Questions and Replies

Reply:

1. The total unconfirmed (maximum) amount of Community Works Programme (CWP) stipends paid to possible non-qualifying government employees for the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2020 was R6 300 997,00. This unconfirmed amount involves about 534 government employees in 62 national and provincial departments.

2. The  Director-General of the Department of Cooperative Governance (DCoG) in January 2022 wrote letters to the Directors-General and Heads of Department of all 62 departments to investigate the matter and to either confirm the allegations of double-dipping or to provide evidence to clear findings.  To date 25 departments responded to all findings and 37 departments have responded either partially or not at all.  Findings to the value of R369 640,50 have been cleared and findings to the value of R980 290,50 have been confirmed.  Of the confirmed findings, R769 226,00 is in the process of being recovered and R183 447,00 has been written off since the individuals have left government and are also no longer participating in the CWP. Litigation through the State Attorney is not economical as the individual amounts are small.

a) R12 090,00 has been recovered to date.

b) The Department cannot take disciplinary action directly against or recover funds from persons employed by other government departments.  It is the responsibility of the respective Accounting Officers to take disciplinary action and to recover funds.  The Auditor-General has been requested to also provide the details of findings to the audit managers of the 62 Departments to ensure that Accounting Officers take the necessary action.

Reply:

Yes, the Department keeps a record of the total number of indigent households and their cost to each municipality.

a) There is a total number of 3 580 006 indigent households for the 2019/20 financial year. There is no published data for the total number of indigent households for 2020/21 financial year, as the information is currently being consolidated. The breakdown per municipality is attached as Annexure A.

b) (i) (ii) The Department is currently monitoring the expenditure on free basic services through the Municipal Standard Chart of Accounts (mSCoA) initiative led by the National Treasury. The reported total amount spent on free basic services in 2019/20 was R5 240 830 709 and in 2020/21 was R5 985 622 950. The breakdown per municipality is attached as Annexure A.

Reply:

a) Yes, in terms of the Births and Death Act (Act 51 of 1992), all notices of birth of any South African that meets the requirements must be registered within thirty (30) days, and a computerised birth certificate is issued. South African citizens not possessing the documentation required to apply for identity documents follow the Late Registration of Birth(LRB) process. The LRB process is in place to accommodate South Africans who have not registered their children within the stipulated 30 days of birth and to ensure that qualifying applicant(s) are assisted with birth registration, where young persons are unable to obtain their identity documents (IDs) as a result of not having evidence of birth registration or proof of birth.

In respect of LRB applications for births above thirty-one (31) days to one (1) year the applicants are not subjected to interviews by the screening committee panelists, however a document verification process is done on the spot with the applicant, and the ID number will be generated by the office of application and as such the birth certificate is issued on the same day, if systems are operational.

However the LRB process for births of one (1) year up to fifteen (15) years and above has more stringent measures, as it is done only at designated local front offices in the province and is subjected to a screening committee which composes of a Chairperson at a District Manager: Operations(DMO) level, Office Manager, Immigration Officer and Secretariat and an additional member.

The steps in the application process and the requirements are as follows:

• Complete DHA 24 (LRB), DHA 288 (LRB affidavit), and all other relevant forms.
• Online verification of the informant’s fingerprints against HANIS (Home Affairs National Identification System); or a full set of manual fingerprints taken to be submitted for verification at Head Office, to be verified against HANIS.
• After verification of fingerprints, they are taken back to office of application to continue with process of application.
• Applicant(s) to provide Proof of Birth issued by Health Facility where child was born or school letter with copy of admission register from school or baptismal certificate (issued within 5 years of birth).
• DHA office to conduct further background checks to authenticate the veracity of the information furnished, including information relating to the health facility / school records / church records, etc.
• Separate interviews conducted for the applicant and informant(s) of the person whose birth is to be registered, through the LRB screening committee, as established by DHA.
• If above approved by the LRB screening committee the File with all relevant information and supporting documents is sent to DHA Head Office (Pretoria) where the ID number will be generated, provided it complies with all requirements. If approval is not granted the matter is referred to Immigration Services for further investigation with the reasons provided.
• Short message service (sms) is activated to inform the applicant of the successful application and to collect the birth certificate.
• Birth Certificate to be collected at the office of application.
• Applicant can apply for an ID as a result.

b) The turnaround time is one hundred and eighty (180) days, provided that the process above is followed and all requirements are met. However regular adjudication by the screening committee is often delayed by among others:

• Non-availability of clients for scheduling of interviews as clients change contact details;

• Insufficient supporting documents on the application and
• Delays with fingerprint verification due to poor quality of fingerprints taken.

