Questions and Replies

Reply:

The Minister of Finance has commenced with the recruitment process for the appointment of the Tax Ombud in terms of section 14 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 (Act No 28 of 2011). The advert for the position was published in the Sunday Times on Sunday, 30 October 2022 and in the Business Day on Monday, 31 October 2022. It was also published on the following social media platforms, namely Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. The closing date for the advert was 14 November 2022. Following the closing date, the shortlisting process will commence and thereafter interviews will take place.

Reply:

It is envisaged that the Public Service Amendment Bill will be tabled in Parliament in the 2022/2023 financial year.

The delay in processing the Public Service Amendment Bill was due to the fact that the Bill was extensively consulted, including consultations with organised Labour in the relevant bargaining councils. The Bill is currently at NEDLAC.

End

Reply:

Circulars are issued based on the provisions of an Act for a number of purposes including issuing instructions’ providing clarifications; information; guidance; rules; and/or background information on legislative or procedural matters. As Circulars are issued under the statutory power, they are binding, usually from the date of issue. As Circulars serve different purposes, there will be those with timeframes and those without. In the event where it is a requirement for timeframes, the circular/communication does indicate for the purposes of accountability and commitment. Those without timeframes are often about clarifications or for information sharing.

As mentioned in (a) above Circulars serve different purposes, and sufficient measures are put in place to ensure adherence, accountability and commitment from all those that they are the target audience.

End

Reply:

Find here: Reply

Reply:

The National Anti-Corruption Hotline (NACH) is operating from 08h00-16h30 from Monday to Friday. The NACH has a day shift due to capacity constraints as the call centre is manned by only five (5) call centre agents. When all the agents are busy, the other calls will be in the queue are automatically directed to the recording facility. In the month of October 2022, 4093 incoming calls were received by the NACH and 4033 were answered. This is indication that a large volume of calls are answered.

In addition, the Public Service Commission (PSC) has installed a recording facility to allow whistle-blowers to leave messages after hours and over weekends as viable alternative. The call centre agents process the messages and make a follow up where the whistle-blowers provide contact details.

Recorded messages are downloaded from the recording facility and processed accordingly. In cases where whistle-blowers provided contact details, the PSC calls back. However, many whistle-blowers are reluctant to leave their contact details.

End

Reply:

a) Africa Public Service Day (APSD) event was celebrated under the stewardship of the African Union with the theme: “Building resilience in nutrition and food security on the African continent: Accelerate the human capital, social and economic development”.

The comment made by the Deputy Minister during APSD was referring in general to uneven public service delivery in remote rural areas in provinces compared to service delivery in urban and more populated areas of the country. There was thus no specific reference made to any specific service delivery area.

b) The District Development Model (DDM) is one of the initiatives that is used to ensure that public service delivery is prioritised in the areas that are lagging behind in public service delivery. The DDM is an intergovernmental and cooperative governance model, launched by the President in September 2019. The DDM is anchored in the development of a “One Plan” which aims to translate development priorities and objectives into spatial locations (district & metropolitan areas). The plan aims to provide synchronisation and alignment of strategic projects across all spheres of government, organs of state and the private sector, by prioritizing catalytic projects. Through this initiative plus the application of many other service delivery mechanisms (such as the Batho Pele standards, specific support interventions and operations management initiatives) the “almost forgotten” areas of service delivery will be prioritised.

End

Reply:

The disciplinary process is governed by the Public Service Act and not the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). The PFMA in its current form does not provide the National Treasury with powers to institute disciplinary action against accounting officers. Information related to disciplinary action instituted in departments can be found in annual reports of those departments. The Frameworks issued by the National Treasury on unauthorised, irregular and fruitless and wasteful expenditure prescribes the process and requirements that should be followed by departments, constitutional institutions, trading entities and public entities when dealing with matters of financial misconduct linked to these expenditures.

Section 85(1)(a) of the PFMA provides that, the Minister must make regulations prescribing the manner, form and circumstances in which allegations and disciplinary and criminal charges of financial misconduct must be reported to the National Treasury, the relevant provincial treasury and the Auditor-General including (i) particulars of the alleged financial misconduct; and (ii) the steps taken in connection with such financial misconduct.

Treasury Regulation 4.1.3 states that, if an accounting officer is alleged to have committed financial misconduct, the relevant treasury, as soon as it becomes aware of the alleged misconduct, must ensure that the relevant executive authority initiates an investigation into the matter and if the allegations are confirmed, holds disciplinary hearing in accordance with the prescripts appliable and agreement applicable in the public service. The relevant treasury may also direct that (a) an official other than the employee of the department conducts the investigation or (b) issues reasonable requirement regarding the way in which the investigation should be performed as provided in Treasury Regulations 4.1.4.

Therefore, The Frameworks can be found on the National Treasury website at the following links:

www.treasury.gov.za/legislation/pfma/TreasuryInstruction/Annexure A Irregular Expenditure Framework 20192020.pdf

http://www.treasury.gov.za/legislation/pfma/TreasuryInstruction/Annexure%20A%20Fruitless%20and%20Wasteful%20Framework.pdf

http://www.treasury.gov.za/legislation/pfma/guidelines/Guideline%20on%20Unathorised%20Expenditure%2027%20May%202014.pdf

Reply:

National Treasury works with departments to assist them with their budget requests and implementation of processes that will allow them to achieve their strategic plans. Departments mostly will, through the budget process, inform the National Treasury if funding is requested for a specific project. These funding requests will then be dealt with through the budget process.

In terms of the policy and implementation timelines, the Department of Home Affairs will have this information and should be requested to submit the plans and their timelines. The National Treasury has not yet received the specific funding request for this specific project.

Reply:

This question is very general, and it is not very clear what specific information the Honourable Member is requesting. It is generally the policy of the Government and the National Treasury to seek public comments on policy and legislative proposals. Such policy and legislation proposals are generally published on the National Treasury website for public comment, and once finalised, made public once again on our website.

I refer the Honourable Member to the National Treasury website (www.treasury.gov.za)

Reply:

The Agri-Parks Initiative falls under the domain of the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development and not the Minister of Finance. I will, however, deal with some of your queries as related to the National Treasury.

a) According to the Department of Agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development, Agri-Parks entails the creation of a nexus of rural agricultural businesses across South Africa to serve as primary vehicles of agrarian transformation and comprehensive rural development in order to:

• • Enhance agricultural production and efficiency;
  • Promote household food security and national food sovereignty;
  • Engender agrarian transformation through rural enterprise development and employment creation; and

b) The AgriParks therefore aims to grow rural economies by facilitating the efficient movement of rural produce to markets. They support smallholder farmers by providing capacity building, mentorship, farm infrastructure, extension services, and the production and mechanisation inputs.

At conception the department has committed R2 billion per annum (this was part of the existing budget and no specific budget line was established for Agri Parks), for establishing and operationalising the Agri-Parks in all 44 Municipal Districts. However, this has been scaled down to 9 Agri-Parks.

Agri-Parks programme does not have a specific dedicated programme and budget item in the department, but is implemented through all the departmental programmes.

To maximise value for money and address inefficiencies in departmental spending, the department is embarking on the review of programmes, with Rural Infrastructure Programme as the first programme to be selected.

National Treasury does not intend to do a policy review. The programme falls under the oversight of Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, the department is therefore mandated to undertake a policy review and financial cost benefit.

Reply:

(1) The department’s inspectorate is fully engaged in immigration operations and inspections. Areas such as Hillbrow and other communities are regularly visited by immigration officials who conduct compliance. The Inspectorate unit deployed a dedicated team to Diepsloot from 6th April 2022 to 8th July 2022 where 1910 arrests were made for illegal migration. The department also conducts its own multi-stakeholder operation called “Operation Siyasibenta” on a monthly basis. On 11 November 2022 Siyasibenta operations were focused on farming areas around country with a total of 111 foreign nationals arrested for being undocumented.

(2) The department does not believe that figure is accurate as we have not been provided scientific evidence that it is so. The most credible source the department is aware of is the figures given by the Statistician General Risenga Maluleke where a figure of 3.95 million foreign nationals are said to be in South Africa according to their mid-year population estimates in 2021.

(3) The department will continue with its enforcement activities within the country as well as the deployment of the newly formed Border Guard of the Border Management Authority to the borders.

(4) The prevalence of undocumented migrants is a global due to push factors relating to either economic and environmental. The department is able to implement its legislation and has been doing so. In addition to this the department co-operates with other departments and foreign governments to tackle the problem.

END

Reply:

1. It should be noted that majority of senior managers were appointed prior to the implementation of the Public Service Regulations, 2016. As of 30 September 2022, the number of SMS members who were appointed on or after 1 August 2016 and who do not have the requisite qualifications for the positions that they are occupying is 599. Whilst qualifications are critical to the recruitment and selection of senior managers, these alone are insufficient because they cannot be used to infer competence

2. PERSAL is specifically designed for payment of employees’ salaries. It should be noted that although qualifications are captured on PERSAL system, this system does not verify the authenticity of the qualifications.

