Questions and Replies

Reply:

The National Treasury does not generally have any official position on specific funding requests and focuses on the process on how budgetary decisions are made as funding decisions always involve trade-offs between different priorities. Such process includes consultation with the technical Medium Term Expenditure Committee and Technical Committee on Finance processes, as well as political forums like the Budget Council, Budget Forum, Ministers Committee on the Budget, and ultimately, Cabinet.

In the 2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and the 2023 Medium Term Expenditure Framework, as reported on pages 72 and 60 of the 2022 and 2023 Budget Reviews, R24 billion and R20 billion respectively was added to the provincial equitable share for provinces to deal with compensation of employees in provincial education departments, which includes dealing with the learner-educator ratio.

Reply:

In recent years, government has proposed difficult but necessary measures to curb the growing and unsustainable public sector wage bill. Given the size and the share of the public sector wage bill to total consolidated expenditure, it is critical that the public sector wage bill is carefully monitored and managed in relation to the broader economy. A faster growing public sector wage bill in relation to economic growth, will lead to a crowding-out effect on other critical priority spending areas.

Government thus far has successfully in curbing or slowing down growth on compensation expenditure given the fiscal consolidation measures introduced in Budget 2020 and Budget 2021. This has resulted in consolidated compensation of employees’ accounting for 31.6% of total consolidated expenditure in 2022/23, which is a reduction from the 35.7% share in 2013/14. Please refer to Figures 3.5 and 3.6 in page 29 of the 2023 Budget Review for relevant details regarding growth in compensation of employees’ spending relative to other service delivery areas.

Reply:

1. Any legitimate trader ought to be licensed with SARS in terms Sections 19 (1),27 (1), and 60 (1) of the Customs & Excise Act, No. 91 of 1964 (the Act).

As per the Customs & Excise trader register, there is total of 64 (sixty-four) licensed facilities for tobacco products as follows:

(i) Manufacturer of tobacco products is 50 (fifty) Licensees

(ii) Storage of tobacco products as per register – 14 (fourteen) Licensees

(a)(b) In terms of the section 4 (3) of the Act, the Commissioner or any officer of SARS may not disclose any taxpayer-specific information, except in the performance of his or her duties under this Act or by order of a competent court. The taxpayer confidentiality provisions of the Act therefore prevent names and addresses of licensees to be shared as requested.

2. (a) Since the 01 January 2022 a total number of licenses issued for Manufacturers of

tobacco products is 8 (eight) and Storage of tobacco products is 4 (four)

(b) Licenses were issued to traders that submitted applications and met the criteria as per Sections 19 (1),27 (1) and 60 (1) of the Act.

3. Sections 19, 27 and 60 of the Act make special provision for Customs and Excise warehouses in which Excisable or fuel levy goods are manufactured or stored. Section 19A of the Act controls the activities in and movements of goods from and between such warehouses, with the rules numbered 19A1 thereto being specifically applicable to tobacco products.

Section 54E of the Act makes provision for a Customs and Excise manufacturing warehouse in which environmental levy goods are manufactured. Section 54J of the Act applies these licensing provisions in respect of Health Promotion Levy on sugary beverages.

No licensee may conduct other business / manufacturing in or on the same factory / plant that is licensed as a manufacturing or storage warehouse with the SARS.

Client is required to submit application through Customs & Excise branch with all relevant supporting documents and applicable annexures for the purpose of the application.

The following additional supporting documents must be presented with the application (DA 185):

i) Registration certificate of business (as issued by the Registrar of Companies or Master of the Supreme Court in a case of a trust);

ii) Resolution / consent or other authority applicable.

iii) Site plan:

A) Must be a detailed plan of the premises but need not be a blueprint although it must be according to scale.

B) Must show the position(s) of the proposed manufacturing or storage warehouse in relation(s) to the adjoining building(s) and public thoroughfare(s);

C) Adequate office space must be provided to enable excise officers to conduct enforcement functions on the premises; and

D) Must be signed and dated by the applicant.

iv) A list of plant and machinery; and

v) Identity / passport documents of –

A) Individual.

B) Partnership, Close Corporation and Trust (All members / partners / trustees).

C) Company (All Directors, including Managing Director and Financial Director).

Once application is submitted client is subjected to below verification processes before being granted with a license:

A).Case is generated at time of submission at branch office

B). Physical inspection will be conducted to ensure client meet the requirements

C).Compliance check is conducted – and client is required to lodge a bond (surety/guarantee) to minimum value of R 2 000 000.00

D)  Once all applicable processes are conducted and client meets all criteria, license will be issued.

4. No, since licencing is a regulatory measure. [Optional: It is not a measure to allocate finite resources that are in high demand, such as radio spectrum.

Reply:

a) The total cost of intervention projects is R4.5 billion to date. The cost for the intervention in the Mkhanyakude District Municipality is yet to be confirmed once all the planning has been finalised. The details for other interventions implemented since 2020/21 by the department is indicated below:

Number	Region	Municipality	Source of funding	Project Name	Cost R’000
1	Limpopo	Giyani Local Municipality	WSIG	Reticulation of 24 villages	400,000
2	KwaZulu Natal	Zululand District Municipality	RBIG	Mandlakazi Bulk Scheme phase 5 (Esiphambanweni phase 5 & 6)	400,000
3	KwaZulu Natal	Ugu District Municipality	WSIG	Water Demand & Water Conservation Management	150,000
4	KwaZulu Natal	uMkhanyakude District Municipality	WSIG	Water Service Projects	TBC
5	Gauteng	Mogale City	WSIG	Emergency WSIG Projects	180,000
6	Northwest	Ramotshere Moiloa (Dinokana)	WSIG	Dinokana	30,000
7	Free State	Maluti-a-Phofung Local Municipality	RBIG	Maluti-a-Phofung LM Intervention	1,837,000
8	Mpumalanga	Lekwa Local Municipality	RBIG	Lekwa Waster Services (Re-purposing/Operations)	1,016,315
9	Free State	Matjhabeng Local Municipality	RBIG	Matjhabeng bulk sewer (Welkom)	522,500
	Total	4,535,815

b) Municipalities are responsible for acting against their personnel. The department has put measures in place to ensure that interventions are implemented effectively and efficiently. Some of the Water Boards such as Umgeni water and Lepelle Northern Water have been appointed to ensure that interventions are implemented in accordance with intended outcomes. The department is continuously monitoring the progress of the implementation and the impact thereof.

Furthermore, the Department ensures the protection of water resources by serving suspected transgressors or municipalities with Notices and Directives in accordance with the provisions of the National Water Act (Act 36 of 1998) (NWA). This is to compel responsible municipalities to take rectification measures on non-compliance cases identified. These Notices and Directives instruct the identified transgressors to make representations, which may take the form of action plans in other instances. Subsequently, the Department assess the representations submitted and advise on the implementation thereof. The Department then monitors implementation of the action plans and ensure adherence to the timeframes committed in order to control the causes of pollution and remedy effects thereof.

Lastly, the Department may institute criminal charges aimed at holding a municipality liable for offenses stipulated under Section 151 of the NWA, whereby fines or imprisonment may be imposed against an offender. The Department may also institute civil action by applying for a court interdict against a municipality. The court may then order the municipality to take remedial action through a Court Order.

The table below depitcs administrative, criminal and civil actions taken to protect water resources against municipalities found to have contravened the provisions of the National Water Act.

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Reply:

1.  The properties within the dam boundary line of the Hartbeespoort Dam were incorrectly vested in the name of the North West Province, and the province entered into long term lease agreements with an option to purchase the land with third parties around the dam. The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) had the properties vested nationally and instructed the province to cancel the lease agreements they concluded on national land under the DWS’ custodianship. The department developed a lease policy which was approved in April 2020. This policy guides the department when entering into lease agreements with third parties already occupying State land as well as new applicants from previously disadvantage groups.

The department has already commenced with the process to advertise all available State land under DWS custodianship for grazing and recreational purposes. The land will be leased at a market related rental determined by a Professional Valuer and guided by Treasury Regulations. The department has already identified three dams as pilot projects to advertise land at Van der Kloof Dam, Tant Malie at Hartbeespoort Dam and Lakeside in Potchefstroom.

2. (a)The department has signed lease agreements with 4 lessees and 1 permission to occupy as outlined in table below:

b) Lessees	i) Commencement Date	ii) Duration and End Date	e) Property Size
Boaters World	December 2020	5 years	1 ha
Hartbeespoort Training Academy	February 2023	9 years 11 months	5 ha
Sunshine Cruises	December 2022	5 years	1.5 ha
Caribbean Beach	February 2023	9 years 11 months	1.5 ha
Harties Foundation	February 2023	2 years (removal of Hyacinths)	1 ha

(c) All rental values were determined by a Professional Registered Valuer appointed in 2020/21 in terms of market related prices for each portion of land, taking into consideration the activities of the applicant and the land.

3. The contracts state what these properties may be used for, as well as the procedure for development of the property.

4. All contracts have lapsed except for the 5 mentioned in 2 (b) above. The process for considering new applicants is ongoing and the Department intends to finalize the current lease applications by end of 2023.

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Reply:

(i)  The department is mainstreaming climate change and response into planning (project design), implementation, and management of water resources. The implementation of climate risk assessment and management is done through systematically assessing, addressing, and adaptively managing climate risks in new strategies, projects, and activities, thus facilitating climate resilience to both prevailing and projected future climates. This is guided by the Water and Sanitation Sector Policy which sets out principles that strive to strengthen the effective protection, conservation, and management of water resources against the impacts of climate change.

Further, the Department has and is continuously mainstreaming climate change risk and vulnerabilities, and climate responses (adaptation) into its strategies and operations such as Climate Change Response Strategy, National Water Resource Strategy-3, among others. The Department is in its final stages of updating its climate change strategy for the water and sanitation sector, this will ensure that the adaptation and responses (including updating of risk and vulnerability assessments) developed are informed by the latest and refined Global Climate Models.

(ii) The department is responsible for the development and implementation of legislation and regulatory tools to ensure that water resources are protected.

The National Water Act 36 of 1998, requires water use activities emanating from water users to be authorised. The authorization conditions imposed to users involve ensuring that negative impacts of such activities on water resources are assessed, prevented or minimised.

The quality of the water resources is also monitored through various national and regional monitoring programs to determine the status of our water resources and to ensure pollution is identified and mitigated timeously.

Compliance to the above regulatory conditions is monitored and enforced through the National Water Act 36 of 1998. During the 2021/2022 financial year, 182 pollution cases were reported to the Department which translated to 142 administrative enforcement actions and 3 criminal cases referred to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). A total of 40 cases were closed as they had complied with legislative requirements.

In November 2019, the Department formally established the Anti-Pollution Task Team (APTT), with the aim of identifying and assessing risks that can cause pollution in water resources and finding remedies to mitigate pollution impacts on water. Some of the key tasks of the APTT are:

• development and implementation of anti-pollution management protocols and interface with other institutions (such as law enforcement agents) to ensure that polluters are brought to book,
• monitoring and implementation of the Integrated Water Quality Management Strategy (IWQMS) of 2017, which sets out strategic actions that are required to be undertaken to realise the vision and goals of water quality in South Africa,
• support and monitoring of the implementation of existing departmental functions dealing with pollution matters and improving water quality.

With support and interface with other law enforcement agencies, the department continues to implement enforcement action against polluters to ensure our water resources are protected.

(b) Other relevant steps taken by the department in these regards include:

• Continuous research in collaboration with the Water Research Commission (WRC)
• Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) monitoring and comparative analysis programs
• Participation in international water related events like the World Water Week in Stockholm and the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) conferences

The aim of taking these steps is to ensure that the department has good exposure to relevant and new technologies and innovations for water resources management in general.

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Reply:

1. The formation of the national orchestra was not a personal endeavour by Mr Tembe; the national orchestra was established by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture (DSAC) as part of its responsibility to implement the Revised White Paper on Arts and Culture which was approved by cabinet in August 2018 and endorsed by Parliament in 2019. DSAC oversaw a consultative process, however, we are not going to be highlighting individual organisations whether they were consulted or not.

2. The Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra allocated R20 million in 2022 to more than 38 regional orchestras, youth orchestras, educational and community initiatives throughout South Africa. This list is attached herewith as Annexure A

This Ministry and its Department of Sport, Arts and Culture do not get involved into the operations of the Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

Reply:

The Department currently has 14 large water projects running across different provinces. A total of 10 infrastructure projects are under planning, whilst 4 are in construction phase. In terms of progress, 11 projects are behind schedule. Details are tabulated below:

(1) PROJECTS PER PROVINCE	(2) PROJECT PHASE	(3) PROJECT SCHEDULE
Province	Number of Projects	Name of Project	(a) Planning	(b) Construction	(a) Behind Schedule	(b) How Far Behind Schedule
Eastern Cape	5	Gcuwa Weir	X		No	N/A
		Mzimvubu Water Project		X	Yes	N/A
		Lusikisiki Zalu Dam	X		Yes	1 Year
		Coerney Dam	X		No	N/A
		Foxwood Dam	X		Yes	1 Year
Free State	0	-	-	-
Gauteng	0	-	-	-
Kwa-Zulu Natal	4	Raising of Hazelmere Dam		X (Complete)	No	N/A
		uMkhomazi Water Project	X		Yes	4 years
		Cwabeni Off-Storage Channel Dam	X		Yes	9 months
		Stephen Dlamini Dam	X		Yes	9 months
Limpopo	4	Raising of Tzaneen Dam		X	Yes	28 months
		ORWRDP: Olifants Management Model	X		No	N/A
		New Nwamitwa Dam	X		Yes	7 Years
		Mokolo Crocodile River (West) Augmentation Scheme - Phase 2A		X	Yes	3 years
Mpumalanga	0	-	-	-
Northern Cape	0	-	-	-
Northwest	0	-	-	-
Western Cape	2	Raising of Clanwilliam Dam		X	Yes	3 years
		Berg River-Voelvlei Augmentation Scheme	X		Yes	6 months
TOTALS	14		10	4	11

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Reply:

(1) Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra board established an Artistic Planning Committee which advises the board on the funding of orchestral entities. The Artistic Planning Committee used their vast knowledge of the field to identify potential candidate entities for funding. It then conducted a closed call whereby identified institutions are either awarded grants or invited to apply.

(2) In terms of the contract between the National Arts Council of South Africa and Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra, (a) and (b) an amount, which is 25% of the budget is spent towards operations which include administration and corporate marketing.