END

Reply:

No, the Department of Cooperative Governance (DCoG) has not facilitated any social compacts under the Integrated Urban Development Framework (IUDF) for informal settlements.

Reply:

(a)(b)(i)(ii)

Table 1: Number of schools and learners uploaded on the Learner Unit Record Information and Tracking System (LURITS) by province, in 2022

Note: 

Due to the rigorous quality control measures embedded in the LURITS, the system can reject records e.g duplicated learners or learners without grade or subject allocations, to ensure better quality of learner data.

This however is mediated by a stringent process to identify, verify and quality assure the rejected learners and to ensure all learners are accurately accounted for in the Sector before finalising the annual statistics.

Reply:

a) National Public Works

Provincial Public Works

Schools

National Department of Rural Development and Land Reform

Free State Development Corporation

b)(i) The total amounts owed by each of the specified departments and organs of state is as follows:

b)(ii) The detailed balances and age analysis for debt owed by national and provincial departments are as follows:

c) National Public Works disputed an amount of approximately R 155 million.

d) Meetings have been conveed with debtors to facilitate payment of arrear debt to the Metro including the issuance of letters of demand reflecting amounts outstanding on their municipal accounts.

Reply:

a) Yes, the Department has a procedure for dealing with reported fraudulent marriages and identity theft. To elaborate further,it must be highlighted that identity documents theft and fraud, in most cases, does not necessarily involve only the Departmental officials but also the public at large, contractors or service providers, etc., that very well form part of the corrupt activities.

The Department however assists victims of identity theft if the case is reported by the aggrieved or affected persons. Victims should immediately report identity theft through the Law enforcement agencies, mainly the South African Police Services(SAPS) and also the Departments’ Immigration Services Branch to assume investigations and to provide feedback on findings in this regard. Victims can also call the National Anti-Corruption Hotline to report cases of fraud and corruption. Where there is sufficient evidence provided and it can be proven without doubt that the marriage is fraudulent, the Department expunges such a marriage and provides feedback to the victims.

The Department due to the number of fraudulent marriages reported every year has implemented some measures that have largely contributed in reducing the number of fraudulent marriages, as follows:

• Introduction of a new marriage register (DHA-30) which requires a photo and thumbprint of the couples for verification purposes.
• The Department requires prospective couples to make an appointment with the nearest front office to verify the marital status and to subject themselves to brief interviews prior to registration of the marriage.
• On the day of the marriage, a couple must present the following documents to the person officiating at the marriage ceremony:
• Identity documents (for each person getting married).
• If a foreign national is marrying a South African citizen, the non-citizen should present a valid passport as well as well as a completed BI-31 Form (Declaration for the Purpose of Marriage, Letter of no impediment to confirm that he/she is not married in country of origin).
• If the marriage is for a minor (a person under the age of 18 years), written consent is needed in the form of DHA32 by both parents/ legal guardian or form DHA34 from the Commissioner of Child Welfare or a judge. In the case where the marriage is between minors under the ages of 18 for boys or 15 for girls, written consent from the Minister of Home Affairs will also be required.
• If any of the persons who are getting married are divorced, the final decree of divorce should be furnished.
• If any of the persons who are getting married are widowed, the deceased spouse’s death certificate must be submitted.

b) No, as indicated above in (a), the Department does not have challenges in providing identity documents to any individuals who found themselves married without their consent or due to identity theft. In terms of the Identification Act. (No. 68 of 1997) the Department provides identity documents to all citizens of the country provided that, their particulars are included in the population register and provided that they apply in the prescribed manner for an identity document.