3. (a) In terms of Regulation 67 (9) (a and b) of the Public Service Regulations, before making a decision on an appointment or the filling of a post, an executive authority shall satisfy herself or himself that the candidate qualifies in all respects for the post and that his or her claims in his or her application for the post have been verified as directed by the Minister, and record that verification in writing.

b) Verification of qualifications is one of the selection process which is done before finalising the appointment. The National Qualification Framework Act imposes a duty on employers to verify any qualifications by submitting to SAQA before appointing prospective employees. It is therefore, the responsibility of Accounting Officers in the departments to verify, through the National Learner Database if the qualifications of SMS members they are appointing are authentic as PERSAL is not the system that verify the authenticity of the qualifications.

End

Reply:

• The current visa categories are legislated by the Immigration Act No. 13 of 2002. In its current form the Immigration Act does not make provision for digital nomad e-Visa. Therefore, there are no plans to implement a digital nomad e-visa.

• The department has to date launched and piloted e-Visa System in 14 countries in line with the Government’s plans to streamline and modernize the visa application process to make it easier to travel to South Africa for tourism and short term business and work visits. The e-Visa System enables the prospective visitors to apply for a Visa online, while in their home countries without visiting the Mission.

END

Reply:

a) The demographic representation of the farmers whose loans have been written off by Land Bank.

In the past 3 Financial Years, there were approximately 116 matters written off. Whilst both types of write-offs were considered (i.e. full write-offs of outstanding amount and partial write-offs of outstanding amount), the bulk of the written off matters were partial write-offs (i.e. being matters written-off subsequent to Land Bank having received the maximum achievable recovery amount and thus writing off the irrecoverable remaining balance).

Of the 116 written-off matters, the demographic representation is as follows:-

46% - White Farmers

42% - Black Farmers

12% - Colored Farmers

0% - Indian Farmers

b) What adjustments is the Bank making to ensure that it provides more development finance to emerging Black farmers and beneficiaries of land reform.

The Bank has adopted a new strategy and an operating model tailored to make it more developmentally focused and financially sustainable.

A key component of the strategy is the adoption of the Blended Finance Model in which the Bank has partnered with the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) through a 10-year Memorandum of Agreement which is effective from the current financial year (FY2023) to FY2033. DALRRD has committed a grant allocation of R325m per annum for the first three years of the agreement. Land Bank will provide an equivalent amount of funds which will be advanced as loans to the clients. The Bank is in the process to partner with provincial governments of agriculture, land reform and rural development, as well as other strategic partners to complement the grant funding from DALRRD.

The targeted clients and beneficiaries of the Bank’s Blended Finance Model are black persons and majority black-owned small and medium-scale farmers and/or entities.

The Bank will be utilising a significant part of the equity allocation from National Treasury for the next five years (FY2023 to FY2027) towards the Blended Finance Programme which will be complemented by grant allocations from DALRRD and other strategic partners. The equity allocations to the Bank will be preserved for recycling into the sector through the collection of loan repayments from clients, as well as the recovery of notional cost of funds from clients which will assist to cover for expected credit losses from non-performing loans, whilst still offering affordable financing to clients.

Resultant from this state support the bank projects that the development and transformation portfolio will shift from the current 30% of its total loan book to above 50% by FY2027.

The utilisation of equity and grant allocations is important to ensure affordable financing to the clients as the use of blended funds reduces the cost of funding and enables pricing subsidisation. The use of blended funds also enables the Bank to provide pre- and post-finance support to farmers to increase their chances of success and reduce entrepreneurial failures. The Bank would be unable to afford these pre- and post-finance support services were it not for the deployment of state allocated equity and grants from DALRRD and other strategic partners. The magnitude of the grants need to sufficiently cover for both the beneficiaries’ equity contribution and these pre- and post-finance services, which is not yet fully catered for.

It is important to note that for the Bank to meaningfully support development at affordable financing levels and still be financially sustainable beyond the five-year period its current funding model will have to change such that in the long term the Bank has an increased portion of its funding mix coming from equity, patient funds, and grants. It is for this reason that the Board has prioritized the need for a review of the Bank’s Funding Model which is a critical prerequisite for the Bank to accelerate development and transformation on a financially sustainable basis.

Note: For further details on the Blended Finance Model please see the attached brochure (Annexure A).

Reply:

1 Strengthening the implementation of Batho Pele principles remains a key priority for the government in building a citizen-centric society.

(a) To ensure that the Batho Pele principles remain valid and relevant, the DPSA has developed a revised Batho Pele revitalisation strategy that Cabinet endorsed in March 2022. The strategy requires the development and implementation of context-specific Batho Pele standards. These standards will ensure that public services are rendered in a specific, effective and efficient manner

(b) Reports from the Office of the Public Service Commission, which monitors adherence to Batho Pele Policy as per its Constitutional mandate to monitor, non-implementation of the Batho Pele principles and Constitutional Values and Principles, non-implementation can impact negatively on service delivery and citizen satisfaction.

2) Quarterly reports on the implementation of Batho Pele principles across the public service are prepared internally within the Department. The Department also uses the Batho Pele Forum which meets on a quarterly basis, to monitor and report on the implementation of Batho Pele with the public service. All these culminate in an annual status report on the implementation of Batho Pele and the level of adherence to the Batho Pele principles.

Reply:

1. (a) There is enabling legislation which makes provision for the Minister of Finance to appoint a Tax Ombud in terms of Section 14 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 (Act No 28 of 2011).

(b) Section 15 of the Tax Administration Act, 2011 is the enabling legislation which deals with the Office of the Tax Ombud and makes provision for the Tax Ombud to appoint the staff of the office of the Tax Ombud.

(c) The Office of the Tax Ombud has functional independence, in that the Minister of Finance and the South African Revenue Service (SARS) cannot interfere with the decision of the Tax Ombud.

2. The Office of the Tax Ombud is financed by a budget approved by the Minister of Finance, which is a ringfenced in the SARS budget.

Reply:

1. The Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) has been monitoring the implementation of Regulation 13(c) of the Public Service Regulations and Regulation 8 of the Public Administration Management Act, Act 11 of 2014 since 2019. Since then, the DPSA is monitoring public service employees who are allegedly conducting business with the State, through the Central Supplier Database (CSD), on a monthly basis. The following were the outcomes of the monitoring process[1]:

• As at the end of March 2019, 1068 public service employees were flagged on the CSD to be allegedly conducting business with the State. Out of the 1068, 270 employees were from the national departments while 798 were from provincial departments.
• As at the end of April 2020, 1539 public service employees were flagged on the CSD to be allegedly conducting business with the State. Out of 1539, 428 were from national departments, whilst 1111 emanated from provincial departments.
• As at end of January 2021, 484 employees were flagged on the CSD to be allegedly conducting business with the State. Out of this number, 126 were from national departments, whilest 358 came from the provincial departments.
• As at the end of January 2022, 181 employee were flagged on the CSD to be allegedly conducting business with the State. A total of 44 employees were from national departments, whilst 137 were from provincial departments.

2. a.(i) As at 1 October 2022, a total number of 113 public servants were flagged to be allegedly conducting business with the State. When flagged by the DPSA, the information is shared with departments to verify if the identified employees are still in the Public Service and for departments to investigate if these employees are indeed conducting business with the State. As per the feedback received from departments, three (3) of these public servants are representing government in an official capacity in accordance to Regulation 13(c) of the Public Service Regulations, 2016 and one (1) individual was a part time political advisor (see Table with information obtained from PERSAL and the respective departments). Thus, only 109 public servants are considered to be allegedly conducting business with the State.

(ii) the breakdown of the specified number for each national and provincial department and salary level of each employee (position is not tracked on PERSAL) is shown on the table below:

.

National Department	(b) SALARY LEVEL	Total
Department	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	35
Trade Industry and Competition														1		1 Status provided: The employee represents the department at the COEGA.
Agriculture, Land Reform, and Rural Development																4 The employee’s salary levels are not specified.
Public Service and Administration												1				2 Status provided: One (1) employee was part-time Special Adviser to the previous MPSA with the contract linked to the term of office.
Water and Sanitation									1			1				2
Higher Education and Training				2		1		1	1		1	1				8 The salary level of one (1) employee was not specified.
Correctional Services							3	1				2		1		8 The salary level of one (1) employee was not specified.
Transport														1		1
Sport Arts and Culture												1				1
Justice and Constitutional Development										1						1
Statistical South Africa																1 The salary level of one (1) employee was not specified.
Basic Education											1					1
Science and Innovation												1				3 Status report: Two (2) of the employees were appointed as Board members of the Biological and Vaccines Institute of SA (BIOVAC).
Government Communication and Information																1 The salary level of one (1) employee was not specified.
Environment, Forestry and Fisheries														1		1
Provincial Department	SALARY LEVEL	Total
Department	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	78
Eastern Cape (10)
Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs							1		1							2
Education										1						2 The salary level of one (1) employee was not specified.
Health											1	2				3
Office of the Premier															1	1
Provincial Treasury												1				1
Roads and Public Works																1 The salary level of one (1) employee was not specified.
Free State (4)
Health				1							1					2
Provincial Treasury												1				1
Education							1									1
Gauteng (3)
Education								1		1						2
Health		1														1
KwaZulu-Natal (17)
Corporate Governance and Traditional Affairs							1									2 The salary level of one (1) employee was not specified.
Education					1				1							4 The salary level of two (2) employees were not specified.
Health	1							1			2					4
Transport																5 The salary level of five (5) employee were not specified.
Office of the Premier												1				1
Social Development							1									1
Western Cape (1)
Transport and Public Works											1					1
Northern Cape (16)
Education					1	1	1			1						9 The salary level of five (5) employee were not specified.
Health		1			1											2
Corporate Governance Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs							2			1						4 The salary level of one (1) employee was not specified.
Agriculture Environmental Affairs Rural Development and Rural Reform																1 The salary level of one (1) employee was not specified.
Limpopo (7)
Education						1			1	1						3
Corporate Governance Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs							1									2 The salary level of one (1) employee was not specified.
Health				1							1					2
Mpumalanga (19)
Education				2	1	2	1			1						7
Health				1												10 The salary level of nine (9) employees were not specified.
Provincial Treasury											1					1
Public Works Roads and Transport								1								1
North West (1)
Health						1										1