(4) The KZN Youth Orchestra received money along with the other 38 organisations that were funded by Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra in various provinces of South Africa, see the attached list.

(5) Organisations do not have to be distributing agencies in order to contribute funding to artistic entities. In addition, Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra is distributing funds to regional orchestras, youth orchestras and educational and community initiatives as part of its agreement with the National Arts Council of SA.

The Orchestral funds are now being distributed to at least 7 provinces in SA other than just the main cities of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban which was the pattern before the national orchestra was established.

Reply:

A notice of birth can be submitted by a social worker within 60 days of obtaining a court order in terms of section 156 of the Children’s Act and must be accompanied by the following:

• A court order issued by the Children’s court
• A certified copy of identity/valid passport or permit of the social worker
• A certified copy of the identity document or passport or visa or permit of the parent(s) of the child
• A certified copy of death certificate of the parent(s) of the child (if applicable)
• A social worker’s report that was presented to the Children’s court
• If a child whose birth is sought to be registered in terms of a court order is a non-South African citizen, the Director-General may deal with the notice as contemplated in Regulation 8 and inform the relevant Children’s court accordingly
• Where applicable, a court order indicating the age of the child
• The social worker who submits a notice of birth must give a name and surname, to that child if no names were given to the child before the registration can take place
• A birth certificate issued in terms of section 12 of the Act must contain the particulars of the parent(s) of the child where such particulars are known.
• Officials must sign on behalf of the Director-General

END

Reply:

The International Labour Organisation’s Recommendation No.116 of 1962 provides that normal hours of work should be progressively reduced, when appropriate, with a view to attaining the social standard indicated in the recommendation without any reduction in the wages of the workers at the time hours of work are reduced.

Schedule One of the BCEA provides for procedures to be adopted in order to reduce working hours to the goal of a 40 hour working week.

• Firstly, through collective bargaining: a party to the negotiations can introduce the reduction of working hours and parties must negotiate on that issue.
• Secondly, the NMW Commission may investigate the possibility of reducing working hours in a particular sector and area and make recommendations to the Minister.

The Employment Conditions Commission conducted an investigation on the feasibility of reducing working hours in 2014.

The report found that progress into the reduction of working hours for the period covering 2006-2012 was evident in the following sectors:

• Textile industry;
• Glass sector, agreement for 2013-2014 working hours are 42 and most of them are already on 40 except where they are working continuous shifts;
• Construction industry;
• Sugar manufacturing and refinery industry, workers used to work 46 hours, now they work 43 hours;
• Metal and engineering industry, a 40-hour week has been in place since July 1, 2002;
• Public service, 99% of all employees perform a 40-hour week, as stated on the public service regulations.

The functions of the disbanded Employment Conditions Commission have since 2019 been taken over by the National Minimum Wage Commission, so there might be a need to conduct another research in order to check the progress that has been made in the reduction of working hours since the last report and also to establish the feasibility of reducing hours of work and the unintended consequences that may result thereof, particularly for those sectors that are earning the minimum wage e.g. domestic and farm workers sectors.

Furthermore, the item forms part of the proposals currently under discussion at the NEDLAC’s Labour Law Reform Task Team.

END

Reply:

(a) According to the National Arts Council (NAC), the law firm was chosen from the legal panel, which has already been appointed by NAC to deal with PESP matters in 2021.

Legal firms are used on a rotational basis for other legal matters of NAC. It was not cost efficient to rotate legal firms with PESP matters. PESP matters were numerous and complex. The firm had to be retained for continuity purposes in dealing with PESP issues.

(b) The firm was appointed by management

Reply:

The wooden floors were procured by the Netball World Cup 2023 Local Organising Committee.

(1) (a) Wooden floors will be assembled at three venues as follows:

(i) At CTICC1, two floors will be assembled by the 10th July 2023

(ii) At CTICC2, two floors will be assembled by the 15th July 2023

(iii) At the military base, only one floor will be assembled by the 17th July 2023, and

(iv) At the University of Cape Town, two floors will be assembled by the 15th July 2023

(b) The following is the breakdown of the costs;

(i) 4 x Competition floors : R14,000,000 (R3,500,000 per floor)

(ii) 9 x Training floors : R15,750,000 (R1,750,000 per floor)

(iii) Import duties : R4,388,000

(iv) Total : R34,138,000

(2) (a) Total number of thirteen (13) floors have been secured for the legacy project

(b) Total cost of the wooden floor is R34, 138, 00 including shipping

(3) (a) Provinces will advice on the woodman including the storage and maintenance of these floors

(b) (i) The supplier was appointed by the Netball World Cup 2023 Local Organising Committee. Mveledzo Sports Facilities (PTY) Ltd, was appointed to supply the wooden floors.

(ii) They are based in Lourie Park, Bloemfontein, 9301.

(4) There are no suppliers of wooden sprung floors in South Africa and Africa.

Reply:

The Department is awaiting response from the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC).

Reply:

According to the information at my disposal at the moment:

(1) The Department did not fund the memorial and funeral of the late musician Mampintsha.

(2) Falls away

Reply:

Find here: Reply

Reply:

According to the information at my disposal at the moment:

a) The success of Women’s teams such as Banyana Banyana in the African Cup of Nations competition and the Proteas during the International Cricket Council Women’s T20 World Cup can be attributed to collaborative efforts, plans and interventions between the Department and the National Federations. Subsequent to the National Sport and Recreation Indaba held in 2011 and the publication of the resultant National Sport and Recreation Plan (NSRP), the Department identified core federations to focus on in terms of promotion of Women Sport. Netball was the first sport code that the Department focused on as part of the Intensive Support Programme. Through this initiative the Netball League was established. The plan was to provide this support for three consecutive years after which the initiatives should be self-sustainable.

Similar approach has been adopted with Women’s Football with the establishment of the National Women’s Football League. This league has progressed to acquire a title sponsor hence it is now called the Hollywoodbets Super League. The Department also identified Women’s Cricket and Women’s Rugby as codes to focus on. It is for this reason that the Departmental funding to these codes is primarily for women’s programmes. The Department will continue with this focused intervention to target identified codes.

b) The Department is working with the South African Sports Confederation and Olympic (SASCOC) in ensuring that all codes have programmes aimed at development and promotion of Women Sport. These initiatives/programmes are supported by provision of sport facilities through a ring-fenced Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) allocated to municipalities following DSAC’s selection process and transferred by the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) as the custodian and transferring department of this Grant. By design, MIG is biased towards rural and/or disadvantaged communities and for this reason most of the facilities built through it are in such areas, and the department will continue to prioritize them in the future.

Currently the department has two main programmes that support the development of women in sport and in particular, football:

(i) School Sport Programme: Through this programme, all 16 priority codes that participate at the Championships, have a 50/50 representation of women. This is to ensure that there is an equal platform to participate and develop women. At the National School Sport Championships, provinces have been able to send at least 3 categories of participants which include male and female.

(ii) Club Development Programme: The programme has concluded the pilot study in Kwazulu-Natal and Limpopo, which has among other Netball, Athletics, and Football clubs. The Club development programme is a dedicated programme to ensure the development of sport, including the participation of women in sport. This project is extended to rural areas through the Rural Sport Development Programme that currently focuses on organizing leagues and structures in rural areas.

Reply:

(a)(i) The system for processing of IDs and Passports was upgraded on 03-05 February 2023.

(a)(ii) The release was introducing the web based system for processing of ID Cards and Passports and doing bug fixes.

b) The quantity of documents transferred into digital format is 3 175 442.

c) The Department has implemented the Biometric Access Control Management (BACM) to control access to sensitive transactions and are stored in aforensic vault. The NPR, ABIS and HANIS have several security measures implemented to protect citizen data. These are the main systems that citizen’s data are stored. Regular Vulnerabilities and Penetration tests are performed to identify possible vulnerabilities and fix them. A project has been initiated to review the current enterprise architecture and introduce the necessary improvements.

(d)(i) The downtime stats report from SITA is attached as Annexure A.

(d)(ii) The main cause of system downtime currently, is power failure / load shedding. Whilst there is effort to ensure that generators and UPS are working at the offices during power outages, there are instances where the generators and or UPS are in need of maintenance.

END

Reply:

Thank you for the questions Honourable Denner.

1. Indeed research has been conducted annualy for the past three years, assessing the impact of the national minimum wage on employment, hours of work and wages;

a) The following sectors were studied: Agriculture, Mining, Manufacturing, Construction, Trade, Transport, Finance, Community and Social Services and private households (for example domestic workers and gardeners).

b) The recent research focused on the wage adjustments that took place in 2021 and 2022:

• The study did not observe any major shifts in aggregate employment following the NMW increases in 2021 or 2022.
• Where significant variation is observed in 2021, the effects of COVID-19 and the country’s lockdown policies are likely to be a more direct driver at the aggregate level than NMW changes, which were small for most covered workers.

2. With regards to the question on whether research has been done specifically with regard to the impact of the NMW on employment of domestic workers:

a) The study singled out the following sectors: Agriculture and Domestic Work, where national minimum wage increases have been unusually large due to equalization of these sectors to the national minimum wage

b) The study did not observe significant changes in employment during the periods driven by the increases in the national minimum wage.

END

Reply:

According to the information at my disposal at the moment: During the 2017-2018 financial year, the Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture met with the CEOs of the 3 established South African orchestras in his Parliamentary office in Cape Town.

(1) The Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra was represented by its CEO, Louis Heyneman.

(2) The KZN Philharmonic Orchestra was represented by its board member, the former Judge President, Mr Vuka Tshabalala.

(3) and Mr Tembe the CEO who also represented the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

At this meeting, the Minister thanked the 3 orchestras for their work but underscored that the National Government is committed to broadening the orchestral music experience throughout the country, not just limiting it to the main urban centres of Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban. He proceeded to say that government will stop directly funding the regional orchestras and will channel ring-fenced orchestral funds which are housed at the National Arts Council of SA to the national philharmonic orchestra which was at the time still to be formed.

The national orchestra which is called Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra has indeed been formed, and its mission, in a nutshell, is:

To play a significant role in the cultural life of South Africa’s vibrant and diverse communities, and to transform lives through the power of music, by:

(i) Creating world class orchestral music experiences and touring events, nationally and internationally, thus strengthening cultural diplomacy and branding South Africa favourably.

(ii) Creating job opportunities in the orchestral music sector and identifying highly talented young musicians and nurturing their skills; and

(iii) Transforming the orchestral music sector in South Africa and contributing to a socially cohesive society with a common national identity.

Based on the orchestra’s activities and programmes highlighted in the 2022 annual report, Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra is fulfilling its mission. For example, it has allocated R20 million to regional orchestras, education and community initiatives in 7 provinces (before this process, orchestral funding ringfenced at the NAC was only limited to 3 provinces – so this is indeed growth in the sector).

Reply:

According to the information at my disposal at the moment:

a) The COVID-19 pandemic hit hard on the Arts, Culture and Heritage sector. Most practitioners lost their jobs as their activities were grounded due to the restrictions that through the government regulations in order to curb the further spread of the virus. The Department acted swiftly to lessen the blow of the pandemic to the sector by utilising the MGE funding towards the relief fund to sustain the livelihoods of artists. The intervention ensured that many of the sector practitioners do not lose their assets and most importantly sustained them during the period. It is also important to note that the MGE funds were not adequate to address the massive challenge of meeting the needs of the sector halfway due to the limited resources that were available.

(b)(i) The Department is engaging the sector as guided by the revised white paper on capacity building initiatives. The initiatives are also aligned to the Creative Industry Master Plan that also focuses on the synergies of the sector with various partners in order to achieve the common goal of growing the Cultural and Creative Industry (CCI),

(ii) The Department is part of the process that is led by the DTIC of processing the Copyright Amendment Bill and the Performers Protection Amendment Bill that is yet to be signed by the President. The Performers Protection Amendment Bill prioritises royalty payment wherever the work of performers is played/broadcast, as well as protection and promotion of performers’ moral and economic rights for performers in audio-visual fixations. The bill has to be read together with its ‘’sister’’ Copyright Amendment Bill. The Copyright Amendment Bill provides for, amongst others:

• Protection of copyright in craft work

• Accreditation and registration of collecting societies

• Provide for the requirement for standard contracts;

• Intellectual Property Tribunal that will settle royalty disputes efficiently

• Easy access to copyright for persons with learning disabilities

• Fair use of copyright work

• Protection of Orphan works by the State

• Resale rights from art work (royalty for author whenever there is a resale)

• Prohibited conduct in respect of technological protection measures

• Management of digital rights

• Promotion of broadcasting local content

The inclusion of standard contracts in the South African Copyright law will potentially advance the protection of many artists who have in the past lost their rights and thus provide a uniform and transparent framework for the negotiation and enforcement of copyright agreements. Without standard contracts, artists and creators may be at a disadvantage when negotiating the terms of their agreements. This can lead to agreements that are unfair or heavily weighted in favor of the other party.

Reply:

(1) The Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra Board meets about 3-4 times a year as per the Memorandum of Incorporation of the National Orchestra.

(2) The Board of Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra is chaired by Justice Theron, and she is not allowed to accept board fees. The other Board Member of the National Orchestra has offered not to accept Board fees but will do this as part of Member’s service to the nation. Only one Board member accepts board fees which are as follows: R3,782 per sitting and R2,382 for preparations.

(b) The board of Mzansi National Philharmonic Orchestra is comprised of highly regarded South Africans with deep experience in a number of fields. These board members are well known and respected in South Africa and throughout the world.

Reply:

a) n terms of clause 11.2 (read with clauses 13.1 and 13.2) of the Lease Agreement between the Department of Public Works and the landlord, the landlord at Byron’s Place is responsible for the normal maintenance and repairs of both the interior and exterior of the premises. To this end, the landlord carries out inter alia the following maintenance, repairs and servicing, at the following intervals:

1. Maintenance, repairs and servicing of all air-conditioning units (monthly);
2. Maintenance, repairs and servicing of the generator (annually);
3. Servicing of the electrical transformer (annually);
4. Infra-red testing of all the DB boards (annually);
5. Inspect, clean, test and maintain all the DB boards (annually);
6. Maintain and inspect all electrical equipment (monthly);
7. Lighting inspection (weekly);
8. Annual Service - extinguishers, hose reels & hydrants (annually);
9. Servicing of lifts (monthly)
10. Annexure B inspection of lifts (once every two years);
11. Cleaning of common areas (daily);
12. Pest control (monthly).