END

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a) The Department has built 11 971 units from July 2022 to November 2022

b) The houses have been built in the following areas:

c) The National Department does not award contracts to builders, Provinces award contracts to build houses. The service providers that were awarded contracts to build the houses are listed below:

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It is the responsibility of the MEC for Local Government to invoke section 106 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act, Act 32 of 2000. The Department has been informed by the province that there has not been any invocation of section 106 of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Act at Makana Local Municipality.

Reply:

In light of the fire that occurred on the 31st of October 2022, destroying 28 informal structures in Pantas Hill Informal Settlement, the eThekwini Municipality intervened urgently and supplied building materials for the households to rebuild their informal structures.

As a long-term solution for permanent housing for the residents of Pantas, the eThekwini Municipality appointed professionals to undertake relevant feasibility studies on the possible upgrade of the existing portion of land. However, the result of the feasibility study revealed that the existing portion was not feasible for development.

The Municipality is currently in the process of identifying alternative suitable land close to the existing informal settlement, for the construction of new houses. The number of houses will be determined upon completion of the planning and design processes.

Reply:

1. Traditional leaders who are remunerated are not permitted to simultaneously serve as remunerated public servants.

2. The Department of Traditional Affairs (DTA) does not have at its disposal, information on traditional leaders presently appointed in remunerated positions in the public service because such information is the competency of provincial departments of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs.

Reply:

The Department is studying the report of the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of Racism at Stellenbosch University (Khampepe Report) and its findings.   The report will have a significant impact on Stellenbosch University and may well offer significant lessons to other South African universities. However, the Department does not prescribe specific strategies to the universities. Universities in South Africa are autonomous but accountable to the Department of Higher Education and Training. In this regard, each university should study the Commission’s report, its findings and recommendations and consider lessons to learn for effective changes.

The circumstances and environments of our institutions of higher learning are unique to each individual institution. Their individual histories; cultures and circumstances are not the same. Therefore, there is no one solution to a problem that could be applied across the sector in this regard. Each university is encouraged to interpret the recommendations and make them relevant to its campuses where necessary. This also applies to ‘first-year welcoming programmes’ which are designed according to the various circumstances at each campus and, also, taking into consideration the specific needs of the university and its students. Therefore, there can be no single prescription made to all the universities.

The Department has its own programmes in place which seek to monitor the transformation of the system, working together with the Council on Higher Education. Reports from the monitoring unit provide an opportunity to reflect on transformation issues in the system and how transformation can better be monitored in the public university system.

Moreover, the Department is implementing the University Capacity Development Programme (UCDP), which is focused on advancing the transformation agenda in university education system in three critical areas: student development/success, staff development and programme/curriculum development. All universities are allocated an annual grant (the University Capacity Development Grant) and are required to use the grant to implement approved three-year project plans (2021–2023) which address the transformation imperatives of the UCDP in its three focus areas as identified above. Each university develops and implements projects and activities that are specific and unique to the University to address transformation needs. This is a resource that can be utilised by universities to support students holistically, through a range of student support initiatives that include academic support, psychosocial support and life skills. Universities will develop new UCDP plans to be implemented from 2024, the guidelines for the implementation of the UCDP (that come in the form of the Ministerial Statement on the Implementation of the University Capacity Development Programme) will endeavour to emphasise the guidelines.

Reply:

The Departments of Cooperative Governance (DCoG) and Traditional Affairs (DTA) alongside the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) have not budgeted for financial donations and/or sponsorships in the (i) 2018-19, (ii) 2019-20, (iii) 2020-21 and (iv) 2021-22 financial years.

Reply:

This information was obtained from the Ugu District Municipality (UDM). Accordingly, I have been advised as follows:

a) The Ugu District Municipality (UDM) does not supply electricity to residents and businesses. However, the UDM employs personnel skilled in electrical infrastructure maintenance for management of the electrical component of its water services infrastructure and general electrical maintenance within the municipality.

The qualifications, and years of experience of these employees are as follows:

b) Not applicable.