 

3. (a) 35 public servants from national departments and 126 from provincial departments were subjected to disciplinary action (based on information provided by departments to the DPSA).

b) The outcome of the disciplinary action taken in each case with regard to each of the national and provincial departments are as follows[2]:

Nationally:

• 18 final written warnings
• 4 one month suspension without pay
• 2 two months suspension without pay
• 1 deceased
• 4 under investigation
• 4 not guilty
• 1 awaiting the outcome of a hearing
• 1 hearing scheduled

Provinces:

• 1 written warning
• 5 final written warning
• 1 contract terminated
• 2 indicated as in another department
• 12 not charging
• 28 out of service
• 14 letters of intention to charge issued
• 2 deceased
• 4 not guilty
• 33 pending
• 8 withdrawn
• 4 resignations
• 1 dismissal
• 2 appointing chairpersons
• 8 under investigation
• 1 retirement

 

(4)(a) Six (06) public servants are currently being investigated by the South African Police Service (SAPS) for conducting business with the State[3].

(b) Status of investigations:

• One (1) case - 1st court appearance will be held on 24 November 2022.
• Two (2) cases were postponed to 18 November 2022 and 16 January 2023, respectively.
• One (1) case is with the Director for Public Prosecutions for decision.
• In two (2) cases, investigating officers were tasked to source more information as per the Court.

(5) A total of seven (07) public servants have been convicted for conducting business with the State as at the latest date. One of the employees were convicted on two separate cases[4].

 

 

1. Information obtained by matching PERSAL and the Central Supplier Database. ↑

2. Information were provided to the DPSA by the implicated departments. ↑

3. Information provided to the DPSA by the SAPS. ↑

4. The information was provided to the DPSA by the National Prosecuting Authority.End ↑

Reply:

(a) The Economic Recovery and Reconstruction Plan (ERRP) outlines the country’s near-term growth agenda. It includes a number of structural reforms aimed at supporting the economic recovery by unlocking investment and removing barriers to growth.

(b) The National Treasury provides forecasts from the expenditure side of GDP, details of which can be found in the Budget Review 2022 and Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) 2022.

With regard to the estimated impact of reform implementation, this was estimated to result in a 2.3 percentage point growth above the baseline over the next ten years. The details of this work can be found in the Economic Recovery and Reconstruction Plan.

(c) The MTBPS does not make specific allocations to departments and programmes. Such allocations will be published in the 2013 Budget.

Reply:

The information below is provided by the municipality to National Treasury. It is not audited and so cannot be verified by Treasury.

1. (a) The Municipality paid an amount of R18.6 million in the month of September to the Pension Funds. That reduced the total arrear debt to R20.9 million in terms of the narrative report submitted by the municipality to both Provincial and National Treasury. It should be noted that non-payment of pension fund contributions constitutes a criminal offence in terms of Section 13(A) of the Pension Fund Act.

b) The narrative report indicates that the Medical Aids are paid up to date and there is no arrear amount on the account.

2. According to the municipality, it owes the South African Revenue Service a total amount of R30.3 million. This information is obtained from a narrative report the municipality submitted to both Provincial and National Treasury. SARS are unable to confirm with the National Treasury as they do not discuss taxpayers’ affairs of a taxpayer with third parties.

3. The National Treasury does have the power to stop the transfer of the equitable share to the municipality in terms of Section 216(2) of the Constitution and other applicable legislation in the event of persistent failure by a municipality to honor its financial commitments. National Treasury does require municipalities to report on the non-payments of its commitment to South African Revenue Service, pension and other staff benefit deducted from municipal officials to be paid over the appropriate funds and/ or institutions. Failure for municipalities to provide this evidence may result in their equitable share being withheld to influence compliance.

The onus lies with the Executive Mayor to impose consequence management to the Accounting Officer. The Executive Mayor must recommend financial misconduct proceedings against the accounting officer in line with Municipal Regulations on Financial Misconduct Procedures and Criminal Proceedings.

The other option is also for the relevant Pension Fund to implement their credit control policies to collect the monies due to their institutions. Pension Fund Administrator must also lay criminal charges against the accounting officer in terms of their own legislation.

Eastern Cape Legislature must further exercise its oversight responsibility effectively. The matter must be directed to the Provincial Legislature for the relevant committee to summon the Mayor to the Legislature to provide responses on how the municipality is planning to address the matter.

Reply:

(1) Whether he will furnish Inkosi R N Cebekhulu with an update on the investigation of the Public Service Commission, especially on the matter of the 2 364 senior managers who have reportedly been found not to possess the relevant qualifications for the jobs that they occupy, with 1 211 senior managers employed at the national level and 1 153 at the provincial level; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;

(2) The Public Service Commission (PSC) has to date, requested information from the Acting Minister for Public Service and Administration (AMPSA) in order to be able to deal with the issue of SMS qualifications properly. The PSC will communicate its findings once information is received from the AMPSA and the analysis thereof is concluded.

End

Reply:

(a)The breakdown in the number of backlog of disciplinary cases are as follows:

(i) 2020-21

1st Quarter 1627

2nd Quarter 2188

3rd Quarter and 1722

4th Quarter 1583

 

(ii) 2021-22

1st Quarter 2199

2nd Quarter 2614

3rd Quarter and 2428

4th Quarter 2986

Please note the backlog is calculated as cases that are taking more than 90 days to conclude which is the standard to finalise disciplinary cases in the Public Service.

(b) Backlogs on disciplinary cases do not necessarily cost the state money except showing the failure of departments in meeting the required standard of 90 day to finalise disciplinary cases.

(c) The breakdown of the backlog in each

(i) National

2020-21

1st Quarter 165

2nd Quarter 535

3rd Quarter 195

4th Quarter 196

2021-22

1st Quarter 619

2nd Quarter 978

3rd Quarter and 917

4th Quarter 1263

(ii) Provincial departments

2020-21

1st Quarter 1462

2nd Quarter 1653

3rd Quarter and 1527

4th Quarter 1387

2021-22

1st Quarter 1580

2nd Quarter 1636

3rd Quarter and 1511

4th Quarter 1723

End

Reply:

The Nyukela is a requirement prior to a person being appointed into a SMS post. This is as directed by the Minister for the Public Service and Administration.

a) Heads of Department are required to ensure compliance. This includes ensuring that departments indicate Nyukela on the advert as a requirement prior to the appointment of a person to a SMS post.

b) Departments are required to include the Nyukela as a requirement for appointment when advertising an SMS post. When the DPSA notes that the matter is not addressed in an advertisement that is to be placed in the Public Service Vacancy Circular, it is duly referred back to the Department to correct.

End

Reply:

Government is cognizant of the importance of having credible risk assessments as this enables the fight against money laundering, corruption and related financial crimes to be focused and targeted to high-risk areas and sectors. In this regard, to ensure the credibility of risk assessments, the government, including the supervisory authorities, takes into account the guidance that was issued by the Financial Action Task Force on the conducting of risk assessments, which rely on reasonably standardized methodologies that rely on analysis of existing data as well as in-depth engagement with relevant stakeholders and practitioners. The guidance can be accessed using the following link on the FATF website: https://www.fatf-gafi.org/media/fatf/content/images/National_ML_TF_Risk_Assessment.pdf.

Supervisory bodies are required to adopt a risk-based approach to supervision and effect these in line with their internally documented mechanisms. Additionally, supervisory bodies, including the Prudential Authority and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority have conducted money laundering and terrorist financing sector risk assessments. These methodologies are reasonably standardized. The second round sector risk assessments for the banking and life insurance sector have been issued by the Prudential Authority and are available at the following link: https://www.resbank.co.za/en/home/publications/publication-detail-pages/media-releases/2022/Banking-and-Insurance-sectors-assessment-reports.

The supervisory agencies have developed sectoral risk assessments for AML/CFT which have been submitted to the Interdepartmental Committee on Anti-Money Laundering and the Combating of the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) for consideration.

Although the IDC-AML/CFT also comprises the investigating and prosecuting authorities, the IDC-AML/CFT does not interfere with the work of the investigating and prosecuting authorities, as they operate independently in line with their investigating and prosecutorial policies. However, the IDC-AML/CFT guides the investigating and prosecuting authorities of the improvements that are required in the anti-money laundering and related offences policy framework, and also for them to address deficiencies identified in the Mutual Evaluation report. Government is strongly of the view that considerable progress has been made in the effective use by South Africa’s law enforcement agencies of the powers provided for combating financial crimes and money laundering. While much remains to be done, substantial progress is evident in relation to “state capture” cases, the policing of PPE-related corruption, and corporate frauds.

The IDC-AML/CFT considers reports on risk assessments at regular intervals when assessments are updated, and that these are included in the IDC-AML/CFT’s formulation of AML/CFT policies. 