The ceiling on the ground floor of the office at Byron Place, corner of Nana Sita and Sophie de Bruyn streets collapsed during the afternoon of Thursday, 16 February 2023. As a result, services at this office were interrupted on Friday, 17 February 2023. The Office Manager immediately informed the landlord (Zambli 216 (Pty) Ltd) of the damages. The ceiling was repaired by the landlord over the weekend of 18 and 19 February 2023 and the office resumed operations on Monday, 20 February 2023.

b) Maintenance-related complaints regarding leased properties are managed at office level. Office managers have been provided with the contact details of their respective landlords. The office manager will first report the maintenance matter directly to the landlord and should there be no resolution, the matter is then escalated to Property Management at Head office who in turn escalates to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. Maintenance matters escalated to the Department of Public Works & Infrastructure are tracked via an EXCELL Spreadsheet where all matters are recorded.

END

Reply:

The Honourable Member will recall that the Department did on 22 February 2022 brief the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs regarding the Department’s implementation report in respect of the Budget Review and Recommendations Report 2021/22 of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs. Your attention is drawn to item 6.2.5 of the Department’s implementation report (Annexure A) which I tabled on 5 February 2022 in the National Assembly.

END

Reply:

(a) The letter submitted to the Speaker of the National Assembly and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces relates to Section 5(9) of the South African Citizenship Act 88 of 1995, which requires the Minister of Home Affairs to within 14 days after the commencement of the sitting of Parliament in each year, to table in Parliament the names of any person to whom certificates of naturalisation were granted in the preceding year, including the reasons for granting such certificate. In this regard, no application for naturalisation in terms of Section 5(9) of the Act was received which requires granting of a certificate of naturalisation.

(b)(i) and (ii)

There is currently no backlog on application for naturalisation in terms of Section 5(9) of the South African Citizenship Act.

END

Reply:

According to the information at my disposal at the moment:

(1) The three arts and culture policy experts/ academics that were appointed by the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture were Professor Andries Olifant (University of South Africa), Ms Avril Joffe (Witwatersrand University) and Professor Muxe Nkondo (former Vice Chancellor and Principal, University of Venda).

(2) The assignment of this panel was to solicit input into the Revised White Paper on Arts and Culture from artists, arts managers, arts organisations and other stakeholders throughout the country. They undertook and completed the extensive work of consultations with the creative sector in South Africa. This consultative process culminated with the approval of the Revised White Paper on Arts and Culture by the Cabinet in August 2018 which was endorsed by Parliament in February 2020.

Reply:

To increase support to organisations (NPOs), the Department relies on allocations made available by treasury, and given the current fiscus constraints, there is limited room to channel more funding. However, the PFMA Section 43(1)(4) allows for departments to shift savings from their operational budget (if any) to transfer payments subject to National Treasury approval.

Secondly, other support provided by the Department to the NPO sector is through capacity building programmes to ensure that NPOs comply with applicable legislation for services they provide. The department also assist with strengthening the management and governance of NPOs to improve their performance and impact through the provision of skills development training facilitated by departmental officials and/ or through partnership with relevant Stakeholders.

Amongst others, the in-house training entails-

• Basic Financial Management and record keeping
• Compliance with the NPO Act, other related legislation and the signed MOA.
• Leadership and Governance
• Resource Mobilization
• Management and Administration

The department further collaborates with Stakeholders such as NDA (National Development Agency), SARS (South African Revenue Service), SEDA (Small Enterprise Development Agency), SAIBA (South African Institution for Business Accountants) and other partners in the Private Sector to provide capacity building training such as:

• Project Management
• Conflict Management
• Financial Literacy
• Tax Compliance / PBO Status

The Department also undertakes NPO Outreach Programmes to the far-flung communities to empower and ensure access to NPO services. These include NPO Roadshows and Compliance Drives e.g. (Know-Your-NPO-Status).

 

Reply:

The Master Services Agreement (MSA) was ceded and assigned with its obligations as-is to Postbank in September 2022, and Postbank assumed responsibility for the function from 01 October 2022. The matter of ceding has thus been finalised.

However, in the cession agreement, an option to review the MSA has been provided for. This process started in November 2022 and is still in progress with the expected date of completion being April 2023. It is important to note that the original MSA was ceded as-is and will remain in operation until the new MSA is concluded. Thus, there should be no change in terms of service delivery.

Reply:

a) The Department of International Relations and Cooperation has allocated R25 499 000 for the construction of new properties.

b) The Department of International Relations and Cooperation has allocated R118 331 500 for the maintenance and renovation of existing state-owned properties abroad.

Reply:

The Child Support Grant Top Up (CSG Top Up) is targeted at two categories of children; they are:

• Orphans in the care of relatives; and
• Orphans in child-headed households in terms of s137 of the Children’s Act.

The CSG top up is not a new grant. Instead, it builds on the existing Child Support Grant (CSG), complementing it, by increasing the amount allocated to orphans in the care of relatives and orphans in Child Headed Households (CHH).

In order to receive a CSG Top up, an application needs to be lodged at any SASSA office or via the SASSA online platform.

The following persons can apply for a CSG Top Up:

• A child heading a household who is aged between 16 and 18 can apply for and receive the child support grant for him/herself as well as receive the CSG Top Up for the children under his/her care.
• A caregiver, or relatives of orphans taking care of orphaned children can apply for the CSG Top Up;
• CSG Top up applicants are subjected to the means test, where the applicant’s income and /or his/her spouse is considered.

The following requirements need to be adhered to in order to qualify for a CSG top up:

• Relatives will need to provide proof that they are related to the child.
• Applicants need to provide proof that the child is an orphan by producing:
  • A death certificate/s of the child’s parents or
  • An affidavit attesting to their lack of knowledge as to whether the child’s parent is dead or alive.

Reply:

a) SASSA pays social grants into client’s bank accounts and where clients do not have bank accounts, SASSA refers such clients to the Postbank, who opens bank accounts for them. These clients are given a SASSA branded card; however, this card is a fully functional bank card backed by a bank account.

This card is a VISA card which can be used at any merchant that accepts VISA cards.

b) No negotiations were held to determine, or limit where beneficiaries can purchase goods. SASSA gives beneficiaries as much choice as possible, hence the Agency request clients to supply their bank details for payments, or to open a Postbank account if they do not have a bank account. This enables clients to access the same National Payment System used by everyone when buying goods and services. No client is limited or compelled in any way to purchase goods from specific merchants. Clients are free to use their cards to purchase from any merchant of their choice.

Reply:

1. For the period referred to in the parliamentary question (10 years) and with reference to the specified nature of misconducts, the consequence management measures taken by the SA Social Security Agency are recorded as follows: -

NATURE OF MISCONDUCT	No OF CASES	CONSEQUENCE MANAGEMEMENT MEASURES EMPLOYED ON OFFICIALS AND SANCTIONS
Theft	3	Sanctions Suspension without pay x 1. Suspensions without pay combined with final written warning x 1. Resigned while case in progress x 1.
Corruption	259	Sanctions Dismissal x 69. Demotion x 2. Demotion coupled with final written warning x 4. 3 months suspensions without pay coupled with final written warning x 8. 2 months suspension without pay coupled with final written warning x 5. 1 month suspension without pay coupled with final written warning x 15. 1 month suspension x 11. 2 weeks suspension without pay coupled with final written warning x 1. Final written warning x 12. Written warnings x 13. Not guilty x 13. Resigned while case in progress x 15. Case withdrawn x 75.
Mismanagement	61	Formal / Informal discipline instituted. Sanctions Dismissals x 2. Demotion coupled with final written warning x 1. 3 months suspension without pay coupled with final written warning x 1. 2 months suspension without pay coupled with final written warning x 1. 1 month suspension without pay x 1. 1 month suspension without pay coupled with final written warning x 1. Final written warning x 8. Final written warning coupled with counselling x 2. Written warning coupled with counselling x 1. Written warning x 25. Verbal warning x 11. Not guilty x 4. Withdrawn x 2. Resigned while case in progress x 1.
Irregular Payments	61	Formal / Informal discipline instituted. Sanctions Dismissal x 1. Final written warnings x 2. Written warning x 21. Verbal warning x 7. Counselling x 22. Withdrawn x 6. Not guilty x 2.
Cyber attacks	0	0
System Outage	0	0
System glitches	0	0
Card duplication	0	0
Grand Total	424	424 (with direct and or indirect financial implications).
NB: The total number of reported cases in the past was 445, and the latter number was inclusive of 21 minor misconduct cases which were not necessarily having financial implications

ONGOING DISCIPLINARY CASES
No.	Region	Date case Initiated	Act Of Misconduct
1	EASTERN CAPE	23-Feb-22	GROSS DISHONESTY
2	EASTERN CAPE	11-Jul-22	GROSS DISHONESTY
3	EASTERN CAPE	24-Jan-22	ABSENTEEISM
4	EASTERN CAPE	23-Feb-22	GROSS DISHONESTY
5	EASTERN CAPE	22-Jul-22	ABSENTEEISM
6	EASTERN CAPE	23-Nov-22	DISHONESTY
7	EASTERN CAPE	9-Feb-22	DERELICTION OF DUTY
8	EASTERN CAPE	11-Nov-22	NEGLIGENCE
9	EASTERN CAPE	8-Nov-22	ABSENTEEISM
10	EASTERN CAPE	3-Mar-22	GRANT FRAUD
11	EASTERN CAPE	17-May-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
12	EASTERN CAPE	23-Feb-22	GROSS DISHONESTY
13	EASTERN CAPE	1-Mar-22	ABSENTEEISM
14	EASTERN CAPE	1-Mar-22	ABSENTEEISM
15	EASTERN CAPE	22-Oct-21	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
16	FREE STATE	14-Jul-22	DISRESPECT TOWARDS SUPERVISOR
17	GAUTENG	5-Apr-21	GRANT FRAUD
18	GAUTENG	31-May-22	ABSENTEEISM
19	GAUTENG	5-Aug-22	NON-DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION
20	HEAD OFFICE	21-Oct-19	INSUBORDINATION
21	KWAZULU-NATAL	26-Sep-19	ABSCONDMENT
22	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
23	KWAZULU-NATAL	21-Sep-17	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
242	KWAZULU-NATAL	19-Feb-19	BRIBERY
52	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CIRCUMVENTING SCM PROCESSES
6	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CIRCUMVENTING SCM PROCESSES
27	KWAZULU-NATAL	28-Sep-17	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
28	KWAZULU-NATAL	18-Aug-21	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
29	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
30	KWAZULU-NATAL	16-Jul-19	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
31	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	LINKED TO ENTITIES WITH OTHER SASSA OFFICIAL
32	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	LINKED TO ENTITIES WITH OTHER SASSA OFFICIAL
33	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
34	KWAZULU-NATAL	21-Jun-16	GROSS NEGLIGENCE
35	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
36	KWAZULU-NATAL	6-Apr-22	CONTINUOUS LATE COMING
37	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	APPROVAL OF THE GRV ORDER NO. 193103
38	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
39	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	LINKED TO ENTITIES WITH OTHER SASSA OFFICIAL
40	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	LINKED TO ENTITIES WITH OTHER SASSA OFFICIAL
41	KWAZULU-NATAL	2-Jul-20	BRINGING THE IMAGE OF THE AGENCY INTO DISREPUTE
42	KWAZULU-NATAL	23-Feb-17	ABUSE OF SASSA VEHICLE
43	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRACTION OF SASSA CODE OF CONDUCT, SASSA ACCOUNTS PAYABLE
44	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
45	KWAZULU-NATAL	5-Mar-20	MISUSES POSITION
46	KWAZULU-NATAL	27-Sep-19	BRIBERY
47	KWAZULU-NATAL	4-Jan-21	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
48	KWAZULU-NATAL	2-Jul-20	BRINGING THE IMAGE OF THE AGENCY INTO DISREPUTE
49	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	LACK OF SUPPLIER ROTATION AND COMMON DIRECTOR 192332
50	KWAZULU-NATAL	8-Aug-16	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
51	KWAZULU-NATAL	2-Jul-20	BRINGING THE IMAGE OF THE AGENCY INTO DISREPUTE
52	KWAZULU-NATAL	7-Oct-20	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
53	KWAZULU-NATAL	13-Feb-19	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
54	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	NON- DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION
55	KWAZULU-NATAL	7-Apr-21	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
56	KWAZULU-NATAL	13-Jan-21	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
57	KWAZULU-NATAL	23-Nov-17	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
58	KWAZULU-NATAL	12-Apr-19	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
59	KWAZULU-NATAL	21-Sep-17	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
60	KWAZULU-NATAL	13-Aug-21	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
61	KWAZULU-NATAL	6-Oct-17	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
62	KWAZULU-NATAL	12-Apr-19	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
63	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	ABDICATION OF FIDUCIARY DUTIES OF THE PUBLIC FINANCE MANAGEMENT ACT
64	KWAZULU-NATAL	2-Jul-20	BRINGING THE IMAGE OF THE AGENCY INTO DISREPUTE
65	KWAZULU-NATAL	4-Jan-21	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
66	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
67	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	LINKED TO ENTITIES WITH OTHER SASSA OFFICIAL
68	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	LINKED TO ENTITIES WITH OTHER SASSA OFFICIAL
69	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	LINKED TO ENTITIES WITH OTHER SASSA OFFICIAL
70	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
71	KWAZULU-NATAL	28-Sep-17	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
72	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
73	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CO-DIRECTOR IN MTIZILI PRIMARY CO-OPERATIVE LIMITED
74	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	COMPILING RFQ SELECTING SUPPLIER WITH COMMON DIRECTORSHIP
75	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF RATE PRESCRIPTS DUE DILIGENCE IN RESPECT OF ADJUDICATION SCM3 REPORT
76	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Dec-18	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
77	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
78	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
79	KWAZULU-NATAL	11-Sep-18	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
80	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
81	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	UNDECLARED INTERESTS WITH A SERVICE PROVIDER
82	KWAZULU-NATAL	16-Jul-19	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
83	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	LINKED TO ENTITIES WITH OTHER SASSA OFFICIAL
84	KWAZULU-NATAL	16-Jul-19	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
84	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
85	KWAZULU-NATAL	2-Jul-20	BRINGING THE IMAGE OF THE EMPLOYER INTO DISREPUTE
86	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
87	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
88	KWAZULU-NATAL	13-Feb-19	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
89	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	LINKED TO ENTITIES WITH OTHER SASSA OFFICIAL
90	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
91	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Dec-18	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
92	KWAZULU-NATAL	16-Jul-19	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
93	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
94	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CIRCUMVENTING SCM PROCESSES
95	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	LINKED TO ENTITIES WITH OTHER SASSA OFFICIAL
96	KWAZULU-NATAL	3-Jan-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
97	KWAZULU-NATAL	28-Sep-17	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
98	KWAZULU-NATAL	6-Apr-22	UNAUTHORISED ABSENCE
100	KWAZULU-NATAL	7-Oct-20	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
101	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
102	KWAZULU-NATAL	27-May-22	GROSS NEGLIGENCE
103	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF THE SCM POLICY
104	KWAZULU-NATAL	24-Aug-20	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
105	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Dec-18	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
106	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Dec-18	FLOUTING GRANT PROCESS
107	KWAZULU-NATAL	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
108	LIMPOPO	13-Aug-21	DISHONESTY
109	LIMPOPO	9-Sep-22	CONTRAVENNING SASSA SOCIAL ASSISTANCE ACT
110	LIMPOPO	7-Dec-20	INTIMIDATION/VICTIMISATION
111	LIMPOPO	7-Dec-20	INTIMIDATION/VICTIMISATION
112	LIMPOPO	14-Jul-21	GRANT FRAUD
113	LIMPOPO	7-Dec-20	INTIMIDATION/VICTIMISATION
114	LIMPOPO	1-Apr-22	SEXUAL ASSAULT
115	MPUMALANGA	2-Aug-22	NEGLIGENCE
116	MPUMALANGA	10-Aug-22	CONTRAVENTION OF TRANSPORT POLICY
117	MPUMALANGA	8-Aug-22	NEGLIGENCE
118	MPUMALANGA	11-Apr-22	IMPROPER CONDUCT
119	MPUMALANGA	8-Aug-22	NEGLIGENCE
120	MPUMALANGA	2-Aug-22	NEGLIGENCE
121	NORTHERN CAPE	15-Sep-20	REMUNERATIVE WORK
123	NORTHERN CAPE	23-Jun-22	ASSAULT
124	NORTHERN CAPE	3-Dec-20	FAILURE TO UTILISE NEW SERVICE PROVIDER WHEN DELIVERING FOOD PARCEL
125	NORTHERN CAPE	21-Jan-22	LEAVE WITHOUT AUTHORISATION
126	WESTERN CAPE	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF SCM POLICY
127	WESTERN CAPE	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF SCM POLICY
128	WESTERN CAPE	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF SCM POLICY
129	WESTERN CAPE	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF SCM POLICY
130	WESTERN CAPE	10-Mar-22	DISHONESTY
131	WESTERN CAPE	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF SCM POLICY
132	WESTERN CAPE	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF SCM POLICY
133	WESTERN CAPE	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF SCM POLICY
134	WESTERN CAPE	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF SCM POLICY
135	WESTERN CAPE	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF SCM POLICY
136	WESTERN CAPE	1-Mar-22	GROSS NEGLIGENCE
137	WESTERN CAPE	30-Oct-22	ABSENTEEISM
138	WESTERN CAPE	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF SCM POLICY
139	WESTERN CAPE	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF SCM POLICY
140	WESTERN CAPE	13-Dec-22	ABSENTEEISM
141	WESTERN CAPE	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF SCM POLICY
142	WESTERN CAPE	1-Mar-22	GROSS NEGLIGENCE
143	WESTERN CAPE	1-Jul-22	CONTRAVENTION OF SCM POLICY
144	WESTERN CAPE	18-Sep-20	ABSENTEEISM
145	WESTERN CAPE	18-Sep-20	FAILED TO SUBMIT SECOND SEMESTER REVIEW