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a) National Public Works

Provincial Public Works

Schools

National Department of Rural Development and Land Reform

Free State Development Corporation

b)(i) The total amounts owed by each of the specified departments and organs of state is as follows:

b)(ii) The detailed balances and age analysis for debt owed by national and provincial departments are as follows:

c) National Public Works disputed an amount of approximately R 155 million.

d) Meetings have been conveed with debtors to facilitate payment of arrear debt to the Metro including the issuance of letters of demand reflecting amounts outstanding on their municipal accounts.

Reply:

Reply:

1. The balance of overpaid project management fees to two Non-Profit Oganisations (NPOs) was R1 820 519,18 as at 31 March 2022.

2. The amount has been offset against retained project management fees due to the NPOs, leaving a balance of R287 305,79 due by one (1) NPO to the Department. This NPO is no longer in business and the Department’s attorneys are currently tracing the former Directors of the NPO in order to commence litigation.

3. The Department has engaged the National Treasury through the Chief Procurement Officer on a number of Community Works Programme (CWP) related matters, including the possible blacklisting of NPOs found to be in breach of their Service Level Agreements (SLAs). The discussions with the National Treasury are ongoing.

Reply:

1. As at 31 March 2022 the balance of uncleared advances made to eight (8) Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs) was R26 252 990,01.

2. R20 822 071,84 of the total amount of R26 252 990,01 has been offset against retained project management fees due by the Department to NPOs, leaving a balance of R5 430 918,17 due by three NPOs to the Department. The Department is currently litigating against two NPOs to recover R4 498 778,40 and is still in discussions with one NPO to refund R932 139,76.  Disciplinary action was taken against three employees in the Department for making advance payments in breach of departmental policies.  One employee subsequently retired and the outcome of the disciplinary hearings for two employees have been completed and the Department is awaiting the outcomes of said hearings from the Independent Chairperson.

3. The Department has engaged the National Treasury through the Chief Procurement Officer on a number of Community Works Programme (CWP) related matters, including the possible blacklisting of NPOs found to be in breach of their Service Level Agreements (SLAs). The discussions with the National Treasury are ongoing.

Reply:

1. No.

2. The Department of Cooperative Governance (DCoG) has presented the reviewed State of Local Government Report and has facilitated the drafting of Municipal Support and Intervention Plans (MSIPs) in collaboration with key sector departments (Water and Sanitation, Human Settlements, Energy, Environment), the South African Local Government Association (SALGA), provincial COGTAs and municipalities. The DCoG through the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) continues to strengthen the capacity of municipalities by providing technical support on infrastructure development and service delivery through deploying 73 professionally registered built environment officials to municipalities across the country. Additional programmes implemented to support municipalities include Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) for artisans, water and wastewater process controllers and other technical training courses, partnerships with institutions of higher learning to provide much needed skills at local government.

3. The prerogative to institute consequence management vests in the Municipal Councils. The following legal instruments have been put in place to enable municipal councils to fulfil their constitutional obligations:

1) Disciplinary Regulations for Senior Managers, 2011,

2) Municipal Regulations on Financial Misconduct Procedures and Criminal Proceedings, 2014 and

3) The Disciplinary Procedure Collective Agreement for staff below management echelon, 2018.

Reply:

No, the Department has however issued a circular to all its local front offices directing them on the process and the email address to be used by offices to update or amend the marital status of individuals including the deceased on the National Population Register(NPR).

The relevant details should include the following:

1. Affidavit from a family member confirming that the deceased person was never married.
2. ID copy of the deceased person
3. ID copy of the informant
4. Copy of death certificate

The Department, if furnished with the details as alluded to above, will investigate and analyse the veracity of the information, and update the details on NPR accordingly.

END

Reply:

a) Approximately 6000 by September 2022. More applications are streaming in a daily basis.

(b) The breakdown of the total number of applications at the moment in terms of each visa category is as follows, and list not exhaustive.

• Critical skills – 1195
• Business - 19
• General work visas – 62
• Relative visa – 1006
• Study visa – 443
• Retired visa – 19

( c) The information regarding applications that are successful and/or rejected cannot be disclosed at this stage due to the ongoing litigation. One of the disputes before court is on the potential success or otherwise of the application lodged by the affected Zimbabwean nationals.