The IDC-AML/CFT is in the process of finalising a National Risk Assessment (NRA) for money laundering, terror financing and proliferation financing, and also a strategy for AML/CFT and the Countering of Proliferation Finance (CPF). The NRA document and the strategy document will be submitted to the FATF around end-November 2022 as part of the process of demonstrating progress in addressing deficiencies identified in the Mutual Evaluation report relating to Risk, Policy and Co-ordination (FATF Methodology for effectiveness relating to Immediate Outcome 1) (https://www.fatf-gafi.org/media/fatf/documents/methodology/fatf%20methodology%2022%20feb%202013.pdf.)

The IDC-AML/CFT will publish summarised versions of the NRA and national strategy documents as soon as they are finalised.

Reply:

The National Treasury cannot certify the data provided in respect to this question, as only the accounting officer at each national or provincial department or municipality can do so. The data provided is not verified.

National Treasury Instruction Note No. 34 requires departments to submit exception reports to the relevant treasuries by the 7th day of each month with details of the number and rand value of invoices paid after 30 days and those that remain unpaid from the date of receiving invoices. Provincial departments submit information on the late payment of invoices to their respective treasuries. Information at provincial government is collated by their respective treasuries, consolidated, and submitted to the National Treasury by the 15th day of every month with information on the preceding month. Therefore, statistical information for each provincial department can be obtained from the relevant treasuries. The treasury instruction further requires the accounting officers of departments to confirm the accuracy of information reported by signing off these reports prior to its submission to the relevant treasuries.

Since the inception of the National Treasury Instruction Note No.34, the National Treasury provides progress reports on this requirement to the relevant stakeholders and continues to monitor the level of compliance with the requirement to pay supplier’s invoices within the prescribed period. Such progress reports are shared with the relevant stakeholders on a quarterly and annual basis. The information collated from departments forms the basis of compiling the quarterly and annual reports which can be located on the link below:

http://www.treasury.gov.za/legislation/pfma/Compliance%20on%20Payment%20of%20Suppliers/default.aspx

The statistics provided below provides information collated from departments for quarter 1 of the 2022/2023 financial year. The tables below contain information owed by departments to all suppliers including SMME’s for quarter 1 of 2022/2023 financial year, but we do not have a more detailed breakdown on amounts owing to SMMEs.

(a)(i)

Table 1 below provides a list of national departments that reported invoices older than 30 days and not paid at the end of June 2022.

Table 1: Total number and rand value of invoices older than 30 days and not paid by national departments at the end of June 2022

Department	Older than 30 days and not paid
	Number	Rand Value
Home Affairs	2	R14 806
Public Works and Infrastructure (Main Account)	1	R11 154
Water and Sanitation (Main Account)	3	R19 647
Social Development	4	R92 567
Statistics South Africa	6	R599 146
Forestry, Fisheries and Environment	7	R71 720
Public Works and Infrastructure (Trading Account)	23	R3 010
Tourism	149	R705 591
Water and Sanitation (Trading Account)	764	R2 590 747
Total	959	R4 108 387

(a) (ii)

Table 2 below provides statistics of provincial government on the number and rand value of invoices outstanding at the end June 2022.

Table 2: Total number and rand value of invoices older than 30 days and not paid by provincial departments at the end of June 2022

Provincial Departments Number and Rand Value of invoices older than 30 days and not paid per province
Province	Number of invoices	Rand Value of invoices
Mpumalanga	3	R 3 033 218
Western Cape	4	R31 293
Limpopo	26	R3 533 130
Kwazulu-Natal	669	R27 353 872
Free State	967	R281 492 366
Northern Cape	1 131	R233 665 843
Gauteng	3 530	R1 334 443 888
North West	3 769	R392 170 711
Eastern Cape	14 143	R2 541 533 317
Total	24 242	R4 817 257 638

(a)(iii)

The information below represents the first quarter reported to the local government data base by municipalities as per section 71 of the MFMA. It is aggregated per province for ease of reference. Unfortunately, the level of information that the question requires is not available from the reporting template and must be obtained from the municipality directly.

Information related to Municipalities may be obtained at those relevant Municipalities

(b)

The common reasons provided by national and provincial departments for late and/or non-payment of invoices during the first quarter of the 2022/2023 financial year are as follows –

• IT system issues (BAS, LOGiS, Safety web etc);
• Delay in submission of invoices for processing;
• Unresolved invoice discrepancies;
• Client departments not confirming Funds timeously;
• CSD information not updated timeously by suppliers;
• Inadequate budget; and
• Inadequate internal capacity

(b)

In addition to the response under a(iii) above, information on Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA) can be obtained from individual municipalities as currently there is no process instituted by the National Treasury to collate and report on such information.

Reply:

The Commission of Inquiry into State Capture Report revealed that boards and senior executives were installed to systematically to collapse governance in Eskom, SAA, Transnet, Denel and Alexkor.  According to the Report, Board members and senior executives worked tirelessly to benefit the architects of state capture “by providing long term contracts, increasing scope and budget while completely flouting public procurement prescripts”.  The report published by the Commission indicates that “The evidence heard by the Commission revealed quite clearly that part of the reason why some of the state-owned companies have performed as badly as they have and why some rely on Government bail outs year in year out is the calibre of some of the people who are appointed as members of the Boards of these companies or who are their Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officers”. The report unequivocally indicates that good governance was systematically and deliberately collapsed to enable the illegal diversion of resources from SOEs, which affected their financial and operational sustainability. The department and SOEs are working tirelessly to undo the impact of state capture by improving performance and the quality of service, some of which may take years to see the fruits thereof. 

It should therefore be noted that the factors that affect the ability of State-Owned Companies (SOC) with the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) to submit audited Annual Financial Statements (AFS) within the stipulated time are not as a result of decline in quality of service and their performance, but usually beyond the control of either the SOC or DPE. The main driver is going concern which requires funding. Therefore, SOC experiencing liquidity challenges have to develop mitigating factors and demonstrate sources of funding to ensure that they will be able to operate as a going concern over a period of twelve months.

The following have been the circumstances for specific SOCs with plans to remedy the situation:

1. SAA

The airline could not complete the AFS on a going concern basis for the 2017/18 financial year. This resulted in the airline being placed under business rescue from 6 December 2019 to 30 April 2021. The 2017/18 AFS were completed after the entity exited the business rescue. The Auditor-General is currently auditing the 2018/19 to 2021/22 AFS.

2. Denel

Denel continues to face liquidity challenges, which has resulted in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 AFS audits not being finalised. However, Denel has been allocated R3.4 billion to implement its turnaround plan. It has also commenced on disposing off non-core assets. This has enabled it to develop plans to conclude the outstanding audits over the 2022/23 and 2023/24 financial years.

3. Eskom

Eskom experienced delays in publishing the Group's 2022 Annual Financial Statements (AFS) due to the delay in the appointment of the new external auditor. The entity anticipates publishing the AFS not later than 31 December 2022 once the audit is completed.

4. Alexkor

The AGM relating to the 2020/21 financial year was only held in May 2022. As a result, there was a delay in appointing external auditors to audit Annual Financial Statement for the year ended 31 March 2022.

 

 

Remarks: Reply: Approved / Not Approved

Jacky Molisane PJ. Gordhan, MP

Acting Director-General Minister

Date: Date:

Reply:

According to the information received from Transnet

The salary increases will be funded through a combination of cost control measures, improvement of operational performance and the rebasing of tariffs in line with tariff methodology or customer contracts which allow for salary increases as pass-through costs.

Cost control measures have been implemented across the business to preserve cash without limiting expenditure in critical areas of the business.

Improvement in operational performance will be supported by the initiatives that are strategically driven to unlock the current binding constraints i.e., locomotives availability, theft, and vandalism challenges as well as the focus on infrastructure maintenance backlog.

Remarks: Reply: Approved / Not Approved

Jacky Molisane P J Gordhan, MP

Acting Director-General Minister of Public Enterprises

Date: Date:

Reply:

The National Department of Health is still consulting with the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Health to gather all the information required to respond to this Question. The full response will be furnished to the Honourable Member and Parliament as soon as all details have been received from the Province.

 

END.

Reply:

a) What is the total number of staff employed and/or provided as departmental support in the office of the Minister?

The office of the Minister has 14 employees as of 1 November 2022. Of the 14 employed staff, 1 employee (Chief of Staff) is a secondment from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).

(ii) What is the total number of staff employed and/or provided as departmental support in the office of the Deputy Minister?

The office of the Deputy Minister has 10 employees as of 1 November 2022. Of the 10 employed staff, 1 employee (Director: Technical Specialist) is held additional to the departmental establishment.