2. (a)There are 145 disciplinary cases ongoing.

(b)The cases were initiated from 2016 until 2022 (Refer to the table below for details on (a) and (b)).

(c) Formal disciplinary processes are underway. However, no dates can be provided nor determined when cases will be finalised.

3. (a) and (b)

Disciplinary processes in the public service are guided by Chapter 7 of the SMS Handbook (March 2021) wherein the administration, standards and application of disciplinary processes is regulated. Several sanctions may be issued such as warning letters, suspension, demotion and other sanctions, however the regulations preclude financial recovery of a loss that may have occurred as a result of theft, corruption that may have arisen through the officials conduct.

Reply:

No. The successful service provider was selected following an open bid process based on government prescripts and National Treasury guidelines with the bid advertised in South Africa. Most of the ICT equipment procured by DIRCO are packaged within South Africa.The signed contract for ICT equipment includes a warranty and a three-year maintenance plan.

 

Reply:

The meetings of the Portfolio Committee of Small Business Development are convened on Wednesdays at 09:30 which is the same time as the ESIEID Cabinet Committee or Cabinet Meetings. HE President Ramaphosa directed that Ministers need to prioritise the business of Cabinet over other responsibilities. However, to balance my Cabinet responsibilities and other responsibilities like those of Parliament structures I ensure that I split my attendance in these structures. Further, to ensure the department is responsibly and adequately represented in all structures we are legally obligated to, we divide our work with the Deputy Minister and the Director General and conduct pre and post briefing sessions on all engagements to share the information and prepare for those briefings with adequate information.

STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS

MINISTER: DEPARTMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Reply:

a) The SA Social Security Agency provides social assistance in the form of social grants (namely: Grant in Aid, Older Persons; War Veterans, Disability, Child Support, Foster Child and Care Dependency Grant) as well as Social Relief of Distress for disasters and the COVID-19 SRD.

Social Grants

No payment issues were encountered since January 2020, except for an incident of duplicate payments that occurred in May 2020 in the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal region. It’s important to note that social grants are deemed to be paid once SASSA transfers the money into beneficiary’s accounts.

Status quo: The above-mentioned error was rectified, and beneficiaries were paid later during the expected payment date and any overpayments were fully recovered.

1. Covid -19 SRD R350

Following announcement by the President on 21 April 2020, the directions to administer the provision were issued on 09 May 2020 for immediate implementation.

SASSA had to develop and implement a new system to accommodate online digital application platforms to administer the new provision.

SASSA was able to leverage off existing technology investment to provide the solution in time. The online system was launched by Minister on 11 May 2020, with the first payments effected on 15 May 2020.

Although the above mechanisms were in place there were external enablers to make the solution work from end-to-end as discussed below:

i) Databases from external entities for verification processes:

Across all iterations of the administration of the grant, SASSA has been experiencing challenges in sourcing data, as well as sourcing updated data, which has led to late payments, inclusion and exclusion errors as well as audit findings.

Status quo: SASSA still continues to engage with stakeholders on this matter. However, to eliminate late payments, an internal control process was implemented, which uses the latest available data to enable timeous payments.

ii) Accounts Verification Services (AVS)

During the first iteration of the provision, there were delays in receiving bank account bank accounts verification which ultimately delayed payment to beneficiaries.

Status quo: Improvements were made during subsequent iteration of the grant, and it can be reported that the function has now stabilised.

iii) Payments and Disbursement Processes

• Beneficiary payment detail challenges such as:
  • Omission of payment method details by the client at time of application. This requires the client to upload payment details.

• • Payment method failed the account verification process.  This could be due to incorrect account details or because the account does not belong directly to the client. This requires the client to either correct their details or supply a new payment method.

• • SASSA assists by sending new account details daily to Banks through National Treasury. The standard time for this process is 3 - 5 days. However, some banks may take longer due to internal verification controls.

• Referred cases
  • These are approved applications that cannot be paid due to a challenge with identity verification i.e., ID number has been confirmed to have been used in fraudulent matters such as Identity theft.

• • The clients were notified to confirm their identity through a biometric verification process.

• Payments returned by the bank due to challenges with a bank account (EF70)

• • The most common reasons are, for instance, closed accounts, account does not accept credits, and account pending FICA verification.

• • Affected clients are sent a SMS message to resolve the issue with their banks.

• • Once the client resolved the matter with the bank, the account must be re-uploaded, or a new account should be provided to SASSA by the client.

• Cash send clients
  • Verification of the client cellphone number takes longer than with EFT accounts being provided. Several clients have, for instance not RICA’d their cellphone numbers and when the number cannot be tied irrefutably to the client, the cash payment cannot be made.

• • Clients who registered for this payment method have an option to change to other payment methods and communication was sent to them to exercise this option.

• • SASSA is currently paying all clients for whom successful cellphone verification was completed in the past and who were reconciled by banks as successfully paid.

• PostBank account holders
  • There are about half a million clients who have not yet complied with FICA requirements on their Postbank accounts.

• Clients are required to finalise this FICA process or to upload alternative banking details, to enable payments.

(b). Social Grants

• This was shortly after the introduction of COVID-19 Regulations and the instatement of various COVID-related benefits for clients such as the Top-up grants and the staggering of payments. The incident involved duplicate files being extracted for payment for KZN and FS regions.

• The root cause of the error was determined to be from the implementation of multiple projects in a short space of time i.e., Top-up grants and staggering of payments.

• The former was linked with the use of the legacy system for which the coding and implementation periods generally is much longer than with new technology solutions. There was, however, pressure to expedite the implementation of solutions given the COVID-19 challenges.

COVID-19 SRD

Payment challenges were caused by:

• Stabilisation of the environment following tight timelines to implement the grant, as well as changes in governing rules across all iterations;
• Sourcing of databases timeously and sourcing of current databases;
• Prolonged Government procurement processes, especially as it relates to banks and cell phone verification companies who are critical enablers of the verification and payment processes.
• The remainder of the challenges are mainly due to the clients not having bank accounts, which payment method (EFT) is more successful than the cash send option (which is still a developing channel in SA, laden with strict PFMA regulations to verify identity to cell phone numbers) as well as the Postbank retail payment challenges.

(c) Social Grant

• The delayed payments were made later on the same day affected clients were supposed to receive the monies.

COVID-19 SRD R350

• Payments where the verification databases and the required payments details are available and verified are made in the month of payment i.e., a week after the payment of social grants.

• Clients whose payments details were not available and have been verified at the time of the scheduled payment period, are revisited after the normal payments are processed.

• Any outstanding historic payments requires action on the part of the client. It is not possible to provide a date when all clients will be paid. Once the client’s payment method is corrected by the client, and verified by the agency, it is then that SASSA is able to effect payment to the client.

Reply:

1.(a) In terms of Social Assistance legislation, Section 6 of the Social Assistance Act, 2004 as amended and, Regulations 7 & 8 thereof, the qualifying requirements for the Child Support Grant (CSG) are as follows:

• The primary care giver must be a South African citizen, permanent resident, or refugee.
• Both the applicant and the child must reside in South Africa.
• The applicant must be the primary care giver of the child/ children concerned.
• The dependent children must be under the age of 18, cannot be cared for in state institution, not in receipt of the Foster Child Grant or Care Dependency Grant.
• There is no limit on the number of biological children that a caregiver can claim for but, a maximum of six non-biological children.

The CSG is paid to primary caregivers aged 16 or above.

In addition, the CSG is subject to a means test, meaning that the applicant/ primary caregiver needs to meet the financial criteria set out in the Social Assistance Regulations. Currently, to qualify for a CSG, a single primary caregiver should earn less than R57 600 per year, while married primary care givers should earn less than R115 200 per year (combined income) to be eligible for a CSG.

(b) The total number of caregivers receiving CSG is 7 367 265 by end January 2023.

(c) The total number of children receiving CSG is 13 165 216 by end January 2023.

(d) The following are MTEF estimates of CSG:

• 2022/2023 – 13 242 635
• 2023/2024 – 13 412 796
• 2024/2025 – 13 577 519
• 2025/2026 – 13 745 529

(2) The Social Assistance Legislation which provides for the qualifying criteria was gazetted and is a public document. Further, information on qualifying requirements is available on the SASSA website (e.g., You and Your Grant) and at SASSA local offices. SASSA & DSD continuously conducts awareness session on same.

Reply:

1. The Township and Rural Enterprise Programme (TREP) is a dedicated programme to transform and integrate opportunities in townships and rural areas into productive business ventures. The focus is mainly on enterprises owned and managed by the designated groups (Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities) that have the potential or capacity to supply goods and services to public and private sector, local, provincial and national government departments on a sustainable basis.

TREP seeks to overcome the legacy of economic exclusion by creating conducive environment for entrepreneurial activity and provide dedicated business support.

The DSBD is attempting to balance supporting of established SMMEs with high growth-potential to contribute to jobs and growth across priority sectors with the need to support survivalist start-up, and informal businesses. This requires DSBD to play a co-ordinating role, taking a whole of government approach to small business development as well as having its own enterprise support and financial support instruments.

Informal and micro enterprises should be supported to graduate within township and rural areas to access other places (locally and internationally) allowing more opportunities.

• • Enabling informal and micro enterprises to access wider markets.
  • Accepting the predominately residential characteristic of townships and rural areas therefore a service and retail focus.
  • Treating designated areas as a special economy zone for the sole purpose of reducing unnecessary regulatory obstacle, in respect to business licencing or land use.

The programmes are meant to stimulate and facilitate the development of sustainable and competitive informal and micro enterprises through the efficient provision of effective and accessible incentive measures that support national priority sectors. The key objective is to ensure that informal and micro businesses are accounted for in the wider economy. The interventions support all the targeted enterprises that meet the qualifying criteria including but not limited to the following sectors:

• • Spaza shop and General dealers
  • Bakeries and Confectionaries
  • Fruit and Vegetable vendors and Butcheries
  • Food retailers, Shisanyama and Cooked food outlets
  • Hairdressers, beauty salons and barber shops/facilities.
  • Small Scale Manufacturing
  • Clothing and Textiles
  • Automotives Support, Mechanics and Sales
  • Artisanry and Crafts
  • Professional Services
  • Infrastructure Developers
  • IT Support

The Department will continue provide both financial and non-financial support to formal and informal enterprises as immediate intervention and within the available financial resources whilst working on the medium and long terms sustainable solutions.

2) The Department of Small Business Department together with its agencies, the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) and the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa), is strengthening its monitoring and evaluation mechanism with the aim of continuously improving on the measurement of the effectiveness as well as the impact of its programmes.

 

STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS

MINISTER: DEPARTMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Reply:

There is no masterplan solely dedicated for co-operatives. Co-operatives support is incorporated as part of the National Integrated Small Enterprise Development Strategic (NISED) Framework and any matter and support that is dedicated to small enterprises include the co-operatives development support, as articulated on section 13 of the Cooperatives Policy. The NISED Strategic Framework provides for the promotion of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) development through a specific focus on four Pillars that will drive small business development in the country. The proper implementation of the Pillars will bring out positive outcomes that will propel MSMEs, including co-operatives, to the forefront economic development. The Pillars are (1) well informed SA on MSMEs with continuous monitoring, evaluation, and learning (better data), (2) policy, laws and regulations reformed to enable MSME growth and efficient governance, (3) effective support and services delivered for MSME growth (financial and non-financial), and (4) Coordinated government with strengthened private sector partnerships for MSME growth.

Moreover, the sector focused masterplans that have implications for SMMEs have also made provision for support of MSMEs, including co-operatives. Amongst others, the masterplans have made a clear intention to transform the various sectors of the economy through the improved participation of MSMEs. Such participation will be facilitated via supplier development interventions – which should bring about increased pool of competitive small enterprises and more market access opportunities.

The Department has already taken a strategic decision to move our co-operatives support intervention from sefa to Seda to be modeled on the Technology Transfer Assistance Programme, e.g. 90% grant and 10% own contribution. A transfer to Seda would ensure a seamless process between the business development support provided by the agency.

STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS

MINISTER: SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Reply:

The matter is handled by the Presidency and not by our department. As such the Presidency has at its disposal the necessary information to address the contents of this question and thus, requests the Honourable Member to direct the question to the Presidency.

STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS

MINISTER: DEPARTMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Reply:

The Department views the NPOs as important stakeholders in the delivery of services. Whilst acknowledging that there were delays with few provinces, it should be taken into consideration that the payment of organizations is a dual responsibility for both the Department and the NPOs. For NPOs to be paid, they need to be compliant and to submit the relevant reports and claims, failure to which the Department is unable to process their payment. The majority of the non-payments relate to non-compliance, specifically in Gauteng as indicated below.

EASTERN CAPE

a). (i)(aa) n/a

(bb) n/a

(ii) n/a

b) n/a

c) n/a - all subsidies and claims were processed upon submission of the relevant documents.

FREE STATE

a) (i)(aa) n/a

(bb) n/a

(ii) n/a

b) n/a

c) n/a – all subsidies and claims were paid.

GAUTENG

a) (i) (aa) 42

(bb) 42 Non-Compliant NPOs could not be paid due to non-compliance.

(ii) Find attached Annexure C (i), list of NPOs in Gauteng not paid due to non-compliance.

(b) The response to (a) above notes the NPOs affected and the targeted groups which include Children, Older Persons, Youth and People with Disabilities.

(c) The Department does not withhold payments for NPOs that are compliant. The delayed payment or non-payments relate to non-complying NPOs. For the NPOs to be considered for payment, it is their responsibility to maintain compliance status. Review of the application is considered once the status of compliance has improved.

KWA-ZULU NATAL

a) (i)(aa) n/a

(bb) n/a

(ii) n/a

b) n/a

(c) The reasons for the delays in payments for KwaZulu Natal emanated from the huge budget cuts during the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) which seriously affected the payment of organizations and consequently hampering services delivery. The Department’s budget for 2021/22 financial year was R3,897 485 billion whilst for the 2022/23 it is R3,332 172 billion. The 2022/23 budget is R565,313 million less than the previous financial year. The budget cuts implemented by the Provincial Treasury were done without due consideration of the existing long-term agreements the Department had signed with the Non- Profit Organisations (NPOs).

However, all payments due to the NPOs that were delayed, were subsequently paid in February 2023.

Prior to that, a written communication was sent to all affected NPOs making them aware of the situation, apologising about the delayed payments and confirming when payments will be made. Also, the Department is continuously engaging with the Provincial Treasury for additional budget.

LIMPOPO

a) (i)(aa) n/a

(bb) n/a

(ii) n/a

b) n/a

c) n/a Subsidies and claims processed including Children’s homes that are paid on a six-monthly basis.

MPUMALANGA

a) (i)(aa) 29

(bb) (ii) as below

NPO not Paid their full subsidies for 2022 and Vulnerable Groups affected	Breakdown	Reasons
Older Persons	2	1 Centre - Claim not submitted 1 Centre closed
Persons with Disabilities	9	Varying reasons including: 1 centre no longer functional; 6 - Organizations with challenges; 2 NPOs - claims not submitted
HIV and AIDS	2	1 Organization has not been submitting claims since they had functional problems; 1 NPO under investigation
Drop-In-Centres	8	1 organisation is under investigation 7 claims processed as they were submitted late, not yet paid.
CYCC	1	CYCC did not submit claims
Child Protection Organization	1	Awaiting outstanding documents from the Organization
VEP	3	2 withdrawn for funding due to challenges; 1 under investigation
Youth Development	3	1 Centre mis-management of funds; 1 Center SLA not signed due to challenges experienced by organisation; 1 Centre had to change the board of directors due to mismanagement of funds

b) Monthly claims are processed on submission of the relevant documents.

NORTH WEST

Report not received at time of submission

a) (i) (aa)

(bb)

(ii)

(b)

(c)

NORTHERN CAPE

a) (i)(aa) None

(bb) n/a

(ii) n/a

b) n/a

c) Monthly claims of stipend and salaries are processed on submission of the relevant documents.

WESTERN CAPE

a) (i)(aa) n/a

(bb) n/a

(ii) n/a

b) n/a

c) Quarterly payment dates have been set and are measured for compliance against the payment date.

Reply:

(1)(a) Since the inception of the Spaza Shop Support Program (SSSP) up to the period that ended on 31 January 2023, a total of 10 446 spaza shops applied for funding.

(1)(b) 6 350 have been assisted with funding equating to R58 507 000, creating and sustaining 7116 jobs. The applicants that were not approved were not spazas, such as electronics, plumbers, fruit and vegetable hawkers and in these cases they were advised to apply for assistance to the other support other support programmes of the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa).

(2) The distribution of the funds is done through commercial banks, currently Nedbank and Standard Bank, which are providing this service free of charge to the applicant, to sefa and to the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD). The bank model was opted for as it proved to be quickest and securest method of disbursing funds. It provides for secure bank cards that are managed through the secure bank platform. The bank provides close loop purchasing cards which only works at approved wholesalers who partnered with sefa for the provision of the SSSP. This means that the cards can only work at those wholesalers and only for the purchase of approved basket of goods comprising of goods which are normally sold at spaza shops.

3(a)&(b) The maximum amount per applicant is R15 000 which is split into a grant of R10 500 and credit of R4 500 that is accessible at wholesalers that are offering credit. The R4 500 is further protected by a guarantee cover from sefa.

4(a)-(c) Though the total amount at the inception of the SSSP was R175 million the DSBD was required to reprioritise R 87.5 million to the Business Viability programme to assist SMMEs affected by the floods in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) province and those affected by the riots and looting in KZN and Gauteng provinces. As a result of the reprioritisation the SSSP was left with R87.5 million of which R58.5 million has already been disbursed leaving a balance of R30 million. The continuous popularisation of the scheme will result in the demand exceeding the funds available. This will require additional funding to be allocated via the approved through proper governance structures. On a monthly basis sefa continues to approve spaza applications as they come in either directly at sefa offices, the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) offices and even through the commercial bank branches.

STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS

MINISTER: DEPARTMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Reply:

1. (i)

Province	Number of offices
Free State	26
Limpopo	46
Western Cape	28
Northern Cape	49
KwaZulu Natal	86
Gauteng	49
Eastern Cape	67
Mpumalanga	43
North West	41

(a) (ii)

Province	Number of offices
Free State	26
Limpopo	18
Western Cape	0
Northern Cape	19
KwaZulu Natal	38
Gauteng	18
Eastern Cape	17
Mpumalanga	20
North West	19

(b) (i) + (ii)

Free State:

Month	System downtime	Telephone downtime
	Number of days	Reason	Number of days	Reason
January 2022	0	N/A	0	N/A
February 2022	0	N/A	0	N/A
March 2022	26 offices down for 1 day	BAS & Socpen system challenges	0	N/A
April 2022	26 offices down for 1 day	Biometric system challenges	26 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 9 days	MS Teams malfunction; Migration to Microsoft Skype
May 2022	26 offices down for 6 days	Biometric system challenges	1 office down for 6 days	N/A
June 2022	0	N/A	0	N/A
July 2022	26 offices down for 2 days	Socpen & Biometric system challenges	26 offices down for 5 days	MS Teams malfunction
August 2022	0	N/A	26 offices down for 1 day	MS Teams malfunction
September 2022	0	N/A	0	N/A
October 2022	26 offices down for 1 day	BAS & Socpen system challenges	0	N/A
November 2022	26 offices down for 1 day	Biometric system challenges	0	N/A
December 2022	0	N/A	0	N/A
January 2023	0	N/A	0	N/A

Western Cape:

Month	System downtime	Telephone downtime
	Number of days	Reason	Number of days	Reason
January 2022	1 office down for 2 days 1 office down for 1 day 28 offices down for 3 day	Network challenges; SocPen system challenges	00	N/A
February 2022	1 office down for 1 day	Electricity outage	00	N/A
March 2022	28 offices down for 1 day	SocPen system challenges	00	N/A
April 2022	00	N/A	00	N/A
May 2022	2 offices down for 1 day	Network challenges; electricity outage	00	N/A
June 2022	00	N/A	00	N/A
July 2022	28 offices down for 3 days	SocPen system challenges	00	N/A
August 2022	00	N/A	00	N/A
September 2022	1 office down for 1 day	Network challenges; electricity outage	00	N/A
October 2022	1 office down for 1 day	Network challenges; electricity outage	00	N/A
November 2022	3 offices for 1 day	Network challenges; electricity outage;	00	N/A
December 2022	4 offices for 1 day	Network challenges; Electrical outage	00	N/A
January 2023	1 office down for 2 days 2 offices down for 1 day	Network challenges; electricity outage;	00	N/A

Limpopo:

Month	System downtime	Telephone downtime
	Number of days	Reason	Number of days	Reason
January 2022	5 offices down for 4 days 5 offices down for 2 days 11 offices down for 01 day 1 office down for 20 days 1 office down for 03 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 17 days 1 office down for 6 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage	5 offices down for 4 days 5 offices down for 2 days 11 offices down for 01 day 1 office down for 20 days 1 office down for 03 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 17 days 1 office down for 6 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage
February 2022	7 offices down for 3 days 4 offices down for 7 days 12 offices down for 1 day 8 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 5 days 2 offices down for 9 days 2 offices down for 4 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage	7 offices down for 3 days 4 offices down for 7 days 12 offices down for 1 day 8 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 5 days 2 offices down for 9 days 2 offices down for 4 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage
March 2022	6 offices down for 3 days 10 offices down for 2 days 5 offices down for 5 days 18 offices down for 1 day 3 offices down for 6 days 1 office down for 4 days 57 offices down for 1 day	Network challenges, Electricity outage; SocPen system challenges	6 offices down for 3 days 10 offices down for 2 days 5 offices down for 5 days 18 offices down for 1 day 3 offices down for 6 days 1 office down for 4 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage
April 2022	15 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 5 days 13 offices down for 1 day 6 offices down for 3 days 6 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 7 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage	15 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 5 days 13 offices down for 1 day 6 offices down for 3 days 6 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 7 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage
May 2022	8 offices down for 2 days 17 offices down for 1 day 5 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 5 days 4 offices down for 7 days 6 offices down for 1 day 4 offices down for 1 day	Network challenges, Electricity outage	8 offices down for 2 days 17 offices down for 1 day 5 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 5 days 4 offices down for 7 days 6 offices down for 1 day 4 offices down for 1 day	Network challenges, Electricity outage
June 2022	2 offices down for 9 days 18 offices down for 1 day 8 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 20 days 6 offices down for 3 days 4 offices down for 5 days 3 offices down for 6 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 7 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage	2 offices down for 9 days 18 offices down for 1 day 8 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 20 days 6 offices down for 3 days 4 offices down for 5 days 3 offices down for 6 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 7 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage
July 2022	6 offices down for 5 days 8 offices down for 4 days 16 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 08 days 1 office down for 19 days 1 office down for 10 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 20 days 1 offices down for 1 day 9 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 6 days 57 offices down for 1 day	Network challenges, Electricity outage, SocPen system challenges	6 offices down for 5 days 8 offices down for 4 days 16 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 08 days 1 office down for 19 days 1 office down for 10 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 20 days 1 offices down for 1 day 9 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 6 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage
August 2022	2 offices down for 2 days 9 offices down for 1 day 5 offices down for 3 days 4 offices down for 4 days 2 offices down for 11 days 1 office down for 20 days 1 office down for 13 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage	2 offices down for 2 days 9 offices down for 1 day 5 offices down for 3 days 4 offices down for 4 days 2 offices down for 11 days 1 office down for 20 days 1 office down for 13 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage
September 2022	2 offices down for 11 days 12 offices down for 4 days 6 offices down for 6 days 7 offices down for 7 days 5 offices down for 3 days 9 offices down for 5 days 1 office down for 18 days 2 offices down for 9 days 1 office down for 8 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage	2 offices down for 11 days 12 offices down for 4 days 6 offices down for 6 days 7 offices down for 7 days 5 offices down for 3 days 9 offices down for 5 days 1 office down for 18 days 2 offices down for 9 days 1 office down for 8 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage
October 2022	1 office down for 19 days 1 office down for 11 days 1 office down for 12 days 1 office down for 7 days 8 offices down for 4 days 9 offices down for 3 days 8 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 1 day 1 office down for 8 days 1 office down for 9 days 7 offices down for 5 days 4 offices down for 6 days 57 offices down for 1 day	Network challenges, Electricity outage, SocPen system challenges	1 office down for 19 days 1 office down for 11 days 1 office down for 12 days 1 office down for 7 days 8 offices down for 4 days 9 offices down for 3 days 8 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 1 day 1 office down for 8 days 1 office down for 9 days 7 offices down for 5 days 4 offices down for 6 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage
November 2022	6 offices down for 7 days 7 offices down for 5 days1 1 office down for 20 days 12 offices down for 3 days 10 offices down for 2 days 4 offices down for 6 days 4 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 9 days 1 office down for 1 day	Network challenges, Electricity outage	6 offices down for 7 days 7 offices down for 5 days1 1 office down for 20 days 12 offices down for 3 days 10 offices down for 2 days 4 offices down for 6 days 4 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 9 days 1 office down for 1 day	Network challenges, Electricity outage
December 2022	5 offices down for 8 days 2 offices down for 20 days 1 office down for 18 days 3 offices down for 16 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 11 days 1 office down for 10 days 1 office down for 12 days 7 offices down for 7 days 13 offices down for 5 days 4 offices down for 4 days 3 offices down for 2 days 4 offices down for 6 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage	5 offices down for 8 days 2 offices down for 20 days 1 office down for 18 days 3 offices down for 16 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 11 days 1 office down for 10 days 1 office down for 12 days 7 offices down for 7 days 13 offices down for 5 days 4 offices down for 4 days 3 offices down for 2 days 4 offices down for 6 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage
January 2023	8 offices down for 6 days 16 offices down for 5 days 5 offices down for 7 days 5 offices down for 10 days 2 offices down for 15 days 1 office down for 12 days 1 office down for 13 days 4 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 3 days 3 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 8 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage	8 offices down for 6 days 16 offices down for 5 days 5 offices down for 7 days 5 offices down for 10 days 2 offices down for 15 days 1 office down for 12 days 1 office down for 13 days 4 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 3 days 3 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 8 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage

Northern Cape:

Month	System downtime	Telephone downtime
	Number of days	Reason	Number of days	Reason
January 2022	11 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 4 days 19 offices down for 1 day 4 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 5 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	11 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 4 days 19 offices down for 1 day 4 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 5 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
February 2022	4 offices down for 3 days 11 offices down for 1 day 5 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 5 days 1 office down for 4 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	4 offices down for 3 days 11 offices down for 1 day 5 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 5 days 1 office down for 4 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
March 2022	6 offices down for 4 days 14 offices down for 3 days 12 offices down for 2 days 4 offices down for 6 days 9 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 5 days 49 offices down for 1 day	Electricity outage, network challenges, SocPen system challenges	6 offices down for 4 days 14 offices down for 3 days 12 offices down for 2 days 4 offices down for 6 days 9 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 5 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
April 2022	13 offices down for 2 days 13 offices down for 3 days 5 offices down for 4 days 2 offices down for 5 days 9 offices down for 1 day	Electricity outage, network challenges	13 offices down for 2 days 13 offices down for 3 days 5 offices down for 4 days 2 offices down for 5 days 9 offices down for 1 day	Electricity outage, network challenges
May 2022	3 offices down for 4 days 5 offices down for 2 days 12 offices down for 1 day	Electricity outage, network challenges	3 offices down for 4 days 5 offices down for 2 days 12 offices down for 1 day	Electricity outage, network challenges
June 2022	14 offices down for 2 days 9 offices down for 4 days 13 offices down for 3 days 5 offices down for 1 day 3 offices down for 6 days 1 office down for 5 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	14 offices down for 2 days 9 offices down for 4 days 13 offices down for 3 days 5 offices down for 1 day 3 offices down for 6 days 1 office down for 5 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
July 2022	6 offices down for 7 days 2 offices down for 13 days 4 offices down for 10 days 14 offices down for 8 days 9 offices down for 9 days 1 office down for 4 days 2 offices down for 3 days 6 offices down for 6 days 7 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 1 day 49 offices down for 1 day	Electricity outage, network challenges, SocPen system challenges	6 offices down for 7 days 2 offices down for 13 days 4 offices down for 10 days 14 offices down for 8 days 9 offices down for 9 days 1 office down for 4 days 2 offices down for 3 days 6 offices down for 6 days 7 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 1 day	Electricity outage, network challenges
August 2022	8 offices down for 3 days 5 offices down for 4 days 13 offices down for 2 days 18 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 20 days 1 office down for 6 days	Electricity outage	8 offices down for 3 days 5 offices down for 4 days 13 offices down for 2 days 18 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 20 days 1 office down for 6 days	Electricity outage
September 2022	12 offices down for 12 days 7 offices down for 11 days 9 offices down for 9 days 3 offices down for 7 days 2 offices down for 14 days 3 offices down for 15 days 2 offices down for 2 days 2 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 6 days 1 office down for 1 day 3 offices down for 13 days 3 offices down for 10 days 2 offices down for 8 days 1 office down for 7 days	Network challenges, Electricity outage	12 offices down for 12 days 7 offices down for 11 days 9 offices down for 9 days 3 offices down for 7 days 2 offices down for 14 days 3 offices down for 15 days 2 offices down for 2 days 2 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 6 days 1 office down for 1 day 3 offices down for 13 days 3 offices down for 10 days 2 offices down for 8 days 1 office down for 7 days	Cable theft, Electricity outage
October 2022	8 offices down for 10 days 8 offices down for 14 days 5 offices down for 13 days 9 offices down for 11 days 5 offices down for 12 days 3 offices down for 1 day 9 offices down for 2 days 2 offices down for 6 days 2 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 9 days 1 office down for 16 days 1 office down for 7 days 49 offices down for 1 day	MTN challenges, Electricity outage, SocPen system challenges	8 offices down for 10 days 8 offices down for 14 days 5 offices down for 13 days 9 offices down for 11 days 5 offices down for 12 days 3 offices down for 1 day 9 offices down for 2 days 2 offices down for 6 days 2 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 9 days 1 office down for 16 days 1 office down for 7 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
November 2022	4 offices down for 14 days 8 offices down for 11 days 7 offices down for 13 days 5 offices down for 12 days 3 offices down for 15 days 5 offices down for 10 days 2 offices down for 19 days 1 office down for 25 days 1 office down for 20 days 3 offices down for 9 days 2 offices down for 4 days 4 offices down for 1 day 4 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 3 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage, network challenges	4 offices down for 14 days 8 offices down for 11 days 7 offices down for 13 days 5 offices down for 12 days 3 offices down for 15 days 5 offices down for 10 days 2 offices down for 19 days 1 office down for 25 days 1 office down for 20 days 3 offices down for 9 days 2 offices down for 4 days 4 offices down for 1 day 4 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 3 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage, network challenges
December 2022	3 offices down for 11 days 5 offices down for 10 days 1 office down for 8 days 14 offices down for 9 days 4 offices down for 6 days 7 offices down for 7 days 1 office down for 12 days 1 office down for 14 days 3 offices down for 5 days 2 offices down for 4 days 4 offices down for 3 days 4 offices down for 1 day	Electricity outage, MTN challenges	3 offices down for 11 days 5 offices down for 10 days 1 office down for 8 days 14 offices down for 9 days 4 offices down for 6 days 7 offices down for 7 days 1 office down for 12 days 1 office down for 14 days 3 offices down for 5 days 2 offices down for 4 days 4 offices down for 3 days 4 offices down for 1 day	Electricity outage, MTN challenges
January 2023	3 offices down for 11 days 7 offices down for 10 days 4 offices down for 13 days 2 offices down for 14 days 4 offices down for 12 days 1 office down for 20 days 2 offices down for 4 days 3 offices down for 5 days 7 offices down for 09 days 7 offices down for 8 days 2 offices down for 2 days 7 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 7 days 3 offices down for 3 days 3 offices down for 6 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	3 offices down for 11 days 7 offices down for 10 days 4 offices down for 13 days 2 offices down for 14 days 4 offices down for 12 days 1 office down for 20 days 2 offices down for 4 days 3 offices down for 5 days 7 offices down for 09 days 7 offices down for 8 days 2 offices down for 2 days 7 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 7 days 3 offices down for 3 days 3 offices down for 6 days	Electricity outage, network challenges

KwaZulu Natal:

Month	System downtime	Telephone downtime
	Number of days	Reason	Number of days	Reason
January 2022	4 offices down for 8 days 6 offices down for 21 days 6 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 12 days 2 offices down for 10 days 2 offices down for 11 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 19 days 2 offices down for 9 days 23 offices down for 5 days 6 offices down for 2 days 7 offices down for 7 days 11 offices down for 6 days 3 offices down for 4 days 3 offices down for 3 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	4 offices down for 8 days 6 offices down for 21 days 6 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 12 days 2 offices down for 10 days 2 offices down for 11 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 19 days 2 offices down for 9 days 23 offices down for 5 days 6 offices down for 2 days 7 offices down for 7 days 11 offices down for 6 days 3 offices down for 4 days 3 offices down for 3 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
February 2022	13 offices down for 2 days 28 offices down for 1 day 7 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 5 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	13 offices down for 2 days 28 offices down for 1 day 7 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 5 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
March 2022	12 offices down for 2 days 26 offices down for 1 day 3 offices down for 4 days 2 offices down for 5 days 10 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 12 days 1 office down for 10 days 1 office down for 11 days 1 office down for 9 days 2 offices down for 8 days 1 office down for 6 days 86 offices down for 1 day	MTN challenges, Electricity outage, SocPen system challenges	12 offices down for 2 days 26 offices down for 1 day 3 offices down for 4 days 2 offices down for 5 days 10 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 12 days 1 office down for 10 days 1 office down for 11 days 1 office down for 9 days 2 offices down for 8 days 1 office down for 6 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
April 2022	19 offices down for1 day 7 offices down for 4 days 2 offices down for 7 days 18 offices down for 2 days 8 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 10 days 2 offices down for 12 days 1 office down for 14 days 1 office down for 16 days 1 office down for 6 days 1 office down for 5 days 1 office down for r8 days 1 office down for 9 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	19 offices down for1 day 7 offices down for 4 days 2 offices down for 7 days 18 offices down for 2 days 8 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 10 days 2 offices down for 12 days 1 office down for 14 days 1 office down for 16 days 1 office down for 6 days 1 office down for 5 days 1 office down for r8 days 1 office down for 9 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
May 2022	18 offices down for 1 day 4 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 12 days 1 office down for 20 days 1 office down for 14 days 2 offices down for 15 days 1 office down for 16 days 1 office down for 21 days 1 office down for 9 days 10 offices down for 3 days 6 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 5 days 1 office down for 7 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	18 offices down for 1 day 4 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 12 days 1 office down for 20 days 1 office down for 14 days 2 offices down for 15 days 1 office down for 16 days 1 office down for 21 days 1 office down for 9 days 10 offices down for 3 days 6 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 5 days 1 office down for 7 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
June 2022	1 office down for 5 days 5 offices down for 20 days 38 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 7 days 2 offices down for 11 days 1 office down for 14 days 16 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 4 days 2 offices down for 6 days 1 office down for 9 days 4 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 8 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	1 office down for 5 days 5 offices down for 20 days 38 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 7 days 2 offices down for 11 days 1 office down for 14 days 16 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 4 days 2 offices down for 6 days 1 office down for 9 days 4 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 8 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
July 2022	7 offices down for 1 day 7 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 9 days 4 offices down for 4 days 14 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 6 days 1 office down for 13 days 2 offices down for 20 days 3 offices down for 5 day 86 offices down for 1 day	MTN challenges, Electricity outage, SocPen system challenges	7 offices down for 1 day 7 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 9 days 4 offices down for 4 days 14 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 6 days 1 office down for 13 days 2 offices down for 20 days 3 offices down for 5 day	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
August 2022	4 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 20 days 12 offices down for 1 day 4 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 11 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 15 days 1 office down for 9 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	4 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 20 days 12 offices down for 1 day 4 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 11 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 15 days 1 office down for 9 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
September 2022	13 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 20 days 3 offices down for 10 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 18 days 3 offices down for 7 days 14 offices down for 5 days 6 offices down for 2 days 24 offices down for 4 days 7 offices down for 6 days 5 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 8 days 1 office down for 9 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	13 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 20 days 3 offices down for 10 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 18 days 3 offices down for 7 days 14 offices down for 5 days 6 offices down for 2 days 24 offices down for 4 days 7 offices down for 6 days 5 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 8 days 1 office down for 9 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
October 2022	15 offices down for 3 days 7 offices down for 4 days 6 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 8 days 1 office down for 7 days 1 office down for 9 days 6 offices down for 5 days 4 offices down for 1 day 86 offices down for 1 day	MTN challenges, Electricity outage, SocPen system challenges	15 offices down for 3 days 7 offices down for 4 days 6 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 8 days 1 office down for 7 days 1 office down for 9 days 6 offices down for 5 days 4 offices down for 1 day	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
November 2022	7 offices down for 1 day 23 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 10 days 4 offices down for 4 days 9 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 7 days 6 offices down for 5 days 1 office down for 6 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	7 offices down for 1 day 23 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 10 days 4 offices down for 4 days 9 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 7 days 6 offices down for 5 days 1 office down for 6 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
December 2022	7 offices down for 4 days 3 offices down for 1 day 9 offices down for 5 days 10 offices down for 6 days 1 office down for 8 days 2 offices down for 12 days 1 office down for 10 days 1 office down for 11 days 2 offices down for 7 days 4 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 9 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	7 offices down for 4 days 3 offices down for 1 day 9 offices down for 5 days 10 offices down for 6 days 1 office down for 8 days 2 offices down for 12 days 1 office down for 10 days 1 office down for 11 days 2 offices down for 7 days 4 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 9 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
January 2023	2 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 11 days 1 office down for 20 days 4 offices down for 9 days 6 offices down for 7 days 13 offices down for 5 days 5 offices down for 4 days 2 offices down for 3 days 4 offices down for 6 days 3 offices down for 2 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	2 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 11 days 1 office down for 20 days 4 offices down for 9 days 6 offices down for 7 days 13 offices down for 5 days 5 offices down for 4 days 2 offices down for 3 days 4 offices down for 6 days 3 offices down for 2 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage

Gauteng:

Month	System downtime	Telephone downtime
	Number of days	Reason	Number of days	Reason
January 2022	1 office down for 4 days 14 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 10 days 4 offices down for 3 days 8 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 5 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	1 office down for 4 days 14 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 10 days 4 offices down for 3 days 8 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 5 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
February 2022	1 offices down for 10 days 11 offices down for 2 days 4 offices down for 3 days 18 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 6 days 2 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 5 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	1 offices down for 10 days 11 offices down for 2 days 4 offices down for 3 days 18 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 6 days 2 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 5 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
March 2022	13 offices down for 2 days 9 offices down for 4 days 7 offices down for 3 days 13 offices down for 1 day 4 offices down for 5 days 1 office down for 6 days 1 office down for 18 days 49 offices down for 1 day	MTN challenges, Electricity outage, SocPen system challenges	13 offices down for 2 days 9 offices down for 4 days 7 offices down for 3 days 13 offices down for 1 day 4 offices down for 5 days 1 office down for 6 days 1 office down for 18 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
April 2022	5 offices down for 5 days 7 offices down for 3 days 8 offices down for 2 days 5 offices down for 7 days 8 offices down for 1 day 4 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 9 days 1 office down for 10 days 1 office down for 18 days 2 offices down for 6 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	5 offices down for 5 days 7 offices down for 3 days 8 offices down for 2 days 5 offices down for 7 days 8 offices down for 1 day 4 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 9 days 1 office down for 10 days 1 office down for 18 days 2 offices down for 6 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
May 2022	14 offices down for 2 days 7 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 5 days 4 offices down for 4 days 6 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 11 days 1 office down for 19 days 1 office down for 9 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	14 offices down for 2 days 7 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 5 days 4 offices down for 4 days 6 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 11 days 1 office down for 19 days 1 office down for 9 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
June 2022	2 offices down for 11 days 2 office down for 8 days 3 offices down for 5 days 12 offices down for 1 day 10 offices down for 2 days 4 offices down for 3 days 5 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 6 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 9 days 1 office down for 15 days 1 office down for 12 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	2 offices down for 11 days 2 office down for 8 days 3 offices down for 5 days 12 offices down for 1 day 10 offices down for 2 days 4 offices down for 3 days 5 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 6 days 1 office down for 13 days 1 office down for 9 days 1 office down for 15 days 1 office down for 12 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
July 2022	1 office down for 14 days 3 offices down for 5 days 2 offices down for 9 days 10 offices down for 2 days 10 offices down for 3 days 7 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 21 days 11 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 11 days 2 offices down for 12 days 1 office down for 10 days 49 offices down for 1 day	MTN challenges, Electricity outage, SocPen system challenges	1 office down for 14 days 3 offices down for 5 days 2 offices down for 9 days 10 offices down for 2 days 10 offices down for 3 days 7 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 21 days 11 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 11 days 2 offices down for 12 days 1 office down for 10 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
August 2022	1 office down for 9 days 5 offices down for 2 days 15 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 5 days 1 office down for 6 days 7 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 4 days 1 office down for 23 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	1 office down for 9 days 5 offices down for 2 days 15 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 5 days 1 office down for 6 days 7 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 4 days 1 office down for 23 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
September 2022	4 offices down for 9 days 5 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 8 days 8 offices down for 4 days 3 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 12 days 12 offices down for 5 days 2 offices down for 7 days 1 office down for 10 days 6 offices down for 1 day 6 offices down for 6 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	4 offices down for 9 days 5 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 8 days 8 offices down for 4 days 3 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 12 days 12 offices down for 5 days 2 offices down for 7 days 1 office down for 10 days 6 offices down for 1 day 6 offices down for 6 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
October 2022	2 offices down for 7 days 1 office down for 17 days 2 offices down for 5 days 17 offices down for 4 days 12 offices down for 2 days 12 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 6 days 3 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 21 days 49 offices down for 1 day	MTN challenges, Electricity outage, SocPen system challenges	2 offices down for 7 days 1 office down for 17 days 2 offices down for 5 days 17 offices down for 4 days 12 offices down for 2 days 12 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 6 days 3 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 21 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
November 2022	3 offices down for 5 days 5 offices down for 4 days 8 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 15 days 2 offices down for 13 days 1 office down for 09 days 2 offices down for 7 days 13 offices down for 3 days 3 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 12 days 2 offices down for 22 days 1 office down for 10 days 3 offices down for 6 days 2 offices down for 8 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	3 offices down for 5 days 5 offices down for 4 days 8 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 15 days 2 offices down for 13 days 1 office down for 09 days 2 offices down for 7 days 13 offices down for 3 days 3 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 12 days 2 offices down for 22 days 1 office down for 10 days 3 offices down for 6 days 2 offices down for 8 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
December 2022	2 offices down for 11 days 1 office down for 14 days 3 offices down for 4 days 5 offices down for 7 days 5 offices down for 2 days 5 offices down for 1 day 10 offices down for 5 days 3 offices down for 9 days 1 office down for 20 days 2 offices down for 21 days 1 office down for 18 days 2 offices down for 6 days 5 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 13 days 3 offices down for 8 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	2 offices down for 11 days 1 office down for 14 days 3 offices down for 4 days 5 offices down for 7 days 5 offices down for 2 days 5 offices down for 1 day 10 offices down for 5 days 3 offices down for 9 days 1 office down for 20 days 2 offices down for 21 days 1 office down for 18 days 2 offices down for 6 days 5 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 13 days 3 offices down for 8 days	MTN challenges, Electricity outage
January 2023	1 office down for 10 days 1 office down for 11 days 1 office down for 17 days 1 office down for 19 days 1 office down for 13 days 9 offices down for 6 days 2 offices down for 9 days 9 offices down for 5 days 4 offices down for 4 days 3 offices down for 8 days 7 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 16 days 2 offices down for 21 days 1 office down for 14 days 1 office down for 3 days 2 offices down for 7 days 2 offices down for 1 day	MTN challenges, Electricity outage	1 office down for 10 days 1 office down for 11 days 1 office down for 17 days 1 office down for 19 days 1 office down for 13 days 9 offices down for 6 days 2 offices down for 9 days 9 offices down for 5 days 4 offices down for 4 days 3 offices down for 8 days 7 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 16 days 2 offices down for 21 days 1 office down for 14 days 1 office down for 3 days 2 offices down for 7 days 2 offices down for 1 day	MTN challenges, Electricity outage

Eastern Cape:

Month	System downtime	Telephone downtime
	Number of days	Reason	Number of days	Reason
January 2022	8 offices down for 2 days 2 offices down for 1 day	Electricity outage, network challenges	8 offices down for 2 days 2 offices down for 1 day	Electricity outage, network challenges
February 2022	7 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 2 days 1 office down for 8 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	7 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 2 days 1 office down for 8 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
March 2022	2 offices down for 3 days 5 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 5 days 1 office down for 2 days 3 offices down for 9 days 67 offices down for 1 day	Electricity outage, network challenges, SocPen system challenges	2 offices down for 3 days 5 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 5 days 1 office down for 2 days 3 offices down for 9 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
April 2022	1 office down for 3 days 4 offices down for 1 day 4 offices down for 8 days 1 office down for 2 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	1 office down for 3 days 4 offices down for 1 day 4 offices down for 8 days 1 office down for 2 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
May 2022	2 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 3 days 2 offices down for 6 days 2 offices down for 9 days 5 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 4 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	2 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 3 days 2 offices down for 6 days 2 offices down for 9 days 5 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 4 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
June 2022	8 offices down for 1 day 5 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 9 days 2 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 8 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	8 offices down for 1 day 5 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 9 days 2 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 8 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
July 2022	9 offices down for 1 day 7 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 6 days 1 office down for 8 days 67 offices down for 1 day	Electricity outage, network challenges, SocPen system challenges	9 offices down for 1 day 7 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 6 days 1 office down for 8 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
August 2022	3 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 2 days 2 offices down for 7 days 1 office down for 3 days 2 offices down for 9 days 1 office down for 5 days 1 office down for 4 days 1 office down for 6 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	3 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 2 days 2 offices down for 7 days 1 office down for 3 days 2 offices down for 9 days 1 office down for 5 days 1 office down for 4 days 1 office down for 6 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
September 2022	4 offices down for 2 days 13 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 8 days 3 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 9 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	4 offices down for 2 days 13 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 8 days 3 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 9 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
October 2022	3 offices down for 3 days 6 offices down for 2 days 9 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 8 days 1 office down for 4 days 1 office down for 7 days 67 offices down for 1 day	Electricity outage, network challenges, SocPen system challenges	3 offices down for 3 days 6 offices down for 2 days 9 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 8 days 1 office down for 4 days 1 office down for 7 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
November 2022	10 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 5 days 3 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 9 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	10 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 5 days 3 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 9 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
December 2022	17 offices down for 1 day 5 offices down for 2 days 2 offices down for 6 days 2 offices down for 3 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	17 offices down for 1 day 5 offices down for 2 days 2 offices down for 6 days 2 offices down for 3 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
January 2023	2 offices down for 3 days 13 offices down for 1 day 6 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 4 days 1 office down for 9 days 1 office down for 6 days 1 office down for 8 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	2 offices down for 3 days 13 offices down for 1 day 6 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 4 days 1 office down for 9 days 1 office down for 6 days 1 office down for 8 days	Electricity outage, network challenges

Mpumalanga:

Month	System downtime	Telephone downtime
	Number of days	Reason	Number of days	Reason
January 2022	8 offices 1 day 3 offices for 2 days 2 offices for 3 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	8 offices 1 day 3 offices for 2 days 2 offices for 3 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
February 2022	12 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 4 days 2 offices down for 5 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	12 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 4 days 2 offices down for 5 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
March 2022	12 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 4 days 2 offices down for 5 days 43 offices down for 1 day	Electricity outage, network challenges, SocPen system challenges	12 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 4 days 2 offices down for 5 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
April 2022	12 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 5 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	12 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 5 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
May 2022	2 offices down for 1 day 3 offices down for 2 days	Electricity outage, network challenges Network challenges	2 offices down for 1 day 3 offices down for 2 days	Electricity outage, network challenges Network challenges
June 2022	5 offices down for 1 day 11 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 4 days 1 office down for 5 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	5 offices down for 1 day 11 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 4 days 1 office down for 5 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
July 2022	2 offices down for 1 day 11 offices down for 2 days 6 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 4 days 5 offices down for 5 days 2 offices down for 6 days 43 offices down for 1 day	Electricity outage, network challenges, SocPen system challenges	2 offices down for 1 day 11 offices down for 2 days 6 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 4 days 5 offices down for 5 days 2 offices down for 6 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
August 2022	4 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 3 days 1 office down for 8 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	4 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 3 days 1 office down for 8 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
September 2022	7 offices down for 1 day 11 offices down for 2 days 12 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 6 days	Electricity outage	7 offices down for 1 day 11 offices down for 2 days 12 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 6 days	Electricity outage
October 2022	16 offices down for 1 day 9 offices down for 2 days 5 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 7 days 43 offices down for 1 day	Electricity outage, SocPen system challenges	16 offices down for 1 day 9 offices down for 2 days 5 offices down for 3 days 1 office down for 7 days	Electricity outage
November 2022	20 offices down for 1 day 7 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 3 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	20 offices down for 1 day 7 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 3 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
December 2022	8 offices down for 1 day 3 offices down for 2 days 4 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 5 days 1 office down for 7 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	8 offices down for 1 day 3 offices down for 2 days 4 offices down for 3 days 2 offices down for 4 days 1 office down for 5 days 1 office down for 7 days	Electricity outage, network challenges
January 2023	2 offices down for 1 day 9 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 3 days 13 offices down for 4 days 5 offices down for 5 days 1 office down for 6 days 1 office down for 8 days 1 office down for 19 days	Electricity outage, network challenges	2 offices down for 1 day 9 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 3 days 13 offices down for 4 days 5 offices down for 5 days 1 office down for 6 days 1 office down for 8 days 1 office down for 19 days	Electricity outage, network challenges

North West:

Month	System downtime	Telephone downtime
	Number of days	Reason	Number of days	Reason
January 2022	2 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 8 days 1 office down for 3 days 41 offices down for 1 day	Network challenges, Biometric and Socpen systems challenges	16 offices down for 3 days	Network challenges
February 2022	3 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 2 days	Network challenges, BAS, ERP, and Biometric systems challenges.	12 offices down for 5 days	Network challenges
March 2022	3 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 1 day 41 offices down for 1 day	Network challenges, BAS, ERP, SocPen and Biometric systems challenges	19 offices down for 5 days	Network challenges
April 2022	1 office down for 4 days 1 office down for 6 days 2 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 3 days	Network challenges, BAS systems challenges.	10 offices down for 2 days	Network challenges
May 2022	3 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 3 days 1 office down for 2 days	Network challenges, BAS and Biometric systems challenges	03 offices down for 1 day	Network challenges
June 2022	6 offices down for 1 day 3 offices down for 2 days	Network challenges, BAS, BRM, Customer Care and Kofax system challenges	02 offices down for 1 day	Network challenges
July 2022	1 office down for 5 days 1 office down for 3 days 2 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 2 days 41 offices down for 1 day	Network challenges, BAS, Socpen and Biometric system challenges.	03 offices down for 5 days	Network challenges
August 2022	3 offices down for 2 days 5 offices down for 1 day 2 offices down for 4 days	Network challenges, Email Challenges	00	N/A
September 2022	2 offices down for 2 days 2 offices down for 4 days 3 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 6 days 1 office down for 3 days	Network challenges, Biometric systems challenges	00	N/A
October 2022	5 offices down for 1 day 4 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 9 days 1 office down for 7 days	Network challenges, electricity outage,	00	N/A
November 2022	4 offices down for 1 day 3 offices down for 2 days 3 offices down for 3 days	Network challenges, electricity outage, Biometric system challenges	00	N/A
December 2022	1 office down for 5 days 6 offices down for 1 day 3 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 8 days	Network challenges and Biometric system challenges	00	N/A
January 2023	12 offices down for 1 day 1 office down for 7 days 2 offices down for 3 days 3 offices down for 2 days 1 office down for 4 days	Network challenges, Biometrics, Kofax system challenges	13 offices down for 2 days	Network challenges

Reply:

The Department did not have any changes in political leadership since 1 June 2019. No vehicle was purchased for the Minister during this period.

The following official vehicles were purchased for the Minister and Deputy Minister:

	(a) make	(b) model	(c)year of manufacture	(d) cost	(e)purchase date
(i) Minister / (ii) Former Minister	None	None	None	None	None
(iii) Deputy Minister/ (iv) Former Deputy Minister	1) Lexus	NX300	2020	R 664 723	06/03/2020
	2) Lexus	NX300	2020	R 664 723	06/03/2020

 

Please note the two Lexus vehicles purchased for the Deputy Minister were 1) for use in Pretoria and 2) for use in Cape Town.

Reply:

(i) ii) response in the table below

iii) to viii) not applicable

NO	YEAR	NUMBER OF SASSA OFFICIALS INVOLVED ON THE CASES REFERRED TO THE SAPS
1	2021/2022	50
2	2020/2021	20
3	2019/2020	16
4	2018/2019	52
5	2017/2018	195
6	2016/2017	22
7	2015/2016	337
8	2014/2015	3
9	2013/2014	56
10	2012/2013	10
	Subtotal	761

(ii) The total cases represent allegation of fraud, theft and corruption cases referred to the South African Police Service (SAPS) for further investigation.

(b) (i) and (ii)

NO	YEAR	PROSECUTED AND FOUND GUILTY BY COURT	THEIR RESPECTIVE SENTENCES
1	2021/2022	1 official found guilty	5 years imprisonment - Judgment handed down during February 2023
2	2020/2021	1 official found guilty	Suspended Sentence
3	2019/2020	None	N/A
4	2018/2019	None	N/A
5	2017/2018	1 official found guilty	10 years imprisonment Matter was referred to the SAPS in 2011 and judgment was handed down in 2018
6	2016/2017	1 official found guilty	2 years imprisonment sentence- Judgement handed down in January 2023
7	2015/2016	2 officials found guilty	two officials were convicted to 5 years direct imprisonment - Judgment handed down during February 2023
8	2014/2015	1 official found guilty	Suspended Sentence - Loss recovered from Pension
9	2013/2014	1 official found guilty	One sentenced to 7 Years imprisonment
10	2012/2013	5 officials	All five officials sentenced to respective 7 Years imprisonment
	Subtotal	13 Officials

Reply:

(a) The reasons for the cash flow challenges emanates from the fact that the Department had huge budget cuts during the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) which seriously affected the payment of service providers and consequently service delivery. The Department’s budget for 2021/22 financial year was R3,897 485 billion whilst for the 2022/23 it is R3,332 172 billion. The 2022/23 budget is R565,313 million less than the previous financial year. The budget cuts implemented by the Provincial Treasury were done without due consideration of the existing long-term agreements the Department had signed with the Non- Profit Organisations (NPOs).

The Provincial Treasury on a monthly basis, makes available R277, 681 million each month for all payments including salaries but the Department’s monthly expenditure is on average R281, 786 million. This leaves the department with a short fall of about R4, 105 million monthly.

All payments due to the NPOs that were delayed in January 2023, were subsequently paid on 08 February 2023. The Department is not aware of any NPOs that had to close their doors due to payment delays but understands the ripple effects of late payments.

A written communication was sent to all affected NPOs making them aware of the situation, apologising about the delayed payments and confirming when payments will be made.

(b) The Department is continuously engaging with the Provincial Treasury for additional budget and to obtain approval to pay the NPOs in tranches on quarterly basis.

Reply:

The steps that the Department has taken in terms of proposed solution include the development of the NPO Funding System for management of transfers. This will be a centralised system that will replace existing outdated systems and it will be interfaced with the current systems utilised by some Provinces to process the transfers. On completion of this system, the departmental staff will manage and automate the complete life cycle of the NPO application process up to the payment of funds to the organizations.

Secondly, the department has introduced the multi-year funding cycle more specifically for residential care facilities. This approach is a replacement for the annual funding cycle which contributes to the delay on payments due to tedious administration. Within the multi-year funding, the organizations sign a contract for three years although the reviews and allocations are made on a yearly basis.

Reply:

1. The Department is mandated through various legislative and policy frameworks to deliver services in line with set strategic priorities in partnership with NPOs where the capacity of the state is inadequate to provide such essential services to vulnerable and at-risk children.

This mandate is guided by section 38 (1) (j) and (k) of the Public Finance Management Act (Act No. 1 of 1999 as amended by Act 29 of 1999).

Funding for children constitutes 33% of the total budget of R5.804 billion of the NPO transfer budget in comparison to other programmes. In relation to more funding into subsidies for non-profit organisations (NPOs); it is important to note that given the current fiscus constraints, there is limited room to manoeuvre to channel more funding as there are no additional allocations.

However, the Department is cognisant that until such time that the services can be fully funded according to cost and levels of demand, the Department has to explore other ways towards progressive realization of the needs of most-vulnerable.

To that effect, the Department is developing a Prioritization Framework which is proposing the ranking of services according to their level of priority. The ranking will assist to guide the provinces as and when there is additional funding available - to allocate such funding accordingly as per the Prioritised List of Services.

Secondly, the Department is currently developing a guideline that will assist the provinces to motivate for budget submissions as and when such a call is made by the National or Provincial Treasuries. On that basis, there are engagements with Treasuries to ascertain their expectations and to gage the kind of information that is required in preparing a comprehensive and well-documented Budget Submission. This guideline will be a toolkit for reference when such opportunities arise for a call for submissions, that the provinces are fully aware of the nature of information to submit.

2. The PFMA Section 43(1)(4) allows for departments to shift savings from their operational budget to transfer payments subject to National Treasury approval.

 

Reply:

The work of the Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) is carried out as a portfolio in collaboration with its agencies, the Small Enterprise Finance Agency (sefa) and the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) aiming to provide financial and non-financial support to SMMEs across the country. The National Development Plan, Vision 2030 (NDP) through its five-year implementation plan ascribes a critical role to small businesses, which includes increasing their contribution to GDP from 35% to 50% by the year 2024. The Department is expected to play a much more direct role in respect of Priority 2: Economic Transformation and Job Creation, with its expected outcomes being the creation of more decent jobs and inclusive economic growth.

Seda is mandated to implement government’s small business strategy, design and implement a standard and common national delivery network for the development of small enterprises. The main focus is on township, rural and informal business development. From the Seda allocation, Seda is meant to facilitate the roll out of the incubation and digital hubs programme, an approach intended to support start-up entry level enterprises to stabilise and provide linkages to other relevant delivery programs designed with the intention to accelerate small enterprise development. The intention is to support small enterprises, targeting those that promote inclusivity of designated groups, namely, women, youth, disabled people, township and rural enterprises. The new incubators will assist with the establishment of approximately 1 290 new enterprises that are expected to create at least 25 000 new jobs.

sefa exists to streamline access to finance to SMMEs. The agency functions as both a wholesale lender, capacitating SMME financial intermediaries, and as a direct lender to SMMEs and co-operatives, supporting government economic policy. The allocation to sefa will be channelled towards supporting the Small Enterprise Manufacturing Support Programme to enable SMME-focused Localisation Programme and the Township and Rural Entrepreneurship Programme.

Below are but the agglomeration and brief interventions as measures that support the small enterprise sector leveraging on an array of support from many of the ecosystem players:

SMME-FOCUSED LOCALISATION POLICY FRAMEWORK

The implementation of the localisation policy framework seeks to encourage more SMMEs and Co-operatives to break-out into manufacturing and agro-processing sectors. These sectors are well known for stimulating economic growth and job creation. It is also vital that the country reduces its dependency on imported products by supporting locally manufactured products. The DSBD and its agencies have established working relationships with large retailers and wholesalers across the country to list and purchase the products manufactured by SMMEs.

TOWNSHIP AND RURAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMME (TREP)

Through the TREP, the Department aims to support 24 000 township and rural enterprises in various sub-sectors. The programme is meant to support the following subsectors and operations amongst others: Spaza Shops and General Dealer Support Scheme, the Small-Scale Bakeries & Confectionaries Programme, the Small-Scale Clothing & Textile Programme and Open Air Food Outlets Support Scheme.  

MARKET ACCESS SUPPORT

The Department has begun international market linking activities for SMMEs and Co-operatives including on the African continent in the current fiscal year as a prelude to a comprehensive programme anticipated for the next fiscal year. While the epidemic has been contained, 2023 has witnessed a surge in the opening of international trade prospects and face-to-face engagements, to encourage investment and collaborations among small scale manufacturers on the continent and around the world, the Department plans to expose export-ready SMMEs and Co-operatives to international markets in the 2023–2024 fiscal year through trade exhibitions, business to business meetings, and trade missions. This will include inter alia, emerging manufacturers who benefit from the Small Enterprise Manufacturing Support Programme and women owned enterprises registered on the ShetradesZA programme are intended to benefit from this program's ability to support expansion.

The Department in partnership with Seda and International Trade Centre have supported just 2 400 women through the SheTrades programme since its inception in 2020/21. The programme offers women owned business as a unique opportunity to participate in local and global value chains and markets.  The platform targets supporting businesses in the agro-processing, manufacturing, renewable energy, clothing and textile, cosmetics, creative industries, pharmaceuticals, retail and wholesale, exporters and importers, logistics and payment systems. In this financial year, we hope to encourage at least 2 500 women own enterprises to register on the SheTradeZA platform. 

At a domestic level, the DSBD will continue to strengthen its partnership activities with the private sector in order to ensure that more opportunities are opened up by these large companies so that SMMEs and Co-operatives can take advantage of them. To enhance its partnership activities with the private sector, the Department has established a community of practice on Enterprise and Supplier Development (ESD) in collaboration with other government departments such as the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD), the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic), and the National Treasury. The aim of this initiative is to engage all private sector organisations and State-owned Entities (SoEs) on issues of ESD and highlight the importance of transforming the economy through working together. The Minister of Small Business Development will launch this initiative in May 2023.

YOUTH ENTREPRENEURS

Through the youth entrepreneurs programme, the Department supports youth entrepreneurship, working together with sector departments and the private sector. The initiative entails supporting young entrepreneurs through: 

• Access to business skills training; 
• Access to funding; 
• Product or service quality; and 
• Market facilitation or market access. 

The Youth Challenge Fund (YCF) was developed as a key intervention to stimulate innovative businesses in response to youth unemployment, described as a major national challenge that needs urgent and coordinated response. The goal is to support young entrepreneurs with opportunities for self-employment and enable a generation of job creators.

POLICY

In the 2022/23 financial year ending in March, the focus of the Department has been on making funding accessible to small enterprises and in the process reduce the prevailing credit gap estimated to be R346 million. This will be further attained by finalising the maiden South African SMMEs and Co-operatives Funding Policy aimed at strengthening the provision of development finance by unlocking funding opportunities to the SMME sector, ensuring that there is a proper coordination of SMMEs funding programmes, enhancing development reach and impact and putting in place measures to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness and relevance of all funding programmes in South Africa.  

 

RED-TAPE REDUCTION

At a local level, the Department focuses on municipalities, which are key in servicing our communities and small businesses. Municipalities administer the laws of our land at a local level, with often poor administrative systems, skills deficits, resource constraints, high levels of corruption and agency, as well inadequate performance management systems and consequence management.  At the Provincial Level, we focus on creating a “community of practise”, through the Inter Provincial Task Team on Red Tape Reduction, that assists provincial authorities (Local Economic Development, Enterprise Development and Business Regulations Units), better support local municipalities in their efforts at reducing red tape and creating a business enabling environment conducive to local and regional economic development.

Furthermore, the Department will conduct an assessment review of SMME regulatory impediments to reform. With this assessment review, the Department aims to develop a more specific and intentional agenda for regulatory SMME reform through engagement with representatives from small enterprises and public officials. The DSBD also aim to clarify the approach to be followed in addressing both existing regulatory burdens and preventing additional ones from arising through new laws/regulations/by-laws. Furthermore, the DSBD will be working closely with other government departments/agencies at all levels of government that are already trying to impact positively on the regulatory environment in order to improve the Business Enabling Environment in South Africa.  Also, the DSBD will continue to work closely with the Red Tape Champion and his team based in the Presidency to further contribute to the commitment that was made in the SONA.

NISED STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK 

The Department of Small Business Development, in collaboration with all key role players in the small enterprise development ecosystem, have developed the draft National Integrated Small Enterprise Development (NISED) strategic framework. The draft NISED framework was presented and subsequently approved by Cabinet to be published in the gazette for public comments. The strategy was presented and approved by Cabinet. The Department and its agencies also embarked on conducting roadhsows across the country as a platform to engage with different stakeholders from different sectors on the framework. 

STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS

MINISTER: DEPARTMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Reply:

According to the information received from Eskom

Eskom is continuing to work on implementing the legal separation of the transmission entity (or unbundling), which remains a key strategic priority and aspect of Eskom’s Turnaround Plan envisaged under the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) Roadmap.

According to the roadmap:

• The corporatisation of Transmission was completed in December 2021. A legally binding merger agreement was entered into between Eskom and its wholly-owned subsidiary, the National Transmission Company South Africa SOC Limited (NTCSA).
• Reasons for the delays in unbundling Transmission substantively relate to external dependencies such as obtaining lenders’ consent, acquiring electricity licences, and designation of the Transmission Entity as a Buyer.
• The next step is to operationalise the NTCSA, and this is subject to the satisfaction of certain suspensive conditions, which include, but are not limited to:

(a) the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) granting all applicable licences required for NTCSA to operate the Transmission business; and

(b) Eskom obtaining all applicable creditor consents to the transaction.

Future phases of the legal separation will be dependent on legislative changes, which are currently being driven by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) and the DPE. These changes include the amendment of the Electricity Regulation Act (ERA) regarding licensing and the Electricity Pricing Policy (EPP) of the South African Electricity Supply Industry. The amended Electricity Regulation Act (ERA) is expected to be in place during 2023.

Efforts to accelerate the addition of new Transmission capacity through expansion of the grid are being addressed through the implementation of the Transmission Development Plan (TDP) with the support of the government through, among others, the NECOM structures.

Since the launch of the DMRE Independent Power Producer (IPP) programmes (Bid Windows 1 – 4), close to 6.1 GW of new generation capacity has already been integrated into the power system. Following the announcement of the preferred bidders for Bid Window (BW) 5 / 6, there have been IPPs that participated in the private procurement process, who quickly secured grid capacity, mainly in the Western, Eastern and Northern Cape areas. The Transmission network capacity in these areas has been taken up, as per grid code requirements, which require Eskom to provide non-discriminatory open access to the grid. This has resulted in network constraints, and this will require substantial augmentations before new generation capacity can be connected to the system.

To address this, the 10-year TDP 2022, identified the new infrastructure that would be required to implement the IRP 2019 and Eskom’s 2035 Corporate Strategy. However, it takes time to establish new transmission infrastructure (especially the building of long lines and substations) mainly due to servitude acquisitions and constructability challenges. Eskom is aware of these challenges and is making every effort to expedite the build programme by engaging key stakeholders in government, as well as the private sector.

 

Remarks: Approved / Not Approved

Jacky Molisane PJ Gordhan, MP

Acting Director-General Minister

Date: Date:

Reply:

Yes.

a) Details are as follows:

• 400 000 litres of insecticide have been procured for effective and efficient control of the locust outbreak;
• Locust control officers have been appointed in all locust outbreak areas to be on standby to control the locust outbreak if it occurs;
• Personal protective equipment has been procured for the control officers controlling the locust outbreak;
• Locust spray equipment has been procured; and
• The National Bid Adjudication Committee of Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has approved the appointment of a locust aerial spraying service provider to be on standby to complement the locust control officers on the ground and the contract is in the process of being signed with the service provider.

b) The locust officer’s contracts have been finalised. Locust officers are appointed in all locust outbreak areas.