Questions and Replies

Reply:

The monitoring of generation units is an operation matter that falls within the purview of the Eskom. The reports on plant performance are regularly tabled at the National Crisis Committee wherein we participate.

Reply:

1. (a-b) Not all government facilities have been exempted from the load-shedding. However, the National Department of Health has provided Eskom with a total of 213 hospitals to be considered for possible exclusion from loadshedding. About 67% of these hospitals are supplied by municipalities while Eskom supplies about 33% of the identified hospitals. Out of the 213 hospitals, 76 hospitals have been exempted of which 26 are directly supplied by Eskom and 50 by Municipalities. The number of hospitals exempted to date have doubled since the meeting held on 22 September 2022 between Eskom and National Department of Health.

1. (aa) See below the number of hospitals that are exempted to date across the country:

i. (bb) Clinics and Community Health Centres are going to be covered within the solar energy roll-out programme.

ii. The National Department of Health in partnership with CSIR (Council for Scientific & Industrial Research) is currently conducting a due diligent exercise for the installation of solar panels at all our health facilities

END.

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a) The Thaba Tshwane building had enough space to accommodate the staff of the National Department of Health. And it was complying to all requirements of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

b) The location of the building is not affecting the mission of the National Department of Health. The compliance of the building to OHS Act brings back the focus of the health staff, it is assisting the National Department of Health to put more focus on measures that can assist the provincial health departments to improve the health status through the prevention of illness, disease and the promotion of healthy lifestyles, and to consistently improve the health care delivery system by focusing on access, equity, efficiency, quality and sustainability.

END.

Reply:

a) The engagements between Eskom and DMRE have culminated into a revised framework that seeks to mitigate the challenges as arisen with Bid Window 6 procurement that led to contracting less Mega Watts than been anticipated.

b) The upcoming Bid window 7 will apply this new framework designed to mitigate against grid constrains to achieve optimal sourcing of additional Mega Watts into the grid.

Reply:

The National Department of Health is expecting to start fixing the structural damages at the beginning of March 2023.

The implementation work going to cover the following areas:

Part 1 – The Remedial Works caused by the Boksburg LPG explosion;

Part 2 – Health Technology Equipment that were affected by the Boksburg LPG explosion;

Part 3 – Occupational Health and Safety issues (structural damages) that were identified in 2017.

The estimated date of completion is September 2024.

END.

Reply:

(1) Yes the adjudication committee has been appointed, trained and the 1st meeting was held on the 14 December 2022. The appeal committee is in the process of appointment 

(a)  82 cases have been linked to the use of the vaccine, and claims are being processed

(b) 3 claims have been approved for payment

  (c) 0

(2) No.

END.

Reply:

(a). The job opportunities created in the Sport sectors within the Programme under various outputs of the Annual Performance Plan (APP) and the Operational Plans for the financial year 2022/23; are as follows: -

• 256 school sport coordinators
• 440 jobs created through the Municipal Infrastructure Grant Project
• 50 job opportunities during the construction of community gyms and children’s play parks

(a). Job opportunities Created in the Creative and Cultural Industries through Programmes and the Presidential Employment Stimulus Programme (PESP). 

A total of 42 464 job opportunities were created.

This figure is made up of 12 534 Job opportunities created from the targets in the APP; including MGE-funded projects; and the additional 29 930 jobs created or retained by the end of March 2022 through the implementation of the nine PESP.

Reply:

1. According to departmental system, Mr Esmael Maulide Ramos Nangy, is a Mozambican national holder of a non-South African Identity document. He applied for permanent residence permits in 1991 for himself and family which were subsequently issued in 1992.

The arrest of Mr Esmael Maulide Ramos Nangy was as per warrant of arrest and extradition request by the government of Mozambique through INTERPOL, where he is alleged to be linked to multiple kidnappings criminal activities.

There is no information at the disposal of the department that link him to be involved as the kingpin in human trafficking activities as alleged. He is still in detention pending court appearance in court on 20 February 2023 for bail hearing and commencement of extradition process.

2. The department is primarily responsible for illegal migration and collaborates with the South African Police Service (SAPS) as a way of addressing any illegal activities including dealing with criminal syndicates, human trafficking and smuggling activities. This is done through enforcement operations guided by the Immigration Act that empowers police and immigration officers to detain persons suspected of being in contravention of the Act in order to verify their status. The department is running its own Siyasebenta operation which has targeted a number of areas such as security industry, mining and factories.