(d) The Department of Home Affairs has appointed a Departmental Advisory Committee to advice on the visa applications – furthermore, I have approved a significant number of waiver applications lodged by the affected Zimbabwean nationals.

END

Reply:

This information was obtained from the Rustenburg Local Municipality. Accordingly, I have been advised as follows:

All houses in formalised areas in Extension 2 Boitekong are electrified. The planned period for electricity provision to the new developments in Extension 2 Boitekong is during the 2024/25 financial year.

Reply:

1. Yes, as at 1 July 2022, all Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) receiving municipalities were allowed and encouraged to utilise up to 5 per cent of their respective MIG allocations to fund activities related to the development of an Infrastructure Asset Management Plan (IAMP). Furthermore, municipalities that have non-compliance pre-directives or directives with the Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) may spend up to 10 per cent of their allocations for the urgent repair and refurbishment of water and sanitation infrastructure to restore functionality. These MIG conditions were included in the Division of Revenue Bill (DORA) published in the Government Gazette No. 45903 of 11 February 2022. These reforms were implemented in an effort to ensure that municipalities do not only focus on capitalization, but also set aside funding and invest in maintenance (asset care) of infrastructure.

The Department of Corporate Governance (DCOG) through the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) continues to deploy professionally registered built environment practitioners (Civil and Electrical Engineers as well as Town and Regional Planners) to municipalities to provide technical support and advice on developing and implementing infrastructure maintenance plans. To date MISA, has deployed 73 professionally registered built environment practitioners to support municipalities in accordance with the District Development Model (DDM).

2. None of the 18 municipalities are reported to have fully implemented their infrastructure maintenance plans. The progress will be measured at the end of this financial year (2022/23) as the MIG reforms focusing on Asset Management, Repairs and Maintenance commenced on 1 July 2022. However, it is worth noting that there is paradigm shift towards prioritizing asset care and activities of repairs and maintenance of infrastructure by municipalities as assessed from the business plans being received for project prioritisation.

3. No.

Reply:

The Higher Education Act makes provision for the Minister to appoint a person as Administrator, if any of the following circumstances occur:

a) An audit of the financial records of a public higher education institution or the report by an independent assessor or any other report or information reveals financial or other maladministration of a serious nature or serious undermining of the effective functioning of the public higher education institution.

b) If the Minister has reasonable grounds to believe that the council of the public higher education institution concerned has failed to comply with the directive within the stated period, or the steps taken fail to remedy the deficiency within a reasonable period.

c) the council of the public higher education institution requests such appointment; or

d) if the council of the public higher education institution is deemed to have resigned (i.e., 75 per cent or more of the members of the council of a public higher education institution resign at a meeting of council.

Three institutions were placed under administration since 2019, namely UFH, VUT and MUT. This is out of 26 public higher education institutions. 

UFH:  Several governance challenges arose at UFH.  Additional details can be found in the report of the Independent Assessor (gazette 42902, dated 13 December 2019). The University Council also found itself in a dilemma as it was unable to reach the required quorum at most of its meetings, which rendered the Council unable to make critical decisions. As a result, the University management was hampered by the inability of Council to meet and discharge its responsibilities.

The problems in the university and within Council continued through until April 2019 when the Minister intervened by appointing an Administrator to take over the functions of the Council. The Administration period came to an end in November 2020, and stability is evident in the Council. 

VUT: Within a decade of VUT being placed under administration, from June 2018 the Minister received correspondence from stakeholders and people from within the University community making allegations and counter-allegations of maladministration, governance, and management challenges. The correspondences revealed challenges relating to governance, management, financial management, the conflicts exacerbated by the existence of factions within Council and management. The circumstances led to the resignation of several members of Council during April 2019, which rendered Council unable to reach the required quorum at most of its meetings and ultimately prevented it and management from discharging their responsibilities.

The subsequent resignation of Council in August 2019 necessitated an intervention at the level of an administrator.  Since the departure of the Administrator in August 2021, VUT has started addressing some historical governance problems. The Department continues to engage with the University about its governance and post-administration work. 