(b) (i) job title and (ii) annual remuneration package of each specified person in the office of the Minister:

	Names and Surname	Job Title	Annual remuneration Package
1	Ms Mokgadi Tena	Chief of Staff (secondment)	R1 308 051.00
2	Ms Nomfundo Seoka	Administrative Secretary	R1 105 383.00
3	Ms Siphokazi Shoba	Parliamentary Liaison Officer	R1 190 826.00
4	Mr Ishmael Mnisi	Media Liaison Officer	R1 263 900.00
5	Ms Esther Rammutla	Private Secretary	R1 105 383.00
6	Mr Babulele Bingwa	Cabinet and Parliamentary Officer	R766 584.00
7	Ms Kalipa Dazela	Community Outreach, Media, and Digital Officer	R766 584.00
8	Ms Silindile Mncwabe	Assistant Private Secretary	R393 711.00
9	Ms Thembi Mdepa	Assistant Administrative Officer	R331 188.00
10	Ms Zanele Mavimbela	Receptionist	R269 214.00
11	Mr Mpho Masalesa	Registry Clerk	R181 599.00
12	Mr Karabo Lephothe	Messenger/Driver	R151 884.00
13	Ms Thandiwe Masondo	Household Aide	R128 166.00
14	Ms Eunice Ntombela	Household Aide	R128 166.00

b) (i) job title and (ii) annual remuneration package of each specified person in the office of the Deputy Minister:

	Names and Surname	Job Title	Annual remuneration Package
1	Mr Bayanda Mzoneli	Head of Office	R1 495 641,00
2	Ms Florence Masebe	Director: Technical Specialist	R1 105 383.00
3	Ms Motshedisi Letuka	Private Secretary to the DM	R908 502.00
4	Mr Steve Mamphekgo	Parliamentary Officer	R766 584.00
5	Mr Mandla Tshabalala	Community Outreach Officer	R766 584.00
6	Mr Thulani Mayisela	Senior Registry Clerk	R269 214.00
7	Ms Keabaitse Mashaba	Receptionist	R269 214.00
8	Mr Stephens Mahlangu	Messenger/Driver	R151 884.00
9	Ms Manqoba Dube	Household Aid	R128 166.00
10	Ms Phumza Dlangamandla	Household Aid	R128 166.00

Reply:

According to information received from Eskom:

See the table below for the requested information.

Period: 1 January 2021 to 20 November 2022
Station	a) Operating hours	(b) Electricity generated (GWh)
(a)(i) Gariep	24 724.7	2 230.0
(a)(ii) Vanderkloof	15 895.8	1 928.7

Remarks: Approved / Not Approved

Jacky Molisane Pravin Gordhan, MP

Acting Director-General Minister

Date: Date:

Reply:

In response to your question, I think it is important that I firstly indicate that the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) and the National Minimum Wage Act (NMWA) regulate basic conditions of employment and minimum wages for employees and workers respectively.

An employee is defined in the BCEA as any person, excluding an independent contractor, who works for another person or for the state and who receives or is entitled to receive, any remuneration and includes any other person who in any manner assists in carrying on or conducting the business of an employer. The NMWA on the other hand, defines a worker as any person who works for another person and who receives or is entitled to receive any payment for that work whether in money or in kind.

Both these Acts however do not apply to a volunteer, which is defined in the Act as a person who performs work for another person or for an organisation serving a charitable purpose, who does not receive any remuneration.

Be that as it may, I have received a request from Dr MJ Phaahla, MP and Minister of Health, for my department to conduct an investigation into the conditions of employment of Community Health Workers so as to explore a sectoral determination as a way to regulate the conditions of employment for these workers.

This request is necessitated by the fact that there is currently no coherent dispensation for the employment of Community Health Workers and most of these workers are employed on conditional grant funded programmes, the Expanded Public Works (EPWP) and donor funded programmes, all of which have limited time terms and no sustainable funding.

Upon receiving this request, I have as per section 52(4) of BCEA directed the National Minimum Wage Commission to conduct an investigation into the conditions of employment in the sector concerned in order to establish the feasibility of introducing a sectoral determination that will regulate the conditions of employment for these workers

On completion of the investigation and after considering representations made by members of the public, the NMW Commission will prepare a report containing its recommendations on the matters which should be included in the sectoral determination for my consideration as per section 54 of the BCEA.

Reply:

a) In terms of guidelines governing the import and export of crude oil, petroleum products and blending components every licensed manufacturer and wholesalers are allowed to import and export petroleum products.

South Africa is a net importer of petroleum product, meaning that even when these refineries were operating, they were expected to import certain portion of petroleum product.

b) There is nothing stopping state owned companies from importing petroleum products.

Reply:

According to Information Received from Eskom:

a) The Transmission Development Plan (TDP 2022) identified the new infrastructure required to implement the Integrated Resource Plan (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 government and private stakeholders.

In the interim, Transmission has taken the following steps to assist Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and expedite the TDP implementation programme:

1. The Grid Connection Capacity Assessment (GCAC 2024) document on Eskom’s website provides an indication of available network capacity elsewhere on the system that could be considered for integration of renewable energy (RE) projects.

While network capacity may be limited/restricted in the broader Cape areas, there is available capacity inland, for example, Free State, North-West, Mpumalanga, and Limpopo provinces, that can be considered for the integration of future RE IPPs.

2. Transmission is currently taking measures to “fast-track” projects across the network, especially in areas with interest and potential to integrate RE resources. These include the following:

2.1 A Programme Management Office (PMO) has been established that tracks, monitors, and reports on the deliverables from the various work streams.

a) There is positive movement in the engagements with DPE/DPWI to address servitude challenges by implementing expropriation with compensation at market value. Steps are in place to expedite the process going forward.

b)  Engagements with the dtic/NT to address opportunities for localisation and in cases of challenges with the local manufacturing and industry capacity, for example, for large transformers, exemptions are being considered to source from international suppliers.

c) Engagements with industry associations, for example, The Powerline Association of South Africa (POLASA) and the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), to increase preparation capacity to meet the TDP build requirements,

d) The majority of the capital expenditure for the first five years of the TDP was secured from Corporate Finance

e) Supplier engagement forums were held with industry participants to share the transmission build programme.

2.2 The TDP prioritised list of projects has been escalated to the PICC and SIP10 as critical infrastructure requirements for the country.

2.3 Ongoing and close working relationships with the DFFE to expedite the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) processes.

2.4 Ongoing discussions with DMRE/IPPO on the transmission network requirements to meet the RE procurement programmes.

2.5 Transmission is represented on the Electricity Crisis Committee (Natjoints Stream1) that was recently established to address Transmission grid strengthening challenges.

2.6 Finalising the Owner’s Engineer (OE) and EPC (turnkey) strategy to leverage our in-house capability to expedite the TDP roll-out programme.

(b) Eskom is placing a strong focus on the implementation of projects over the next five years. The analysis carried out reflects a requirement of approximately 2 890 km of extra high voltage lines and 60 transformers, requiring a capital investment of approximately R51 billion by FY2027. This requires that some challenges beyond Eskom’s full control, such as the lead time to obtain servitudes, among other relevant authorisations, and the country’s resource capacity be urgently addressed.

As at the end of October 2022, the total portfolio of Transmission’s expansion projects equated to 224 and is summarised as follows:

• There are 45 projects in the execution phase that are under construction.
• There are 56 projects in the definition phase that are finalising servitude acquisitions and detail engineering designs before achieving execution release approval.
• There are 123 projects in the pre- and concept phases, that are projects in the early stages of development requiring EIA and conceptual level designs.

 

 

Remarks: Approved / Not Approved

Jacky Molisane Pravin Gordhan, MP

Acting Director-General Minister

Date: Date:

Reply:

The Department has not received any communication regarding the matter under question, we therefore cannot comment on Sasol’s intention to sell its stake at Natref.

Reply:

There are decisive steps which I took in addressing the detected malfeasance at the NSF. It must however be stated that the R5 billion quantum is not an accurate figure, the correct figure is much lesser than that.

At the time of the Auditor General of South Africa (AGSA) indicating that the AGSA audit process could not conclusively report on the NSF funded projects amounting to about R2.5 billion, I immediately placed the then Director-General and the Chief Executive Officer on precautionary suspensions.

Further to that I commissioned a forensic investigation on the financial affairs of the NSF to which NEXUS FORENSIC SERVICES was tasked.

The forensic report has since been received studied and presented to SCOPA and the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee of Higher Education Science (PCHESI) and Innovation.

Critical consequence management action taken since the release of the report are:

1. DHET assisted by the State Attorney office has issued further precautionary suspension letters to internal official implicated by the forensic report with the intention of taking disciplinary actions.

2. A case of criminal investigation, as recommended in the forensic report has been opened with the South African Police Services.

3. Further to these interventions, and for the purpose of recouping the NSF funds from ill-gain, the Special Investigative Unit (SIU) has been brought on board. The results thereof will be civil action claims against all parties who corruptly benefitted from the NSF skills development funding system.

The forensic investigation, much as the AGSA also did point out, exposed the soft underbelly of the NSF business operating systems which may have contributed vastly to opportunistic malfeasance conducts.

I have since commissioned a Ministerial Task Team (MTT) to look at the reconfiguration of the NSF business operating model so that it becomes an effective, efficient, and economically efficient skills development entity.

The MTT has completed its task and has submitted a report to which the Director General of the DHET has been tasked to complete the processes of implementing the report by 31 July 2023. The report has been presented to PCHESI.

Reply:

(a) The Limpopo Provincial Department of Health has confirmed that there was no new ICU that was recently constructed for the Bela Bela hospital because the existing ICU is still in good condition.

(b) The existing intensive care unit is fully functional.

 

END.

Reply:

Yes. The Investment Services Agreement between the Fund and the PIC is being reviewed to incorporate Penalties for non-compliance to the Service Levels and reporting requirements.

Reply:

The National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) was established as an independent Regulator through the National Nuclear Regulator Act 47 of 1999 (the NNR Act). This had evolved from Council for Nuclear Safety (CNS) that was housed within the then Atomic Energy Corporation (AEC), currently the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Necsa). The NNR plays a central role in ensuring safety in the use and handling of most “radioactive materials”, as defined in the NNR Act. In terms of section 8(1) of the NNR Act, the NNR is “governed and controlled” by its Board. The powers of the Board are extensive and it is placed at the centre of the most important decision-making functions of the NNR; and must direct and control the functions and operations of the NNR.

a) Following the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Integrated Nuclear Infrastructure Review Mission in South Africa, the then Department of Energy undertook a process of reviewing its legislative framework to strengthen the effective independence of the Regulatory body. In October 2013, the Department commissioned a Feasibility Study at an estimated cost of about R500000 to be in a position to identify and establish where appropriate the following aspects:

1. Legislation to ensure the effective independence of the National Nuclear Regulator (“NNR”) by ascertaining the best practice (through benchmarking) in enhancing the effective independence.
2. The appropriate body in Government to which the NNR should be reporting; and
3. The impact of moving the NNR to such a body.

The Feasibility Study indicated that thirty-one (31) countries operating nuclear power stations and international trends reveal that these countries’ nuclear safety regulators can be an integral part of the State’s governmental bureaucracy or in contrast, can be totally independent. These countries address the “effective independence” of their nuclear safety regulators taking into account the nuclear safety regulator’s Administrative Reporting Mechanisms, Funding Model and Regulatory Enforcement Measure. Taking these factors into account, proposed amendments to the NNR Act were considered prudent, noting the uniqueness of the nuclear industry, and required capacity within the appropriate Department.

(b)

(i) There is no date for any movement. The issue of effective independence of the regulator is being addressed through the strengthening of the statutory framework to ensure that the decisions of the NNR remain independent, given the existing reporting lines of the regulator. The NNR thus remains effectively independent and the perception that is not is unfounded.

(ii) Further amendments to the NNR Act have been proposed, amongst others, to strengthen the independence of the NNR, in particular removing any internal appeal to the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy on decisions of the NNR. These amendments will be facilitated through the legislative process.

Reply:

The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy is investing in energy efficiency in public buildings and infrastructure, and this covers high-energy efficient lights, heating, ventilation and cooling systems, and alternative energy such as hydrogen fuel cells. The energy efficiency measures are being implemented in various buildings of the municipalities, provincial and State-Owned Buildings with projects underway at the Lahae La SARS 9n Brooklyn, Tshwane Market, and in 45 municipalities. These energy efficiency measures are meant to reduce energy demand, thus ensure more energy is available for the productive sectors of our economy. We do also encourage all consumers of electricity to reduce consumption where possible as the first fuel before embarking on other interventions.

 

Reply:

According to Information Received from Eskom:

a) Generation’s power plant units are required to undergo maintenance outages periodically to prevent future failures, address load losses, meet statutory requirements, and fix broken equipment.

The table below summarises the projected outages over the next five years in accordance with the capacity plan published in October 2022 and the plant maintenance philosophies of the stations.

FY of outage start and type of outage (count)
Type of outage	FY23	FY24	FY25	FY26	FY27
General Overhaul (GO)	15	12	12	6	13
Minor Overhaul (MO)	18	14	12	7	5
Interim Repairs (IR)	16	14	15	18	13
Inspections (IN)	16	11	20	9	12
TOTAL	65	51	59	40	43

 

b) The required outage budget for the next five years, FY2023 to FY2024, was R46 713 billion, compared to an affordability cap of R41, 800 billion (what Eskom could afford), resulting in an R4,913 billion financial constraint. Since then, the Chief Financial Officer has raised the affordability level to R44, 700 billion, reducing the gap to R2, 013 billion.

Eskom is working hard to stay within this restriction; but there are risks presented by this funding plan that may result in plant reliability challenges if all maintenance scopes are not completed. In addition, it does not allow for any scope variations in case of additional maintenance requirements discovered during outages.

 

Remarks: Approved / Not Approved

Jacky Molisane Pravin Gordhan, MP

Acting Director-General Minister

Date: Date:

Reply:

According to information received from Eskom:

a) Eskom is experiencing a very high number of incidents of illegal connections, meter bypassing and tampering, unauthorised operations on the network, infrastructure vandalism and theft, and the non-payment and non-purchasing of electricity tokens. This number is constantly on the rise. Over the years, Eskom repeatedly replaced and repaired failed equipment without holding customers accountable, even when the failure was because of illegal electricity activities. Eskom has since implemented stringent control measures, as it is financially unsustainable for Eskom to replace this equipment continuously, especially without any return on investment. The debt levels, however, continue to grow, and the operational costs, on the other hand, also keep accelerating exponentially, while the business takes further financial strain as Eskom has to keep repairing, refurbishing, or replacing infrastructure that breaks or is frequently vandalised. Eskom has also reinstated the Deferred Payment Arrangement (DPA) to accommodate customers who cannot immediately settle the R6 052,60 remedial fee for tampering with Eskom infrastructure, to allow those customers to pay the balance over a maximum period of six months.

Sixty per cent of customers who have been issued with remedial charge sheets must have made the upfront payment of R500 before supply can be restored. The 60% threshold is aimed at ensuring that most customers honour the payment to avoid repeated equipment failure.

It should also be noted that in Ivory Park there are a number of customers have illegally connected transformers to the Eskom network and are refusing Eskom entry into the area to remove these illegally connected transformers. Out of 158 failed transformers, Eskom has replaced 107 and is in the process of replacing the remaining 51. With that said, Eskom is not refusing to replace the failed transformers in Ivory Park, but merely following the equipment replacement process it has implemented for the reasons mentioned above.

(b)(i) The Eskom network is not configured according to wards. Therefore, Eskom is unable to provide the customer base according to wards. However, Eskom has a total of 24 446 customers in Ivory Park, of whom 12 001 are zero buyers (prepaid customers). This means that 49% of customers in Ivory Park are not buying electricity from registered electricity vendors.

(b)(ii)The frequent equipment failures unfortunately inconvenience law-abiding and paying customers of electricity in these areas, while costing Eskom billions of rands in damaged infrastructure and lost sales. Furthermore, to try and protect the customers who are paying for electricity, Eskom has tightened its existing measures, such as audits, maintenance, education and awareness campaigns, to avert failures that lead to unplanned and extended outages and also to influence and change the culture of non-payment and non-purchasing of electricity tokens.

Over and above trying to prevent inconveniencing paying customers, these control measures are also aimed at combating illegal connections, meter bypassing and tampering operations on the Eskom network, infrastructure theft and vandalism and other electricity-related crimes.

 

Remarks: Approved / Not Approved

Jacky Molisane P J Gordhan, MP

Acting Director-General Minister

Date: Date:

Reply:

The Department has thirty-eight (38) Technical and Vocational Education and Training Colleges that have their own student accommodation facilities. The colleges are as follows:

TVET COLLEGES WITH STUDENT ACCOMMODATION
PROVINCE	COLLEGE NAME
EASTERN CAPE	Buffalo City TVET College
	Ingwe TVET College
	King Hintsa TVET College
	KSD TVET College
	Lovedale TVET College
	Port Elizabeth TVET College
FREE STATE	Flavius Mareka TVET College
	Maluti TVET College
GAUTENG	Central Johannesburg College
	Ekurhuleni East TVET College
	Tshwane North TVET
	Tshwane South TVET College
	South West Gauteng TVET College
KWAZULU NATAL	Elangeni TVET College
	Mnambithi TVET College
	Esayidi TVET College
	Mthashana TVET College
	Thekwini TVET College
	Umfolozi TVET
	Coastal KZN TVET College
LIMPOPO	Vhembe TVET College
	Sekhukhune TVET College
	Capricorn TVET College
	Waterberg TVET College
MPUMALANGA	Ehlanzeni TVET College
	Gert Sibande TVET College
	Nkangala TVET College
NORTH WEST	Orbit TVET College
	Taletso TVET College
	Vuselela TVET College
NORTHERN CAPE	Northern Cape Urban TVET College
	Northern Cape Rural TVET College
WESTERN CAPE	Boland College
	College of Cape Town
	False Bay TVET College
	West Coast College
	South Cape TVET College
	Northlink College

Reply:

a) The extent of land owned by the Department of agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) is 17 293 976 hectares.

b) The entity reporting to the Department of agriculture Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) in terms of the PFMA listing is the KwaZulu-Natal Ingonyama Trust Board, which owns no land, since the land vests in the Ingonyama as Trustee of Ingonyama Trust however, the Agricultural Research Council (ARC) owns 14 739.65064 hectares, while Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) has approximately 43 hectares.

(i), (ii)(aa)(bb) Falls Away.

Reply:

(a), (b) The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) in line with the Beneficiary Selection and Land Allocation Policy, allocated farms to 80 women amounting to 76 536 hectares in each province for the past three financial years. 10 052 female headed households benefited through the Restitution programme. Details for allocation per province are outlined in the tables below:

Redistribution:

Province	Hectares allocated to Females	Number of Females Allocated the Land
Eastern Cape	81	2
Free State	5,273	7
Gauteng	1,416	5
Kwazulu-Natal	5,921	14
Limpopo	5,043	5
Mpumalanga	2,227	9
North West	8,145	11
Northern Cape	40,913	13
Western Cape	7,517	14
Grand Total	76,536	80

Restitution:

Province	Female Headed Households
Eastern Cape	2 520
Free State	137
Gauteng	1 574
Kwazulu-Natal	2 245
Limpopo	2 194
Mpumalanga	1 014
Northern Cape	108
North West	74
Western Cape	186
TOTAL	10 052

Reply:

The yacht referred to has not docked at any of South Africa’s harbours. No pre-clearance application was received for such a yacht to dock at Cape Town harbour.

