we engaged with the Kwa-Zulu Natal CoGTA regarding the Honourable Member’s question. The provincial department has advised as follows: In anticipation of receipt of funding to pay iZinduna, the KwaZulu-Natal Executive Council resolved to conduct roadshows to eleven Districts to disseminate the information and to communicate the government decision to allocate R631 million for the back pay of iZinduna. The roadshows are led by Members of the Executive Council (MEC) and the central communication for these engagements is on the background and the plan in place (payment plan for current and terminated iZinduna) to pay the money to the qualifying iZinduna. An integral part of these sessions consists of financial counselling which incorporates elements of financial planning and management, investing in education, property and business to assist the beneficiaries to better manage the anticipated back pay monies. iZinduna have also been made aware of the significance of confidentiality in handling these anticipated funds.

End.

Reply:

The question be referred to the Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, precisely because it is asked on her personal capacity.

End.

Reply:

The national Disaster has been declared on floods. In providing relief and support to the communities affected by floods, governmnet has activated a working Special Intergovernmental Committee on Disaster Management to provide support and relief to the affected communities. Teams comprising national, provincial and local spheres of government have been assessing the damage and providing emergency support in the form of shelter, food, blankets and other essentials.

The department is working with local communities through relevant organs of state and structures as per the existing arrangements. The department through the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) has activated the National Joint Floods Coordination Committee (NJFCC) for coordination and collaborative efforts by relevant organs of state with the legislated mandate to provide relief and support to the communities affected by the floods. The NDMC analyses reports received from Provincial Disaster Management Centres (PDMCs) and facilitates mobilisation of resources from relevant organs of state as well as advises on the communities where interventions and relief and support are required.

We focus on immediate humanitarian relief, ensuring that all affected persons are safe and that their basic needs are met. We focus on stabilisation and recovery, rehousing people who have lost homes and restoring provision of services. We focus on reconstruction and rebuilding. An immediate task is to house those people who have been displaced by the floods.

End.

Reply:

a) There are several reasons why the Mangaung Metro has not been able to service it’s water account with the Bloem Water entity which amongst others are as follows:

The current tariffs and charges levied by Bloem Water are not affordable and the municipality is therefore not able to sustainably service the account. The current revenue collection rate for water services is not sufficient to service the Bloem Water account.  In addition, funding needs to be prioritized for operational expenditure in relation to water services provided by the Metro.

Outstanding debt from residents and underpayment by government departments. Department is assisting the municipality with cost of supply study on water services, which will assist the municipality to design tariff setting and to have cost reflective tariffs. 

The Centlec entity has continued to pay it’s Eskom current account despite the challenges of the 15 days as opposed to 30 days payment arrangement. It is worth noting that payment of the Eskom account is made beyond the 15 days due to a number of reasons viz.

Mangaung metro is a rural metro and cannot sustain 15 days payment period from Eskom.

The Eskom bill includes 24 hours billing including unserved energy which still requires payment during loadshedding.  This matter has been brought to Eskom’s attention and a request made to offset unavailability of the supply from the billing. The Centlec entity suffered from 208 days loadshedding, like all other municipalities in the country during 2022. Table 1 below shows the statistical real- time data. The technical, operational, and monetary impact of on-going loadshedding results in increased expenditure to maintain the electrical infrastructure network , despite  the increasing monthly Eskom bill Table 1 below illustrates the financial impact relating to the cost of loadshedding from January 2022 to December 2022 with a total of 497.50 hours of loadshedding which is equivalent to a monetary cost factor of R 85 754522.81.

This significant impact should be apprehended in the monthly bulk Eskom account bill, however at this stage the figures below exclude the vandalism to   infrastructure, theft of cables during loadshedding that impacts on the revenue collection.

The replacement cost of vandalism and theft to electricity infrastructure impacts on revenue collection and increases the repairs and maintenance budget which is not funded and results in prolonged outages because of loadshedding. A task team has been established between CENTLEC and Eskom to find amicable solutions towards resolving the payment of outstanding debt.  