MUT: MUT has a long history of governance challenges. Recurring themes across the various assessors’ findings include governance and management problems characterized by conflict and role confusion; human resources capacity issues; a weak policy environment; a weakly formulated academic project; and an institutional identity and culture that is not consistent with the understanding of what a university should be.

The various independent assessor reports provided recommendations which should have been implemented to enable the University to recover from its problems. On one occasion, the University was placed under administration. Yet, despite this intervention, its problems persisted. The 2018 Report recommended an administration, however after careful consideration of various factors and engagement with the Council, the Minister decided not to appoint an Administrator but rather to issue a directive.

Following the suspension of the VC in April 2020 and the subsequent events, the appointment of yet another Independent Assessor became necessary. Although the Independent Assessor report did not recommend the dissolution of the Council; the Minister considered the Report of the Independent Assessor, the response of the Council, other developments, the advice of the Council on Higher Education; the history of the University; and other recent developments at the University. 

The Administrator's quarterly reports assist the Minister to obtain better insight into the problems which are identified, and how they can be resolved. The above examples show that the appointment of administrators follow serious considerations of what best serves the interest of the academic enterprise. The circumstances in the various institutions necessitated that the mandate of the administrator includes specific tasks to ensure that specific governance-related challenges are addressed.

Reply:

My Department in conjunction with the Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Human Settlements are not able to establish where the Mzamo informal settlement is hence I am not able to adequately respond to the Question. I therefore wish to request the Honourable Member to provide further details such as the municipal area or town where the Mzamo informal settlement is situated as this information will allow me to provide an adequate Reply to the Honourable Member’s Question.

Reply:

No, there are no recorded cases of sexual harassment against participants over the past five years in the Community Works Programme which have been brought to my attention.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

Reply:

The table below provides a breakdown of the number of municipalities that utilises either the Collective Executive System or the Mayoral Executive System, per province:          

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Reply to this parliamentary question has been logged with the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI) in Parliament.

Reply:

(a)&(b)(i) The Department has not yet decided on the total number and the names of countries that will qualify for eVisas in the next three months. The Department has rolled out the eVisa system to the following 14 countries: - China, India, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Uganda, Mexico, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Cameroon and Saudi Arabia.

(b)(ii) There are 135 country nationals that do not require a port of entry visa to South Africa. The names of the countries are listed on the attached annexure.

END

Reply:

A 1. What steps of intervention has he taken recently to curb the rising youth unemployment rate?

The Department provides employment services through its 126 labour centres and 475 visiting points that are spread across the country and are located in both urban, townships and rural areas. We also have projects that we fund through the Unemployment Insurance Fund Labour Activation Program and the Compensation Fund Rehabilitation Labour Activation Program. We are also involved in partnership interventions with the Presidency, under the Presidential Youth Employment Stimulus Initiative, where in we have been assigned to coordinate these initiatives through a National Pathway Management working closely with GTAC.

During the period April 2022- September 2022, the Department registered more than 570,000 new work seekers on its ESSA database of which 364,110 were youth, Female= 215 427 and male= 148 683

More than 92000 work opportunities were registered by employers with the Department. More than 44000 work seekers were placed into employment opportunities. 30,472 were youth and Female= 17,292 and male=13,180.

A further 174403 work seekers were provided with life skills interventions and employment counselling interventions to help them transition to the labour market. 131,568 were youth and Female= 83,105 and male= 48,463.

A 2. What strategy is in place in this regard?

The Department through its entities also provides assistance to support employment and also job preservation, these includes:

• (Transfer funding to Supported Employment Enterprises to provide special employment to People with Disabilities
• Transfer funding to Designated National Organizations and Workshops for People with Disabilities), a total 1041 workers are being subsidised of which, 489 are youth.
• Transfer funding to Productivity South Africa to promote Productivity and Competitiveness
• Transfer funding to Compensation Fund for Occupational Injuries and Diseases incurred by Public Servants
• Transfer funding to CCMA for job retention and job preservation activities.
• There is also the Labour Activation Programs that is provided by the UIF and the Compensation Fund.
• The Department is also developing a National Employment Policy that will be available soon for public comment that is anchored on 9 pillars.
• The Department is also making it easier for youth to gain access to entry level employment by preventing displacement, by foreign workers, through the finalisation of a Labour migration policy and related amendments to the Employment Services Act, 2014.

b. On what date is it envisaged that the numbers will begin to decrease?