The Immigration Act regulates the immigration of legal status as well as the processes related to arrest, detention, prosecution and deportation of any person entering and remaining in the country illegally. This legislation retains the strong security border control and the use of law enforcement to manage migration inland and at ports of entry as well as manning of the borderline by the newly established Border Management Agency (BMA) in collaboration with South African National Defence (SANDF).

(3)(a) The total number of persons deported from Jan to Dec 2022 is 22258.

Month	Number of deportees
Jan 2022	1731
Feb 2022	2209
March 2022	2040
April 2022	1161
May 2022	1583
June 2022	1840
July 2022	1514
August 2022	1471
September 2022	1770
October 2022	1785
November 2022	2242
December 2022	2912
Total	22258

(3)(b) The breakdown of country of origin of the highest numbers of foreign nationals deported in the calendar year from Jan to Dec 2022 are as follows:

Annual: Jan 2022 to Dec 2022	Nationality	Number of deportees
	Mozambique	7102
	Zimbabwe	5776
	Lesotho	4861
	Malawi	2907
	Swaziland	1149

END

Reply:

The Integrated Energy Plan (IEP) must reflect sector plans i.e Electricity Master Plan (EMP), Gas Master Plan (GMP) and Liquid Fuels Master Plan (LFMP). For this reason, sector plans are currently being developed and will inform the IEP. Once sector plans are complete, work to bring section 6 of the Act into operation will commence with developing the Integrated Energy Plan.

Reply:

The Independent Power Producers are already generating and supplying energy into the South African grid. They carry their operations in line with the prevailing regulatory mechanism.

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Reply:

Yes, the Department relies on scientific evidence, when analysing South Africa’s risk factors to non-communicable diseases. Obesity is one of the risk factors.

(a) and (b) In this regard please see the two studies below:

1. Wandai M, Aagaard-Hansen J, Day C, Sartorius B, Hofman KJ. Available data sources for monitoring non-communicable diseases and their risk factors in South Africa. S Afr Med J, March 2017;107(4):331-337. doi: 10.7196/SAMJ.2017.v107i4.11438. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28395686
2. Moodley G, Christofides N, Norris S, Achia T, Hofman KJ. Obesogenic environments in SA: A pilot study in Soweto. Preventing Chronic Disease. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5888/pcd12.140559, 2015
    
3. South Africa Demographic and Health Survey 2016 https://dhsprogram.com › pubs › pdf

(c) Studies revealed that obesity levels in South Arica are on the increase. The NDHS also revealed that obesity in South Africa was on the increase and that 31% of adult males, 67% of adult females, and 13% of children under five years old were either overweight or obese.

(d) Copies of the studies are available from the links in (a) and (b) above.

END.

Reply:

1. (a) Hospital services

Total number of Hospitals is 394. The hospitals which conducted status determinations are 290. The total number of Ideal Hospitals at the end of 2021/2022 is 146 (37%). The summary of provincial status is as follows:

Province	# of Hospitals	Tot # of Hospitals with Ideal Status	% Hospitals with Ideal status	# of Hospitals with Silver Status	# of Hospitals with Gold Status	# of Hospitals with Platinum Status
Eastern Cape	90	20	22%	19	0	1
Free State	32	16	50%	16	0	0
Gauteng	37	30	81%	23	6	1
KwaZulu-Natal	73	22	30%	20	0	2
Limpopo	41	17	41%	16	0	1
Mpumalanga	33	11	33%	11	0	0
North West	20	10	50%	10	0	0
Northern Cape	15	0	0%	0	0	0
Western Cape	52	20	38%	18	0	2
South Africa	394	146	37%	133	6	7

 

(b) Primary health Care ( PHC) facilities (clinics and Community Health Centres)

The total number of number of PHC facilities are 3477. The total number of PHC facilities that conducted the status determination is 3477. The total number of Ideal clinics and community health centers at the end of 2021/2022 is 1928 (55%). The summary of provincial status are:

Provinces	# of Facilities	# Facilities with IC status REMAINED Ideal	# Facilities with NEW IC status	Total # Facilities with IC status	% of Facilities with IC status	TOTAL # of Facilities with Silver Status	TOTAL # of Facilities with Gold Status	TOTAL # of Facilities with Platinum Status
Eastern Cape	775	138	40	178	23%	27	67	84
Free State	218	123	20	143	66%	12	48	83
Gauteng	369	332	9	341	92%	58	107	176
KwaZulu-Natal	605	472	39	511	84%	40	138	333
Limpopo	482	123	44	167	35%	13	53	101
Mpumalanga	293	136	37	173	59%	20	60	93
Northern Cape	162	29	6	35	22%	10	12	13
North West	310	150	30	180	58%	43	68	69
Western Cape	265	187	13	200	75%	11	23	166
South Africa	3479	1690	238	1928	55%	234	576	1118

2. For a comprehensive report for each province on the stage that each hospital and/or clinic has reached on the ideal status please see attached annexures.

(3) The legislation on the National Health Insurance (NHI) has not been passed yet and NHI compliance of health facilities have therefore not been measured. Clause 39 of the NHI Bill provides for accreditation of all provider establishments, public and private. The regulations and standard operating procedures to achieve accreditation over the coming years is yet to be drafted, published, consulted and adopted.

END.

Reply:

(a)

i) The 13 additional projects which signed project agreements in December 2022 are preparing for Commercial Close, which is planned to take place no later than end of March 2023 which will then lead to construction.

ii) BW 6 Projects announced on the 8th of December 2022, are preparing for signing Project Agreements no later than April 2023, which will then followed by Commercial Close which will lead to construction.

(b)

The process of appointing Preferred Bidders is as follows:

The bidders submit their proposals in response to the Request for Proposal (RFP), as issued by the Department.

Preferred Bidders then emerge from a competitive evaluation process specified in the RFP. The criteria include inter-alia, price, economic development, technical compliance and legal compliance.

 

Reply:

a. Determination of salary increases in the public sector is a centralised process undertaken through the Public Sector Coordination Bargaining Council (PSCBC) with the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) leading the negotiations on behalf of government. Therefore, the teachers get salary increases as part of the rest of the public service. Budgeting for salary increases and other improvements in conditions of service is also centralised allocated at National Treasury to departments and entities. The process to increase the number of posts in schools is informed by a number of factors; chief amongst them being the increase in the number of learners and introduction of curriculum reforms that require additional teachers. The Department has in this regard approached Cabinet to request support to add  about  16 000 educator posts in schools focusing on the reduction of teacher learner ratios both in public ordinary schools and special schools; and address additional needs due to curriculum reforms. Cabinet has since referred the  request to the Minister’s Committee on the Budget (MINCOMBUD) to process.

b. As was indicated previously, the average overall attrition rate of teachers in public schools ranges between 3%-5%, which is relatively low by international standards; and thus, suggests a high retention rate overall. The Department, through its internal analysis and collaborative research with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and partners, such as ReSEP-Stellenbosch University, has taken note of the high retirement wave in the next 10 or more years; and working closely with the latter to address this concern.

The research into the retirement of South African teachers was also done by ReSEP-Stellenbosch University, which acknowledged that South Africa's universities appear prepared to deal with the retirement of teachers, and that university output is on a sound trajectory, and should be able to deal with a demand for a larger workforce.

In addition, and in anticipation of the injection of a high number of new entrants into the system, the Department will intensify the roll-out of a comprehensive induction programme. In short, the programme provides holistic support to new teachers, covering not only personal development, but professional and social support. This induction programme will ensure a smooth assimilation of young teachers into the system.

Reply:

The measles outbreak was in five of the nine provinces namely Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Free State in Thabo Mofutsanyane district only, and Northwest.

1. Yes.

(a) In response to the current outbreak and seeing that there is a need to increase the age group from 6 to 15 year, the department worked with the relevant role players to get enough vaccines for the purposes of interrupting transmission.

(b) There is enough stock to conduct a supplementary immunisation campaign for children aged 6 months to 15 years in all provinces. The number of doses procured by provinces for outbreak/campaign is 10 123 300 for the target population of 16,3 million. The doses referred to here above exclude the stock on hand in the province before the campaign and outbreak.

2. In provinces where there is Public Private Partnerships (PPP) exists, with Service Level Agreement, for private sector, their facilities are supplied with vaccines and trained to manage data and submit to the local sub-district for capturing, however PPP is not in all provinces.

3. No.

END.

Reply:

(a) A desktop review on studies related to the effect of sugar on obesity and increasing the severity of NCDs was conducted. In 2016, 31% of adult males, 67% of adult females, and 13% of children under five years old were either overweight or obese.

(b) Further studies conducted in South Africa post implementation of the sugar tax, highlighted a decline in the consumption of sugar sweetened beverages by about 29% in the purchase of SSB and 51% in the incidence of persons adding sugar to beverages. The studies were conducted by Wottesley et al, 2020; Essman et al, 2022; Hofman et al, 2021; and Boachie, Thsehla and Hofman 2022. To access these research articles, click the link HPL implications articles.

END.

Reply:

Since 1 June 2019 the department only bought one vehicle for the current Minister: Dr MJ Phaahla, MP, whilst he was the Deputy Minister as per the table below:

Members of Executive Authority	a) Make	b) Model	(c) Year of Manufacture	(d) Cost	(e) Purchase date
(i) Minister: Dr MJ Phaahla, MP	No Procurement was made	No Procurement was made	No Procurement was made	No Procurement was made	No Procurement was made
(ii) Former Minister: Dr. ZL Mkhize	No Procurement was made	No Procurement was made	No Procurement was made	No Procurement was made	No Procurement was made
(iii) Deputy Minister: Dr S Dhlomo, MP	No Procurement was made	No Procurement was made	No Procurement was made	No Procurement was made	No Procurement was made
(iv) Former Deputy Minister: Dr MJ Phaahla	Audi	Q5	2020	R756,489.83	10/5/2020

END.

Reply:

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Reply:

a) The Department of Basic Education (DBE) does not have any information/data on the training of 44 000 educators that has been conducted by UNISA. This Department has over the past year covered extensive ground in ensuring that high quality teacher development opportunities are provided to teachers across all the nine (09) provinces in key areas such as the following:

• Integration of ICT in Teaching and Learning for Foundation Phase Teachers; and
• Skills for a changing world in collaboration with the Teacher Union Collaboration (TUC); and
• Coding and Robotics.

b) The Department plans to continue to upskill teachers through the above offering of the above programmes by 2030, prioritizing the teachers in the lower quintiles especially the teachers in rural areas.  DBE working with other government departments will continue to address the connectivity and infrastructure for 4IR for teaching and learning.

Reply:

What is the (a) make

        (i) Mrs AM Motshekga, MP Minister

1. BMW                                          
2. Mercedes Benz              

        (ii) Dr MR Mhaule MP Deputy Minister  

1. BMW       [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty]                               
2. AUDI       [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty]   

        (iii) Mr E Surty Mr Former Deputy Minister 

1. BMW                                      
2. AUDI  

(b) Model

 (i) Mrs AM Motshekga, MP Minister

• 1. 535i                                                   
  2. GLE 500                                             

(ii) Dr MR Mhaule MP Deputy Minister 

1. 530i                            [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty] 
2. 3.0 Q7 TDI Quattro    [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty] 

(iii) Mr E Surty Mr Former Deputy Minister 

1. 530i
2. 3.0 Q7 TDI Quattro

(C)  Year of Vehicle Manufacture                 

        (i) Mrs AM Motshekga, MP Minister

1. 2014          : BMW Sedan
2. 2016          : Mercedes-Benz

        (ii) Dr MR Mhaule MP Deputy Minister 

1. 2018          : BMW Sedan  [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty] 
2. 2018          : AUDI Q7        [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty] 

       (iii) Mr E Surty Mr Former Deputy Minister 

1. 2018          : BMW Sedan
2. 2018          : AUDI Q

(d) Price

        (i) Mrs AM Motshekga, MP Minister

1. BMW                     : R769,022.76                                     
2. Mercedes-Benz     : R849,900.00 

        (ii) Dr MR Mhaule MP Deputy Minister 

1. BMW                     : R833,488.41         [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty] 
2. Audi                       : R1,015,702.05     [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty]        

       (iii) Mr E Surty Mr Former Deputy Minister 

1. BMW                     : R833,488.41
2. Audi                       : R1,015,702.05   

(e) Vehicles purchase date

        (i) Mrs AM Motshekga, MP Minister

1. BMW                     : 25 September 2014                                                 
2. Mercedes-Benz     : 26 October 2016                                                

        (ii) Dr MR Mhaule MP Deputy Minister 

1. BMW                     : 28 March 2018          [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty] 
2. Audi                       :13 December 2018    [No new vehicles were purchased. Current DM uses same vehicles that were used by the previous DM Surty] 

       (iii) Mr E Surty Mr Former Deputy Minister 

1. BMW                     : 28 March 2018
2. Audi                       :13 December 2018

Reply:

1) On 14 July 2022 the BMA deployed the first 200 cohort of the Border Guards in various ports of entry and some vulnerable segments of the borderline. Forty (40) Border Guards were deployed at Beit Bridge Port of Entry and are responsible for the implementation of border law enforcement in conjunction with members of the SAPS. This is due to the fact that the Border Guards are not yet fully capacitated to full take over the functions. Currently, these functions are implemented through a Multi-Agency approach which is coordinated by the BMA through a Multi-Party Agreement. In fact, the BMA would fully take over the functions from the 1st of April 2023 through the implementation of an integrated model.

The port operational functioning has a process flow managed through various cascading Border structures overseen on quarterly basis by the Legislated Committees, the Border Technical Committee (BTC) and the Inter Ministerial Consultative Committee (IMCC). The two latter structures the BTC and IMCC were designed to deal with all challenges that cannot be solved by the Border Management operational structures. The BTC and IMCC have already met 3 times in 2022 and the final 4th quarter meeting will take place respectively on the 15th and 24th March 2023. In that upcoming meeting the BMA will present the feedback review and reflections on operations conducted in the border environment especially during December 2022/January 2023 festive season. It should be noted that Ministers of Police and Home Affairs are permanent members of IMCC, so all issues that are part of the review and reflections of the festive season would be dealt with in the meeting of 24 March 2023.

(2)(a) With regard to challenges of insider threat and possible corrupt activities by officials, the BMA would through during the integration process embark on extensive vetting processes of all officials to be integrated into the BMA as required by section 13 of the BMA Act, 2020.

(2)(b) The BMA and SAPS have entered into an Implementation Protocol in accordance with the provisions of the BMA Act which details the coordination and cooperation between the two state organs towards the implementation of border law enforcement functions. The Protocols were signed by both BMA and SAPS Commissioners on the 9th of June 2022.

(3) Matters, including challenges, related to border management are discussed by the BMA’s Inter-Ministerial Consultative Committee (IMCC) on Border Management which comprises of ten (10) members of Cabinet including the Ministers of Police, Home Affairs, Defence, State Security and others. Identified interventions to resolve such challenges are endorsed by the Committee for implementation.

(4) The number of refugees who travel across borders cannot be determined due to the fact that they do not travel with passports reflecting their asylum seeker status. Those who happen to travel do not inform the department and the responsible unit (Asylum Seeker Management) that they are leaving the country. Therefore, the Department is unable to provide the required statistics.

END

Reply:

1. (a) According to the information extracted from 2022/23 provincial User Asset Management Plan (U-AMP), all public healthcare facilities have been assessed in accordance with the requirements of GIAMA (Government Immovable Asset Management Act).

(b)-(d) Not applicable

2. (a) None of the facilities that were assessed need to be demolished.

(b) Not applicable.

END.

Reply:

The procurement of the seven-year lease building was done by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. However, the National Department of Health has four times the staff compared to those of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. The square meterage that was required by the Department of Cooperate Governance and Traditional Affairs was far less compared to the one that was required by the National Department of Health due to the size of the Department. The rental price of the building is based on the required size of the square meterage.

END.

Reply:

Since 1 June 2019, the Ministry of Sport, Arts and Culture has Minister EN Mthethwa and Deputy Minister N Mafu.

For the Minister.

Vehicle	Minister
(a) Make	No vehicles purchased.
(b) Model	N/a
(c ) Year	N/a
(d ) Price	N/a
(e ) Purchase date	N/a

For the Deputy Minister

Vehicle	Deputy Minister
(a) Make	BMW
(b) Model	520
(c ) Year	2020
(d ) Price	R649 000.00
(e ) Purchase date	15 January 2020

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has assessed Parliamentary Question 75 and had since established that both incidences referred to in the questions, fall outside the National Department of Public Works’ purview therefore, our colleagues in the Provincial Department of Roads and Public Works in Gauteng and North West Provinces will be best suited to response to this question. It will be advisable to re-refer the question to the relevant MECs, accordingly.

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1. The Department of Human Settlements purchased only one (1) vehicle since 1 June 2019: The details are as follows

(a) Make (AUDI)

(b) Model (Q5 40 TDI )

(c)Year of manufacture is 2022

(d) Cost (R 795 280.97) and

(e) Purchase date for;

(i) Minister, None

(ii) the former Minister, None

(iii) the Deputy Minister, 27 July 2022

(iv) former Deputy Minister, None

 

Reply:

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Reply:

a) The table provides details of the total number of persons who have been declared insolvent and finally sequestrated by the courts in the past five years:

Year		Insolvencies (Natural Persons)	Liquidations (Legal Persons)	Total
2018		2 691	3 697	6 388
2019		3 329	4 071	7 400
2020		1 911	4 223	6 134
2021		2 481	4 099	6 580
2022		2 249	3 877	6 126
Total		12 661	19 967	32 628

b) The Master of the High Court does not keep statistics with regards to race and debt value. It should also be noted that the true value of the assets is not necessarily finalised at application date but only finally established by the appointed trustee or liquidator during winding up.

Reply:

1. Yes, the person was suspended,

(a) The employer believed that the presence of the official may jeopardize the investigation into alleged misconduct and / or endanger the state property.

(b) Charges were gross negligence, in failing to take appropriate remedial steps against a subordinate on alleged breaches of policies in respect of to appointments, salary upgrades, a approving job evaluation recommendations which led to improper salary upgrades and approving an invoice which led to irregular expenditure.

(c) None of the charges relates to irregular appointments by the official.

(d) None of the charges relates to irregular appointments by the official.

2. The resignation letter did not state the reasons for resignation.

3. The Department does not have any records tabled at Cabinet in relation to the appointment of the official. The Department of Public Service and Administration maybe in a position to respond on how processing of the appointment of the official was facilitated including reference checks.

4. Parties (DPE and the official) reached a settlement agreement to all disputes between them. As a result, the settlement extinguished any misconduct issue DPE had against the official in which Section 16(4)(b) could not be applied because there was no longer any pending case against the official which needed further processing to enable the transferring of the matter to the Department of Public Service and Administration.

5. The Department of Public Service and Administration is the sole custodian of records of any appointments done by them. The Department of Public Enterprises is not in a position to assist in validating the said appointment due to restricted access to the records system of the Department of Public Service and Administration.

 

Remarks: Reply: Approved/Not Approved/Comments

q

Jacky Molisane PJ Gordhan, MP

Acting Director-General Minister

Date: Date:

Reply:

1. The National Conventional Arms Control Committee has not received any request from any South African arms manufacturers for permission to export to the Russian Federation and/or Belarus arms, munitions, propellants and/or technology that may be used in the manufacture of the specified products since 24 February 2022. The records of the of the NCACC in the past 5 years refelect the following:

(i) Russia

Nr.	Date of Permit	Categories	Value
1.	21/05/2018	C = Airborne Observation	R2,230,000
2.	21/05/2018	C = Airborne Observation	R2,230,000
3.	21/05/2018	C = Airborne Observation	R2,230,000
4.	29/07/2019	C = Argos Obserbvation	R59,178,602

(ii) Belarus,

Nr.	Date of Permit	Categories	Value
1.	05/03/2018	C = Data Packs	R6,045,000

respectively.

2. The NCACC applies the criteria in Section 15 of the National Conventional Arms Control Act 41 of 2002 (as amended), strictly. This is to ensure that, South Africa is not in breach of its own restrictions on the export of arms, munitions, propellants and/or technology that may be used in the manufacture of the products to any Country including the Russian Federation and/or Belarus. This, notwithstanding the United Nations Charter authorising a Sovereign Entity to a right to self defence.

Thank You.

Reply:

I have been advised by the Department as follows:

The Department (DCDT) has received Cabinet approval to roll out services to schools, health facilities and communities as part of SA Connect Phase 2. The Department consulted with various National Departments and Provinces to develop plans aligned with the District Development Model. The outcome of the consultations led to prioritisation of areas to be connected based on the input from beneficiary departments, provinces and municipalities.

Mobile operators are also required to connect a number of the public service institutions such as public libraries, public schools, government clinics, government hospitals and traditional authority offices. ICASA is still in a consultation process with the relevant stakeholders to ensure that the abovementioned obligations are implemented.

Reply:

(a) The reasons for failing to file Heads of Argument on 14 November 2022 will be subject to an application for condonation in court. In the circumstances, I am hamstrung to answer the question at this stage.

(b) In light of the answer above, it is premature to speculate on the remedial action.

(c) The Department of Home Affairs (“DHA”) has adopted a strict internal communication protocol in 2020 dealing, inter alia, with failure to comply with Court Orders by officials of the DHA. Failure to comply with Court Orders is visited by disciplinary action. Furthermore, in terms of the said internal communication

Reply:

There was no investigation undertaken by the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) during or relating to the tenure of Mr Mark Barnes as Chief Executive Officer of the South African Post Office. (a) Not applicable (b) Not Applicable

Reply:

I have been advised by SABC as follows: (a) The 389 instances under investigation relates to the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2022. From 2020 to date, disciplinary actions have been taken against sixteen (16) Supply Chain Management officials following the conclusion of the determination tests and the investigations. Approximately 100 incidents are currently under investigation and in the process of identifying responsible officials. A further 200 of these incidents are scheduled to be investigated and finalised over the next 12 months, with set targets in place. (b) None thus far.

Reply:

In terms of Section 3(5) when issuing a policy the Minister must consult the Authority (ICASA) and must, in order to obtain views of interested persons, publish the text on such policy in the Gazette; (i) declaring her intention to issue the policy or policy direction; and (ii) inviting interested persons to submit written submissions in relation to the policy or policy direction in the manner specified in such notice in not less than 30 days from the date of the notice. On 08 September 2022 the Minister issued a notice in Gazette 46873 of the draft Next Generation Radio Frequency Spectrum Policy for Economic Development and the closing date is 20 October 2022. On receipt of all the written submissions a list will be compiled as requested

Reply:

I have been informed by the SABC as follows :-

(a) A grievance was lodged by the former Group Executive: News regarding alleged interference by the Chairperson of the SABC Board.

(b) The Committee/Panel was appointed in line with the Procedure on how to deal with grievances and/or complaints against Non-Executive Directors. This Procedure was approved by the Board. In terms of section 15(1)(a) of the Broadcasting Act No. 4 of 1999 (as amended), the President, as the appointing body defined in the Act, may remove a Non-Executive Director on account of misconduct or inability to perform his or her duties efficiently after due inquiry and upon recommendation by the Board. It was on this basis that the Board developed the Procedure to address/test/adjudicate the complaints and/or allegations of misconduct (“due inquiry”). If the allegations were found to be true the Board would only then recommend his removal to the President.

Reply:

(1) (a) The Mooikloof Mega City Project is currently in the construction of phase one (1) and phase two (2) for five hundred and forty-six (546) units and is due for completion in September 2023. (b) The Mooikloof Mega City units commence with a starting price of R604 900.00.

(2) (a) The green classification for the Mooikloof Mega City will be done when the construction of the units is completed and will be certified for solar and battery storage to confirm that it has been incorporated into the development to mitigate the effects of load shedding.

(3) The developer initially projected that the apartments in the development would start selling between R495 799 and R 799 00.00. However, the apartment starting prices now commence at R604 900.

Reply:

According to Information Received from Eskom:

(1) Eskom makes use of various security measures (human and technological), and various detection and monitoring systems (covert and overt), to monitor movements and secure areas within the plants. (In order not to disclose and compromise security measures, details thereof are deemed sensitive and are thus limited for disclosure.)

(2) Eskom Security is in the process of screening all active contracts, including employees of contractors employed at Eskom sites and companies against whom investigations (criminal, civil or disciplinary) have been launched, conducted/completed, or are in progress. The law enforcement agencies, particularly the State Security Agency, is also engaged in assisting Eskom in conducting the screening of contractors and suppliers to Eskom.

In addition, Eskom has instructed that the SAPS security clearance checks are required for contractors, prior to granting admission to Eskom sites. Eskom Security is compiling a database of companies and persons to enable the listing/red-flagging of individuals and entities as part of due-diligence investigations.

Eskom has a risk-based approach to perform contract reviews in which all flagged contracts are subjected to a preliminary investigation to empower management to make informed decisions. The flagging instruments are in the form of contract management in which, contract performance is monitored; the Fraud Hotline where stakeholders can report suspicious contracts; internal and external audit findings; as well as complaints against the Procurement & Supply Chain Management system.

Eskom is enforcing controls on new contracts and those which are being targeted for modifications or review. In addition, where there is irregular expenditure on contracts, they are reviewed for elements of fraud and corruption

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Reply:

1(a)(b) According to the enhanced Firearm Registration Syste, (EFRS) and the internal administrative processes of the Central Firearms Register (CFR), all firearms licence applications that outstanding for more than 120 working days, are regarded as a backlog. The number of outstanding applications for firearm licences and competency certificates, as at 2022-11-30, are reflected in the table below:
 

Category	Number of outstanding applications that are more than120 working days
Firearm licence applications – 557 Amnesty applications – 17 768	18 325
Competency certificate applications	14 473

(2)(a)(b)(c)(d) The information is reflected in the table below:
 

Category	Total number of applications outstanding
	(a) 2 years	(b) 3 years	(c) 4 years	(d) 5years
Firearm licence applications	90	10	7	33
Amnesty applications	7378	96	0	0
Competency certificate applications	2682	608	295	16

Reply:

According to Information Received from Eskom: (a) The Renewable Energy projects for Komati consists of Photovoltaics (PV), Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and Wind power. At this point, the PV and BESS projects are still in commercial development and will go to market in 2023. (b) The date is subject to the market response, therefore the first power to the grid could be expected in 2026.

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Reply:

The Honourable Member appears to be basing his question on the underlying repurchase (repo) rate, which then impacts on the prime lending rate. The repo rates are the primary tool that the SARB uses to control inflation, which is the rate at which the SARB lends to commercial banks. The prime lending rate is the rate at which commercial banks then lend to their customers, and is higher than the repo rate, as it incorporates their costs and profit margin.

The raising of the repo rate (and thus prime the lending rate) is a necessary intervention in response to inflation. Inflation erodes the ability of households in South Africa – particularly workers and those living on fixed incomes such as social grants or pensions – to buy necessities. Inflation in South Africa has risen sharply over the past year, reflecting both high global inflation, markedly higher food and fuel inflation, as well as domestic drivers, particularly core inflation. As inflation rises, the ability to buy the same number of products becomes more difficult as prices rise.

National Treasury supports the South African Reserve Bank in the exercise of its constitutional mandate, which is to protect the value of the rand, in the interest of balanced and sustainable economic growth. The Governor of the South African Reserve Bank and the Minister of Finance and their officials are in regular consultation to maximise coordination between fiscal and monetary policy objectives. The national government pursues a comprehensive approach to assist households in the Republic facing cost-of-living pressures via the annual Budget process, by funding basic services, grants (eg old-age, child support and social distress grants) and specific programmes, including:
The South African government has suspended the anti-dumping duties on poultry imports from five countries and this should ease chicken prices and provide the much-needed relief to consumers. On August 1, 2022, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition announced a decision to suspend the imposition of Anti-Dumping Duties (ADDs) on poultry from Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Poland, and Spain for a period of twelve months “considering the rapid rise in food process as well as the impact that the imposition of the anti-dumping duties may have on the price of chicken.
The government intervened through the introduction of the temporary reduction in the general fuel levy to provide relief to consumers. On 31 March 2022 the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy jointly announced a temporary reduction in the general fuel levy of R1.50 per litre from Wednesday 6 April 2022 until 31 May 2022 to provide limited short-term relief to households from rising fuel prices following the Russia/Ukraine conflict. This relief package was further extended for two months until 2 August 2022. (the reduction was adjusted downward to 75c per litre from 7 July 2022 to 2 August 2022).

The sharply higher domestic inflation is the reason why South Africans are finding their incomes unable to buy the same basket of goods they afforded just a few months ago. Raising of the repo rate is the necessary corrective intervention required to reduce inflation.