 

7. MONTHS	LOADSHEDDING
	EVENTS (DAYS)	DURATION (HOURS)	COST (R)
JANUARY 2022	-	-	-
FEBUARY 2022	6.00	15.00	2,905,715.78
MARCH 2022	7.00	17.50	4,664,129.65
APRIL 2022	10.00	25.00	4,177,189.10
MAY 2022	26.00	65.00	8,561,435.34
JUNE 2022	11.00	27.50	9,823,477.93
JULY 2022	22.00	55.00	11,189,281.51
AUGUST 2022	7.00	17.50	2,276,111.96
SEPTEMBER 2022	24.00	57.50	14,880,366.46
OCTOBER 2022	27.00	67.50	10,837,806.41
NOVEMBER 2022	30.00	75.00	7,652,835.94
DECEMBER 2022	30.00	75.00	8,786,172.74
TOTAL FOR PERIOD	200.00	497.50	85,754,522.81

         Table 1:  Cost of Loadshedding

(b)       Due to changes in the political leadership of the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality, the Council meeting scheduled for 31 January 2023 did not take place to approve the 2021/2022 Annual Report and Auditor General’s Report.  These reports were however tabled and approved during the Council meeting held on 13 February 2023.

End.

Reply:

The department of Cooperative Governanve follows a credible and transparent procurement process as it publishes all awarded bids in the eTender Portal administered by National Treasury and as well as on the departmental website. The pubilcation includes the names of successful bidders and the value of contract. 

Similarly, the procurement in the local government is guided by Municipal Finance Management Act and Procurement Regulations issued and administered by the National Treasury. It compels the Municipalities to publishing all contracts awarded, the names of the successful bidders and he value of the contract.

End.

Reply:

Fixing homes and properties is not the Department of Coorperative Governance and Traditional Affairs' responsibility. The Department of Human Settlements is responsible for this. It is advised that the Ministry of Human Settlements receive the inquiry.

End.

Reply:

1. No.Item 12(b) of the Local Government: Municipal Structures Act No. 117 of 1998, as amended, (“the Structures Act”) provides that a councillor may not, except as provided in law, give or purport to give any instruction to any employee of the council, except when authorised to do so. However, the authority to take appropriate steps for the implementation of the Code of Conduct for Councillors (“the Code”) lies with the speaker, or the municipal council, and the MEC responsible for local government in the province (“the MEC”), subject to the provisions of item 15 and 16 of the Code.

Item 15 of the Code provides that if the speaker is of the opinion that a provision of the Code has been breached, then the speaker must authorise an investigation of the facts and circumstances of the alleged breach, and thereafter report the matter to a meeting of the municipal council, and also report the outcome thereof to the MEC in the province. The MEC may furthermore, in terms of item 16 of the Code, suspend the councillor for a period as may be determined by the MEC, or remove the councillor from office.

Note that the specific instance also constitutes a breach of section 173 of the Municipal Finance Management Act No. 56 of 2003 and should be dealt with in terms of that Act read with the Municipal Regulations on Financial Misconduct and Criminal Proceedings.

2. No. As indicated in response provided in paragraph (1) above, any investigations concerning an alleged breach of the Code, must be undertaken by the speaker, or the municipal council, or the MEC for local government in the province if considered necessary, subject to the provisions of items 15 and 16 of the Code.

End.

Reply:

a) Steps taken to improve service delivery capacities.

Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) has deployed built environment professionals to municipalities in accordance with the District Development Model (DDM) to provide technical support for infrastructure development throughout the product life cycle from inception, planning, design development, implementation, operations and maintenance. This aims to augment and build State Capacity. 103 Built environment professionals (86 of which are professionally registered with Statutory bodies as engineers and town planners). In the current financial year, 150 Young Graduates have been deployed to augment the technical capacity whilst pursuing professional registration. These technical professionals support municipalities to implement infrastructure grant programmes that include the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) administered by the Department of Cooperative Governance (DCOG), the Water Services Infrastructure Grant (WSIG) and the Regional Bulk Infrastructure Grant (RBIG) which are both administered by the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) as well as the Integrated National Electrification Programme (INEP) administered by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE). The budget allocations are published annually in the Division of Revenue Act (DORA). These technical professionals also support municipalities to employ and maximise labour intensive construction (LIC) methods where feasible, by incorporating the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) Guidelines during infrastructure development e.g. low volume roads, water, sanitation and electrification projects. The use of LIC methods during infrastructure development maximises the creation of job opportunities thereby alleviating unemployment. This will assist municipalities to meet the job opportunities target for the EPWP infrastructure sector administered by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI).