It is difficult to predict exactly when the numbers of unemployment will begin to decrease as this is dependent on a number of factors, the most important of which, is economic growth. The latest quarterly labour force survey from Statistics South Africa indicates that there were about 269,000 less people unemployed in Q3:2022 than in Q2:2022. South Africa’s unemployment rate decreased by 1,0 percentage point to 32,9% in Q3:2022 compared to Q2:2022. Expanded unemployment rate decreased by 1,0 percentage point to 43,1% in Q3:2022 compared to Q2:2022.

Reply:

1. With regards to the entry of non-citizens into the Republic at ports of entry, both categories of travellers (visa exempt and visa required) are provided with a specified period of stay when they comply with admission requirements as stated in the Immigration Act.

The preventative measures include applying a risk based approach with visa adjudication if the person is from a visa required country. At the port of entry, the immigration officer will conduct an examination and if required, a secondary immigration inspection will be conducted before endorsing the passport and recording the movement on the system.

Additional measures to ensure non-citizens do not exceed the period of their visa entry includes compliance inspections and immigration stop and search operations that can detect such persons.

(2)(a) It would be difficult to track and/or monitor every person that enters the Republic. It is the responsibility of the traveller to respect and adhere to the laws of the country.

In terms of the Immigration Act, a person must comply with the permitted period of stay and depart on or before the expiry date of their visa, failing which he/she will be declared undesirable upon departure or become an illegal foreigner liable for deportation.

This is also tracked and monitored through immigration inspections and immigration led operations as well as by monitoring the departmental systems.

(2)(b) The total number of non-citizens that overstayed:

Year Visa Exempted Visa Required Grand Total

2022 19 589 1 085 20 674

END

Reply:

a) The current backlog across all visa categories is 56543.

b The average response time varies for different visa categories; there are different turnaround times for applications listed in the departments APP and those that are not listed in the APP.

• The turnaround time for applications for critical skills visas is 4 weeks, as indicated in the APP. Currently the average response time is 4 to 10 weeks.
• The turnaround time for business and general work visas is 8 weeks, as indicated in the APP. Currently the average response time is 8 to 14 weeks.

c) The department envisages to have cleared the current backlog by June 2024 for all categories of visas.

END

Reply:

The Departments of Home Affairs and Basic Education entered into a Memorandum of understanding in 2010 regarding the mutual cooperation, support and sharing of information. This agreement assisted in facilitating access and visits to schools. Each and every year, the Department of Basic education provides list of learners without Identity documents to Home Affairs and the list is shared with the provinces.

Upon the receipt of the above list, provinces prepare schedules to visit schools using Mobile units, where learners who are 16 years and above including matriculants are assisted in applying and in obtaining their Identity documents as a result.

END

Reply:

a) The Department of Correctional Services does not detain inmates in Solitary Confinement. Section 25 of the Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998, which related to solitary confinement is no longer applicable and was repealed in terms of section 19 of Correctional Services Amendment Act 25 of 2008.

b) Not Applicable

c) Not Applicable

END

Reply:

a) Honourable member, firstly I want to iterate that 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.

Secondly, the Department is not failing to implement its own immigration laws as indicated in its annual reports, through various programmes, including the law enforcement operations in the security cluster to detect unlawful immigrants, prosecute and deport them or issue orders to leave.

To prevent re-offending, their details are captured on the Visa Entry and Stop List and the entry as well as departure of all travellers are recorded on the Movement Control System. This is one of the tools that Port Control utilises to prevent undesirable or prohibited persons from entering into the country.

The review of the systems of managing the issuing and extension of temporary residence visas and conferring of permanent residence permits is underway to improve the effectiveness of the policy, infrastructure and implementation.

b) The porousness of the country’s borders is well-documented, hence the establishment of the Border Management Authority to respond and manage the borderline under one strategic and implementation structure. The performance in the target areas will be reviewable within the 2023/24 financial year, with effect from 1 April 2023.