END

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

a) I have been informed that from the records and to the best of our knowledge, in the last five years, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure is aware of one case of alleged sexual harassment against some of its participants.

The case was reported in August 2018 and involved female participants who were part of the Thaba Tshwane project that was implemented by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.

It was alleged that the participants were being harassed by employees of the contractor on site.

No other cases of have been reported to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure from programme implementers.

It is expected that any cases of sexual harassment should be dealt with in terms of existing laws by the project implementers.

b) In the instance of the reported case, a letter was written to the contractor on the project informing them about the allegations in order to ensure that this was dealt with on site in terms of taking action against the perpetrators.

In terms of the existing institutional arrangements for the EPWP, any transgression happening at an implementation level should be dealt with at an operational levels by public bodies implementing EPWP Projects.

It should be noted that the rights against sexual harassment in the workplace are set out in the Labour Relations Act and Employment Equity Act. A Code of Good Practice on the Handling of Sexual Harassment Cases has been issued by the Department of Employment and Labour. In this Code, employers are encouraged to develop and implement policies on sexual harassment.

Reply:

The Department of Small Business Development (DSBD) has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU’s) and/or transversal agreements with several departments and various agencies. The following table provides the details of the agreements signed with departments:

MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
No.	Institutions	Detail of the agreement
1.	DSBD and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs (KZN EDTEA)	The Parties undertake to collaborate in the area of Red Tape Reduction with the general understanding that red tape is defined as rules and regulations, administrative and management procedures and systems, which are not, or are no longer effective in achieving their intended objectives, and which therefore produce sub-optimal and undesired social outcomes. 1. DSBD work in a clear and disciplined relationship on Red Tape Reduction/Ease of doing Business between the DSBD and the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Departments. 2. DSBD has developed a province specific Programmes of Action, addressing Capacity Building and other mechanisms, over a three-year cycle to provide this disciplined relations and collaborative action to reduce Red Tape and unleash the potential small businesses in this province. 3. The Programme of Action developed for the province is aligned with government’s “One Plan” district and metro model and finds expression in both the DSBD’s as well as the provincial partners’ Annual Performance Plans (APPs). This integrated planning, standardisation and alignment of indicators involves all relevant provincial and local government officials, including Provincial COGTA, in its execution. 4. This is a journey that provinces cannot take alone, EDTEA, COGTA, SALGA, OTP are integral partners to the process. 5. A separate TOR for the relationship governing the collaboration between Provincial EDTEA, COGTA, SALGA, OTP and in some instances also Provincial Treasuries are also required internally. Geographical reach: Kwa-Zulu Natal province.
2.	Limpopo Department of Economic Development, Environment and Tourism (LEDET)	The Parties undertake to collaborate in the area of Red Tape Reduction with the general understanding that red tape is defined as rules and regulations, administrative and management procedures and systems, which are not, or are no longer, effective in achieving their intended objectives, and which therefore produce sub-optimal and undesired social outcomes. 1. DSBD work in a clear and disciplined relationship on Red Tape Reduction/Ease of doing Business between the DSBD and the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Departments. 2. DSBD has developed a province specific Programmes of Action, addressing Capacity Building and other mechanisms, over a three-year cycle to provide this disciplined relations and collaborative action to reduce Red Tape and unleash the potential small businesses in this province. 3. The Programme of Action developed for the province is aligned with government’s “One Plan” district and metro model and finds expression in both the DSBD’s as well as the provincial partners’ Annual Performance Plans (APPs). This integrated planning, standardisation and alignment of indicators involves all relevant provincial and local government officials, including Provincial COGTA, in its execution. 4. This is a journey that provinces cannot take alone, EDTEA, COGTA, SALGA, OTP are integral partners to the process. 5. A separate TOR for the relationship governing the collaboration between Provincial EDTEA, COGTA, SALGA, OTP and in some instances also Provincial Treasuries are also required internally. Geographical reach: Limpopo Province.
3.	Northern Cape Department of Economic Development and Tourism (NCDEDT)	The Parties undertake to collaborate in the area of Red Tape Reduction with the general understanding that Red Tape is defined as rules and regulations, administrative and management procedures and systems, which are not, or are no longer, effective in achieving their intended objectives, and which therefore produce sub-optimal and undesired socio-economic outcomes hampering investment and transformation of local economies. 1. DSBD work in a clear and disciplined relationship on Red Tape Reduction/Ease of doing Business between the DSBD and the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Departments. 2. DSBD has developed a province specific Programmes of Action, addressing Capacity Building and other mechanisms, over a three-year cycle to provide this disciplined relations and collaborative action to reduce Red Tape and unleash the potential small businesses in this province. 3. The Programme of Action developed for the province is aligned with government’s “One Plan” district and metro model and finds expression in both the DSBD’s as well as the provincial partners’ Annual Performance Plans (APPs). This integrated planning, standardisation and alignment of indicators involves all relevant provincial and local government officials, including Provincial COGTA, in its execution. 4. This is a journey that provinces cannot take alone, EDTEA, COGTA, SALGA, OTP are integral partners to the process. 5. A separate TOR for the relationship governing the collaboration between Provincial EDTEA, COGTA, SALGA, OTP and in some instances also Provincial Treasuries are also required internally. Geographical reach: Northern Cape
4.	Eastern Cape Rural Development Agency (ECRDA)	Areas of collaboration Assistance with market access, especially the integration of SMMEs and co-operatives to private sector value chains Access with bulk buying in order to build the capacity of informal businesses to become competitive Provision of Business Development Services to SMMEs and co-operatives Cannabis development: the idea is to kickstart a Rapid Industrialisation of Cannabis, set up a Cannabis Incubator as well as stakeholder engagements operating in this industry. Magwa-Majola Development Corridor: a need to develop SMMEs and co-operatives to participate in the Magwa Majola Agricultural Corridor. Wild Coast Coastal Belt offers immense opportunities for the coastal communities. Renewable Energy: there is a role for SMMEs and co-operatives to venture into this area: Forestry development, livestock development, agro-processing and provision of financial support in line with guidelines Geographic reach: Eastern Cape province.
5.	Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment	Areas of collaboration: Facilitate participation of SMMEs and Co-operatives within business value chains, especially those owned by women, youth and persons with disabilities within the following areas: • Biodiversity Economy - wildlife, bioprospecting / biotrade, and ecotourism sectors, • Chemicals and Waste Economy — Recycling Enterprise Support Programme (RESP); Refrigeration and air-conditioners (RAC) Programme; • Green Economy (Climate Change & Air Quality); • Forestry Masterplan; • Fisheries Management (small scale fisheries and aquaculture as a sub sector of the Oceans Economy); • Invasive Alien Plant and bush encroachment Biomass Economy (Environmental Programmes); and • Environmental Protection and Infrastructure sector (Environmental Programmes). • In line with the joint work plan, the two parties agreed to provide capacity building, skills development, production support, incubation, enterprise development, mentorship and training of SMMEs and Co-operatives sharing and securing resources (financial and non-financial resources), both parties further agreed to implement programmes nationally. Geographical reach: National level.
6.	Department of Cooperative Governance (DCoG)	This MOU formalises the intentions of both parties to work together in strengthening democratic and developmental local government, as well as promoting more effective, efficient and responsive local governance in South Africa and within Southern Africa, as determined by the Parties. The Parties undertake to cooperate with each other in the following broad areas: • Implementing the Cooperatives Support Development Programme through both DSBD and its agencies and further facilitate the establishment of sustainable cooperatives within viable economic conditions. • Position cooperatives for radical economic transformation to facilitate active participation of cooperatives in mainstream economy; and facilitate access to funding and markets to identified cooperatives. • Adequately invest on Local Economic Development at provincial and municipal levels to facilitate inclusion of Cooperatives Development Programmes in IDP’s, LED strategies and support at those levels; Central to this approach includes interventions like Assert Based Community Development, the NDP, Land reform policies, Integrated Develop Plans of municipalities; as well as the alignment of programmes and budgets of a number of various projects and spheres of government coordinated at Local Government level; Implement capacity enhancement and development programmes targeting LED Practitioners and Portfolio Committees in order to adequately support. Geographic reach: MoU is pitched at National level but will be implemented both provincial and local levels piloting the arrangement in KZN.
7.	Eastern Cape Province Department of Economic Development, Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEDEAT)	Areas of collaboration The two departments undertake to collaborate in the areas of Red Tape Reduction with regard to small business cooperative development with focus on providing support to implementation of remedial actions to reduce time and costs of existing procedures and processes making them less complex and more cost and time efficient. The agreement will also cover the following: • Informal Economy interventions • Cooperative development • Sector specific interventions • Innovation and digitization and • Co-funding of projects Geographic reach: The agreement will be implemented at a provincial level to support local initiatives within the jurisdiction of the Eastern Cape.
8.	Department of Economic Development – Western Cape	The MoU integrates the work of Seda that was part of the initial arrangement with the Western Cape
9.	Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development	Effective implementation of the Ecosystem Development for Small Enterprises (EDSE) Programme

STELLA NDABENI-ABRAHAMS

MINISTER: DEPARTMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Reply:

The Cele Community lodged a land claim with the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights during the first window period to lodge land claims and the said claim was settled by the Commission in 2013 through land restoration. The land that has been restored to the Cele Community is as follows:

NO.	Property Description	Extent	Date of Registration
1	Ptn 7 of the Farm Lucasdale No 15690	50,0000	06 Jan 2010
2	Ptn 8 of the Farm Lucasdale No 15690	32.5573	10 Jul 2008
3	Farm Glendale C No 16996	183.8379	O6 August 2010
4	Remainder of the Farm Langespruit No 1180	1445.9431	10 Jul 2008
5	Remainder of Ptn 1 of the Farm Waterbosch No 1276	162.0266	10 Jul 2008
6	Remainder of Ptn 7 of the Farm Waterbosch No 1276	11.1288	26 Jul 2008
7	Portion 29 of the Farm Waterbosch No 1276	12.1406	25 Jul 2008
8	Portion 28 of the Farm Waterbosch No 1276	8.0937	08 Jan 2010
9	Portion 51 of the Farm Waterbosch No 1276	2.7236	10 Jul 2008
10	Portion 62 of the Farm Waterbosch No 1276	11.1288	04 Nov 2010
11	Remainder of the Farm Mount Albert No 3175	45.5308	10 Jul 2010
12	Portion 2 of the Farm Mount Albert No 3175	55.9723	10 Jul 2008
13	Portion 1 of the Farm Lot H No 3637	5414SQM	22 Aug 2008
14	Portion 2 of the Farm Lot H No 3637	2.9289	22 Aug 2008
15	Remainder of the Farm Taurus No 3841	188.7225	10 Jul 2008
16	Portion 5 of the Farm Taurus No 3841	4.0469	10 Jul 2008
17	Portion 9 of the Farm Hlangwini No 3868	12.1167	26 Jul 2008
18	Portion 15 of the Farm Hlangwini No 3868	20.2088	25 Jul 2008
19	Portion 27 of the Farm Hlangwini No 3868	8.0937	26 Jul 2008
20	Portion 29 of the Farm Hlangwini No 3868	4.0469	26 Jul 2008
21	Remainder of the Farm Rankin No 6543	37.4473	26 Jul 2008
22	Portion 9 of the Farm Hlangwini No 3868	10.1172	26 Jul 2008
23	Portion 10 of the Farm Hlangwini 3868	10.1172	26 Jul 2008
24	Remainder of Ptn 1 of the Farm Badulsdale No 13004	65.1878
25	Portion 26 of the Farm Badulsdale No 13004	20.2621	25 Jul 2008
26	Portion 17 of the Farm Hlangwini No 3868	6.0708	26 Jul 2008
27	Portion 12 of the Farm Hlangwini No 3868	117,3589	10 Jul 2008
28	Portion 16 of the Farm Hlangwini No 3868	20.2343	26 Jul 2008
29	Portion 27 of the Farm Hlangwini No 3868	4.0469	26 Jul 2008
30	Portion 28 of the Farm Badulsdale No 13004	16.1874	25 Jul 2008
31	Portion 17 of the Farm Badulsdale No 14004	10.1172	10 Sep 2008
32	Portion 6 of the Farm Badulsdale No 13004	81.0368
33	Portion 9 of the Farm Hlangwini No 3868	10.1172	26 Jul 2008
34	Portion 4 of the Farm Hlangwini No 3868	4.0469	29 Jul 2009
35	Portion 5 of the Farm ramsdale No 14536	20.2343	24 Jun 2011
36	Portion 11 of the Farm Langesboskop 15375	212.8510	04 Nov 2010
37	Portion 12 of the Farm Hlangwini No 3868	212.8214	04 Nov 2010
38	Portion 26 of the Farm Langesboskop No 15375	209.2871	04 Nov 2011
39	Portion 32 of the Farm Langesboskop No 15375	65.5670	04 Nov 2011
40	Portion 26 of the Farm Badulsdale No 13004	20.2621	25 Jul 2008
41	Portion 16 of the Farm Hlangwini No 3868	20.2103
42	Portion 1 of the Farm Badulsdale No 13004	65.1878
43	The Farm Glendale E No 17136	1019.1906	06 Aug 2010
44	The Farm Glendale F No 17137	456.8980	06 Aug 2010
45	Portion 12 of the Farm Waterbosch No 1276	12.1406	25 Nov 2011
46	Remainder of Portion 16 of the Farm Waterbosch No 1276	11.3312	25 Nov 2011
47	Portion 23 of the Farm Waterbosch No 1276	50.5868	14 Oct 2011
46	Portion 35 of the Farm Waterbosch No 1276	10.1172	04 Noember 2010
47	Portion 43 of the Farm Waterbosch No 1276	8094SQM	29 Jul 2009
48	Portion 4 of the Farm Waterbosch No 3772	7.6336	19 Aug 2013
49	Portion 5 of the Farm Linden No 3772	5.2676	10 Sep 2008
50	Remainder of Portion 2 of the Farm Hlangwini No 3868	5.0111	29 Jul 2009
51	Portion 5 of the Farm Hlangwini No 3868	9.1599	29 Jul 2009
52	Portion 6 of the Farm Hlangwini No 3868	35.2008	10 Sep 2008
53	Portion 10 of the Farm Hlangwini 3868	10.1172	26 Jul 2008
54	Portion 12 of the Farm Hlangwini No 3868	10.1174	10 Sep 2008
55	Portion 17 of the Farm Badulsdale No 14004	10.1172	20 Sep 2008
56	Portion 3 of the Farm Ramsdale No 14536	4.0469	29 Jul 2009
57	Portion 1 of the Farm Rankin No 6543	23.7396	22 Aug 2008
56	Portion 2 of the Farm Rankin No 6543	21.3522	22 Aug 2008
57	Rem of the Farm Badulsdale No 13004	107.0744	26 Jul 2008
58	Portion 4 of the Farm Badulsdale No 13004	56.4917	26 Jul 2008
59	Portion 7 of the Farm Badulsdale No 13004	6.0703	06 Dec 2010
60	Portion 8 of the Farm Badulsdale No 13004	6.0703	06 Dec 2010
61	Portion 9 of the farm Badulsdale No 13004	6.0702	06 Dec 2010
62	Portion 10 of the Farm Badulsdale No 13004	6.0704	06 Dec 2010
63	Rem of Portion 16 of the Farm Badulsdale No 13004	20.2343	26 Jul 2008
64	Portion 27 of the Farm Badulsdale No 13004	4.0469	26 Jul 2008
65	Portion 1 of the Farm Kundale No 14535	18.4981	26 Jul 2008
66	Portion 13 of the Farm Langesboskop No 15375	514..8282	06 Dec 2010
67	Portion 14 of the Farm Langesboskop No 15375	191.5772	29 Oct 2010
68	Portion 16 of the Farm Langesboskop No 15375	196.0397	29 Oct 2010
69	Portion 4 of the Farm Lucasdale No 15690	25.7175	10 Jul 2008

Similarly, the Qwabe Community lodged their land claim during the first window period of lodging land claims, but this claim has not yet been settled by the Commission. The properties that are the subject of the Qwabe land claim are as follows:

Number	Property	Number
1	Waterfall	1205
2	Glen Aryil	909
3	Lalucia	14634
4	Compensation	868
5	Lot	56931
6	La Mercy	15124
7	Doornkloof	1399
8	Hlangwini	3568
9	Badulsdale	13004
10	Hlanzane	3842
11	Licksdale	1180
12	Taurus	697
13	Grafton	2229
14	Hlanzane	3842

.

A comparative analysis of the properties that have been restored to Cele Community versus those that have been claimed by the Qwabe Community will reveal that there is no competition between the properties claimed by either of the two communities.

Finally, it is important to note that the restitution process deals with the restoration of land rights to individuals or communities who were dispossessed of their land rights after 19 June 1913, but does not extend to settling disputes regarding traditional boundaries of communities, which is what the dispute between the Qwabe Community and Cele Community may be about. The dispute about the jurisdictional boundaries must be referred to COGTA for resolution.

 

END

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. I have been informed that the shelters are in the following Municipalities: Western Cape: Albertinia Municipality Bergrivier Municipality Laingsburg Municipality Swartland Municipality Gauteng: City of Johannesburg City of Tshwane 2. The houses are currently safe as they are guarded by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. Once the houses/ shelters are handed over to the client, safeguarding of such assets becomes the responsibility of the User/ client department, Department of Social Development.

Reply:

The promotion of free trade amongst African countries does not require the abolishment of all borders but the continued implementation of regional and continental initiatives to manage the flow of goods.

The Department of Finance as the responsible Department can provide relevant information on the current initiatives to improve the facilitation of goods into and from South Africa to give effect to free trade amongst African countries.

The Border Management Agency is working closely with the South African Revenue Services to ensure the efficient facilitation of people and goods through our ports of entry.

END

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

(1) I have been informed that the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment did not enter a new Lease Agreement in respect of the property.

(2) A task team, consisting of National, Provincial and Local Government, established in August 2022, has had several meetings to discuss the future of the land.