1. MISA is implementing capacity building programmes aimed at building the capacity of municipalities for infrastructure development. These capacity building programmes aim at the current cohort of municipal officials as well as unemployed youth by creating a skills pipeline.

• The municipal officials responsible for infrastructure development are trained through short courses for continuous professional development throughout the project life cycle as well as taking them through a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) programme. MISA is providing training on short technical courses in collaboration with the South African Institute of Civil Engineers (SAICE) and aims to train 500 officials this financial year. The RPL programme involves assessment, training provisioning and attaining a qualification of those municipal officials who gained work experience but did not get formal qualifications. MISA aims to enrol 100 officials for RPL Programme.

• The capacity building programmes implemented that are targeting unemployed youth are the Apprenticeship Programme, the Experiential Learnership Programme, the Bursaries Programme and the Young Graduates Programme. The implementation is done in collaboration with the Local Government Sector Education and Training Authority (LGSETA). MISA aims to enrol a total of 420 youths for these skills programmes for this financial year. The respective targets are 100 for Apprenticeship Programme, 70 for the Experiential Learnership Programme, 100 for the Bursaries Programme and 150 for the Young Graduates Programme.

2. MISA has implemented other capacity building initiatives for municipalities to provide infrastructure development viz. the building of internal built environment design development capacity so that there is less reliance on outsourcing to Consultants, the development of Public Infrastructure Unit Cost Guidelines as well as collaboration with professional bodies and Institutions of Higher Learning.

• MISA has bought design software and is currently piloting the establishment of a design office at OR Tambo District Municipality where selected infrastructure projects that are prioritised and funded by the municipality are designed through the support of MISA procured design software and technical support personnel and not outsourced to Consultants.

• The Unit Cost Guidelines were developed in collaboration with the University of Cape Town. These Guidelines provide cost estimates of providing infrastructure as one source of truth for planning, budgeting and implementation monitoring. The Guidelines can be used by all interested and affected stakeholders including municipalities, communities, oversight structures and law enforcement agencies. The Guidelines assist in building communities’ confidence in government expenditure on infrastructure development. The Unit Cost Guidelines were used during the assessment of municipal infrastructure that was damaged by floods in April 2022.

• MISA has entered into a collaboration agreement with the University of Cape Town and Wits University and is finalizing a Memorandum of Agreement with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA). The collaborations with these institutions aim to use research to find innovative solutions to infrastructure development and service delivery challenges among other benefits.

3. MISA is also contributing towards the eradication of basic services backlogs through its meagre budget by funding and implementing 39 borehole projects in this financial year in low and medium capacity municipalities.

4. MISA, through DCOG, applied for the Presidential Employment Stimulus (PES) program that was aimed at addressing the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the economy to an amount of about R700 million. An amount of R284 million was approved for MISA to implement the PES through the Innovative Solid Waste Management Program that was piloted in 25 municipalities across the 9 provinces.

The project commenced in December 2021. To-date the programme has created employment opportunities as detailed below as the programme ensured removal of municipal waste:

Province	Number of municipalities benefitted	Number of jobs created	Amount spent
Eastern Cape	7	3 200	R51 252 295.00
Free State	4	1 996	R38 134 654. 50
Gauteng	4	1200	R20 488 113.15
KwaZulu Natal	9	4 400	R64 977 015.00
Limpopo	3	1 500	R21 854 087.7
Mpumalanga	2	1 038	R14 569 391.90
Northern Cape	5	1200	R23 458 589. 68
North West	4	1 200	R26 426 925.00
Western Cape	3	900	R22 496 929. 95
TOTAL	41	16 634	R 283 658 001.88

The participants were employed for a period of (16 weeks) 3 months and received a minimum stipend of R102 per day for general workers, and R150 per day for coordinators.

End.

Reply:

a) The competence for the proclamation of names of Departments and their amendments rests with the President and not individual Ministries and Departments. The Department is thus not the competent authority to amend its name.

b) The current organisational structure of the Department provides for two Branches, namely, Research, Policy and Legislation (RPL), under which the administrative support to the Commission on Khoi-San Matters (CKSM) is located, and Institutional Support and Coordination. The names of the two branches are inclusive enough to accommodate the work that is being done to execute the mandate of the Department with respect to applicable Khoi and San matters.

c) The structural arrangements of Provinces and Municipalities are not the competence of the Department. However, should the organisational structure of the Department change in future, it will accordingly be shared with the Provincial Departments of CoGTA for information in relation to the alignment of their structures.

End.

Reply:

The Energy Action Plan was developed through extensive consultation and endorsed by energy experts as providing the best and fastest path towards energy security. Schedule 2 of the Electricity Regulation Act has been amended to remove the licensing requirement for generation projects, which will significantly accelerate private investment. Since the licensing threshold was first raised to 100 MW, the pipeline of private sector projects has grown to more than 100 projects with over 9000 MW of capacity. The first of these large-scale projects are expected to connect to the grid by the end of this year. Noting that the President on behalf of government announced the declaration of a national state of disaster to respond to the electricity/energy crisis and its effects, which was subsequently Gazetted by Minister of CoGTA. The government is in the process of developing a detailed plan on how to deal with national electricity challenge to prevent a total collapse of the grid. The government will make a pronouncement once these plans are finalised.

End.

Reply:

Designation	(a) Make	(b) Model	(c) Year of manufacture	(d) Price	(e) Purchase date
(i) Minister Dlamini-Zuma	Volvo	XC60	2020	R806 699.96	24 March 2020
(ii) Former Minister	None	None	None	None	None
(iii) Deputy Minister T Nkadimeng	Toyota	Fortuner H50 / A2X	2023	R 698 138,55	January 2023 – Purchase order issued
(iv) Former Deputy Minister	None	None	None	None	None

End.

Reply:

Given the fact that the Minister is cited or joined in court cases in her official capacity, and that capacity covers even the period before she was appointed as the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, it is recommended that Honourable member clarify for which period and whether he is referring to:

1. every court case that was initiated since the Ministry of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs was established; or
2. every court case that was initiated since she was appointed as the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs; or
3. every court case that was initiated during any other period which the Honourable member may so choose.

End.

Reply:

1. No, the South African Hajj and Umrah Council (SAHUC) has not been mandated by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation to act on behalf of the Muslims in the Republic.

2. There is no agreement between the Department of International Relations and Cooperation and the SAHUC authorising SAHUC to act on behalf of Muslims.

3. The SAHUC has not received any mandate from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

4 Yes, the Department deals with SAHUC as part of its operations, insofar as the SAHUC as the Pilgrims’ Affairs Office of South Africa liaises with the South African Consulate-General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, regarding Consular services such as deaths, injuries, and distressed pilgrims.

.

Reply:

a) The Act in Sections 52 and 53 respectively, places explicit responsibility on all organs of state as well as all municipalities across the Republic for the development and implementation of disaster management plans. It is a legislative requirement that once developed, these plans must be submitted to the NDMC. The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) through the NDMC within the Department of Cooperative Governance (DCOG) does all that she can to ensure that all municipalities have disaster management plans in place. The table below depicts the status on disaster management plans submitted to the NDMC by the Metros, Districts and local municipalities, to date:

TYPE OF MUNICIPALITY	NUMBER OF DM PLANS SUBMITTED.	NUMBER OF DM PLANS STILL NOT SUBMITTED
Metros	7	1
District	40	4
Local	68	137
TOTAL: 115	142

b) On receipt of the disaster management plans from municipalities, the NDMC performs an assessment to ensure compliance and the practicality of their implementation within the respective areas of their municipal jurisdiction. Frequently, the assessments reveal that most, if not all the plans assessed, were developed long before the guidelines on the “development and structure of a disaster management plan” were developed and published in 2017. The NDMC in its 2022/23 financial year Operational Plan, implemented jointly with the PDMCs, a project on stakeholder consultative workshops on the development and implementation of disaster management plans and guidelines on the integration of DRR measures into municipal IDPs in all 9 provinces. These workshops included sourcing of inputs from stakeholders to enhance the process to develop the Support Plan on the development and implementation of risk-informed disaster management plans by municipalities. Once approved by the Head of the NDMC, the guideline and the Support Plan will in the new financial year (2023/24) be piloted in 2 municipalities. These sessions also included a segment on Impact-Based Early Warnings to educate and remind all provincial stakeholders on the need to understand the different warnings levels and what should be done once the warnings are issued. It is about “Early Warning, Early Action” to safeguard lives and livelihoods within communities.

The NDMC continues to execute its legislative obligations by facilitating the promotion of an integrated and coordinated system of disaster management among national, provincial and local government, statutory functionaries and other role players involved in disaster management.

End.

Reply:

Below receive response for question 3522 that was published on 30 September 2022.

QUESTION:

3522.   Mr J N de Villiers (DA) to ask the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs:

Whether the National Disaster Management Centre has a detailed national disaster management plan in place for the risk of a total collapse of the national electricity grid and/or a complete and/or prolonged electricity outage; if not, on what date is it envisaged that such a plan will be in place; if so, (a) what (i) are the different steps that will be taken in terms of such a plan and (ii) events will prompt each of the specified steps and (b) which role players will be responsible for each of the steps? NW4335E

REPLY:

The National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) does not have a consolidated national disaster management plan in place for the risk of a total collapse of the national electricity grid and/or a complete and/or prolonged electricity outage on the basis that the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (Act No. 57 of 2002) (DMA) assigns the responsibility for the preparation of disaster management plans to all organs of state across the three spheres of government, which includes conducting a risk assessment for their functional area and formulating contingency arrangements to deal with the risks identified.

This includes the risk of a total collapse of the national electricity grid and/or a complete and/or prolonged electricity outage. 

The objective of the NDMC as outlined in section 9 of the DMA, is to promote an integrated and co-ordinated system of disaster management, with special emphasis on prevention and mitigation, by national, provincial and municipal organs of state amongst others. In this regard, in implementing the prevention and mitigation components, the NDMC has been working with ESKOM on the implementation of load shedding which is a highly controlled intervention made in terms of a National Code of Practice (NRS-048-9) to ensure the operability and security of the national power system from having a demand overload.

a) (i) & (ii) The respective disaster management centres established in the national, provincial and local government, in the unlikely event of a total collapse of the national electricity grid and/or a complete and/or prolonged electricity outage occurring, has the responsibility to bring organs of state of the respective sphere together to coordinate the implementation of the respective organs of states contingency plans developed in terms of the DMA. 

b) All organs of state 'have a responsibility to conduct a risk assessment for their functional area and formulate contingency arrangements to deal with the risks identified. This includes the risk of a total collapse of the national electricity grid and/or a complete and/or prolonged electricity outage.

End.

Reply:

For the reason that the question is being posed in her individual capacity, it should be aimed to the Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities.

End.

Reply:

1. In a municipality, the salary of an engineer appointed as the municipal manager or as a manager directly accountable to the municipal manager is determined in accordance with the Notice issued by the Minister for Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs published in the Government Gazette No. 43122 on 20 March 2020. The Notice determined the upper limits of the total remuneration packages payable to municipal managers and managers directly accountable to municipal managers. According to the Engineering Professionals Competency Framework in the Local Government: Municipal Staff Regulations dated 20 September 2021 published in Gazette No. 45181 (herein after referred to as Municipal Staff Regulations), a Department Head should meet Level 5 requirements of having a relevant Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or Bachelor of Science (BSc) Engineering Degree and be eligible for registration as a Professional Engineer.

The upper limits as determined in the Notice vary greatly from lower values for municipal categorisation 1 mainly for rural low-income municipalities to higher values for municipal categorisation 10 mainly metropolitan municipalities as shown on the Table 1 below.

Municipal categorisation	Minimum	Maximum
10	R2 055 005	R3 147 538
1	R815 063	R996 188

This leads to discrepancies of salaries earned by engineers in different municipalities with different categorisation irrespective of professional registration. A professionally registered engineer in a municipality with categorisation 1 may earn less than some senior engineers not professionally registered, but eligible, in a municipality with categorisation 10.

The salaries of other engineers who are not accountable to the municipal manager is dealt with, as provided for under clause 59 of the Municipal Staff Regulations, in terms of the collective agreement concluded by the South African Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC). The three parties to SALGC are the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), the South African Municipal Workers Union (SAMWU) and the Independent and Municipal Allied Union (IMATU). The SALGBC Task Wage Rate Collective Agreement of April 2010 provided the grades, called Task Grades, as per Table 2 below.

Task Skills	Task Grades
1	Basic	1 to 3
2	Discretionary	4 to 8
3	Specialised	9 to 13
4	Tactical	14 to 18
5	Strategic	19 to 26

 

According to eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) which is a high-capacity municipality, in EMM posts are graded and remunerated based on their job content, scope of work and grade as follows:

• Candidate Engineer as Task Grade(T) 13
• Engineer as T14
• Senior Engineer as T15
• Chief Engineer as T16

In EMM, all levels (T13 to T16 above) are required to be registered with the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA) with the Candidate Engineer level requiring eligibility for registering. At Senior Engineer level upwards, professional registration is a pre-requisite and a Scarce Skills Allowance is provided. Furthermore, at EMM, the term Engineer is not used generically for engineering personnel. A post designated as an Engineer is for those with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) qualification in the respective discipline and professional registration with ECSA. It is worth noting that the salary scales do overlap for example an official on T13 may earn more than another on T14, and one on T15 may earn more than another on T16 depending on their respective years of experience.

There is no uniformity across municipalities because of a number of reasons that include the different categorisation mentioned above as well as different powers and functions. As a result, engineers appointed in different municipalities will not be necessarily on same Task Grades nor same salary scales.

2. No statement will be made. The Minister promulgated the Municipal Staff Regulations setting uniform standards and guidelines for all municipal staff in the Government Gazette No. 45181. The regulations took effect on 1 July 2022.

End.

Reply:

Using SPLUMA provision 2.2, the Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development; the Department of Human Settlements is in charge of regulating the use of land and controls of land invasion and Municipal By-Laws, Spatial Development Frameworks and Land Use Schemes are used in conjunction with Planning Instruments to address irregular communities. Municipality is the authority of first instance. (Informal Settlements). Therefore, it is advised that it be moved or redirected to the Department of Human Settlements and the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development.

End.

Reply:

Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA)

a) Salary of:-

1. Chief Executive Officer (R 2 068 458)
2. Deputy Director-General: IDMS (R1 765 512)

Deputy Director-General: TSS (R1 590 747)

b) None of the above members are paid to attend meetings.

Municipal Demarcation Board (MDB)

1. Salary of:-
2. Chief Executive Officer = R1,661,293.40.
3. Chief Operations Officer = R1,518,715.20

Chief Financial Officer = R1,453,467.12

Executive Manager: Corporate Services = R1,330,516.44

1. None of the above members are paid to attend meetings.

South Africa Local Government Association (SALGA)

a) Salary of:-

1. Chief Executive Officer – Vacant
2. Chief Officer – MF FP and Economic Growth - Vacant

Chief Operating Officer – R 2 775 127.52

Chief Financial Officer – R 2 083 302.48

Chief Officer: Municipal Governance and Capabilities – R 2 255 708.40

Chief Officer: ID STS and Sustainability – R 2 166 217.56

Chief Officer: Human Capital and Corporate Services – R 2 013 400.36

Chief Digital Officer – R 1 824 597.72

b) None of the above members are paid to attend a meeting.

South Africa Cities Network (SACN)

a) Salary of:-

1. Chief Executive Officer – R 2 902 639,34
2. Executive Manager: Governance and Strategies – R 2 005 284.00

Executive Manager: Programmes and Researches – R 2 005 284.00

Executive Manager: Finance and Corporate Services – R 2 005 284,00

b) None of the above members are paid to attend a meeting.

CRL Commission

a) Salary of:-

1. Chief Executive Officer – R 1 347 606
2. Chief Financial Officer – R 1 302 102

Senior Manager 1 - R 1 226 817

Senior Manager 2 - R 1 138 800

b) None of the above members are paid to attend a meeting.

End.

Reply:

Funding for the construction of municipal roads is usually secured through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG). Fixing of roads within municipalities is generally funded through municipal own resources and the Equitable Share allocation. As the roads infrastructure asset continues to grow / increase, there is need to increase the budgeting and funding for the repair and maintenance and minor upgrades of all rural / municipal access roads and related infrastructure.

Some / most municipalities have own plant and equipment and labour to undertake most of their Operations and Maintenance (O&M) requirements. Due to limited funding and sometimes due to heavy rains the roads infrastructure deteriorates faster than planned thereby forcing respective municipalities to re-prioritise their maintenance plans and sometimes delay the same as resources would be channelled towards critical interventions. There is no reported under-expenditure of O & M funds within municipalities. Certain municipalities have even applied for re-prioritisation of capital expenditure grants to undertake urgent O & M activities to alleviate the O & M backlog challenges.

End.

Reply:

a) Direct interventions made by the Department to provide relief to the persons affected by the recent floods are made through the National Disaster Management Centre (NDMC) coordinated and collaborated with relevant stakeholders on disaster intervention measures as per its legislated mandate. The following are actions by the department:

• Facilitated the deployment of teams from the Security Cluster for search and rescue missions within the affected communities. Coordinated the evacuation missions and placement of affected households within emergency shelters. Mobilised humanitarian relief measures and the distribution by stakeholders within affected communities. Facilitated technical support to municipalities through the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) in addressing some of the critical infrastructure damages for the restoration of services. Monitored conditions on the ground, further disseminated early warnings and advisories for informed decisions to prevent the conditions from deteriorating further within communities. Allocated disaster grant funding to affected municipalities for disaster interventions to address the damages incurred by municipalities and monitored implementation of interventions and provide support to municipalities to enhance the realisation of desired impacts from allocated funding.

b) The department continues to incorporate the lessons learnt within the disaster management function. The disaster grant frameworks were amended to factor in the lessons learned. Currently, the department is leading in the review of the Disaster Management system in consultation with relevant stakeholders to ensure collation of and implementation of lessons learnt to enhance the current system.

End.

Reply:

This question can be responded to with the required detail and precision by the Department of Water and Sanitation, as the custodian of legislation and regulatory frameworks that govern provision of water. The role of the NDMC is to coordinate necessary activities aimed at mitigating the prospects of a total blackout, towards fulfilling the purpose outlined in section 27 (3) of the Disaster Management Act, 57 of 2002.

End.

Reply:

Regarding the consolidation of state employment programs, no evaluation has been conducted. This is because the department only has one program for public work, the Community Works Program. Since the agency oversees a number of Public Employment Programs, the Parliamentary Question ought to be directed to the Minister of Public Works.

End.

Reply:

a) MISA is assisting municipalities in developing or reviewing the Spatial Development Frameworks (SDFs) and Land Use Plans which incorporates the review of the high flood lines and prohibiting future construction of infrastructure in flood prone areas, and wetlands. This minimises the risks of flood damage to infrastructure.

b) The NDMC is strengthening its collaborative agreement with the South Africa Weather Service to improve on early warnings and early actions in the provinces and municipalities to safeguard communities against the recurrence of flooding incidents and damages.

End