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.

END

Reply:

(a)(i) For the year 2022 the Department received 1 application through the Desmond Tutu Refugee Reception Centre.

(a)(ii) Approved - 0

(a)(iii) Rejected - 0

(b) The 1 application is still in process as the applicant must attend a second interview with the Refugee Status Determination Officer(RSDO)

END

Reply:

a) The following are measures put in place to ensure safety of communities when offender is on parole:

• Monitoring and supervision of probationers, parolees and awaiting trial persons under the system of Community Corrections is a human capital-intensive activity.

• All offenders placed under the system of community corrections are subjected to the Admission Risk Reclassification tool to determine the level of supervision unless stated otherwise by Court/ Correctional Supervision and Parole Board (CSPB).

• Risk profile assessment conducted to determine the risks, assessed when the static and dynamic factors have changed that necessitate re-assessment. When the offender committed a serious offence, the tool identifies a whole range of static and dynamic factors for which a score is allocated individually and the score determine some factors that might requires intervention and referrals. Final score within a pre-determined range will then result in the probationer or parolee being classified as a high, medium or low risk.

• The day to day monitoring is enhanced through allocation of resources for physical monitoring, office consultation, telephone monitoring where applicable, community service and programme attendance, (2021/2022 sufficient vehicles 518) were allocated and distributed to all community corrections offices within the regions to ensure successful monitoring in all areas).

• The monitoring category for every offender under the system of Community Corrections is determined by the predicted risk of offenders from High (minimum 8 contacts), Medium (minimum 4 contacts) and Low Risk (minimum 2 contacts).

• Review by Supervision Committee: parolees attend sitting either every six months/ frequently depending on their length of their sentence to review their status, behaviour, reclassify or referred for intervention.

• When the offender violates any set condition, s/he is summoned to the office to provide reasons for non-compliance (the non-compliance is investigated).If reasons are of serious nature and not acceptable a verbal or written warning, referrals for Social work intervention /programmes are made.

• Partnership with relevant stakeholders and the establishment of 219 offices (rented and in state owned facilities, 57 satellite offices and Service Points for easy access of services contribute positively to the compliance with conditions, ensure visibility and strengthen the system of monitoring.

In ensuring successful reintegration and compliance to set conditions of parole and correctional supervision the following measures are emphasised:

• Integrated approach at District level and national department - Continuous consultations with traditional leaders, counsellors and relevant department to ensure that they assist the department during reintegration process to accelerate and augment monitoring through special monitoring were various stakeholders are invited during this exercise.
• Community engagement and awareness through Imbizo’s to orientate the community about the conditions of community corrections, encourage them to support the offenders during their releases, acceptance within their community.

It should be emphasised that irrespective of strict measures by the department to monitor the offenders and ensure compliance of conditions, some of the offender’s relapse into criminal behaviours due to change of circumstances after been released, rejection and stigma by their family and the community, lack of support system, unemployment and other social ills. Reintegration of offenders is a societal responsibility and the department cannot deal with the huge challenges without the involvement of other stake holders including other government department.

END.

Reply:

The National Treasury has not recovered any funds from any person accused of defrauding the State since the beginning of this financial year commencing 1 April 2022, nor the previous financial year.

In terms of the Government Employees Pension Law, 1996, Government is able to recover or deduct from the pension benefit of an employee any amount of loss which has been sustained by the employer through theft, fraud or any misconduct on the part of the member, pensioner or beneficiary and which has been admitted by such person in writing or has been proved in a court of law.

I have been informed by the Government Pension Administration Agency (GPAA) that neither they nor the GEPF have been furnished with any court order since the beginning of the current financial year commencing 1 April 2022 requiring them to recover or deduct funds from the pension benefit of any person accused of defrauding the State.

Reply:

(a) 22

(a)(i) 12

(a)(ii) 10

(b)(i) The information is as follows:

(b)(ii) The annual remuneration of all staff is tabulated hereunder: