Questions and Replies

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

1. Based on information captured by Public Bodies on the Expanded Public Works Programme Reporting System (EPWP-RS), the total amount spent on the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) in each of the past five financial years is reflected in the table below:

Table 1: Breakdown of amount spent on the EPWP in the past five financial years

Financial Year	Reported Project Expenditure	Total Wages Transferred to Participants
2019/20	R21 947 613 400	R12 243 313 965
2020/21	R18 646 876 666	R9 379 215 039
2021/22	R21 713 650 159	R12 186 622 905
2022/23	R25 263 740 859	R13 236 901 721
2023/24	R17 958 180 018	R8 589 297 424
Total	R105 530 061 102	R55 635 351 054

1. The number of people who have benefitted from the EPWP as reported in the EPWP-RS in the past five financial years are reflected in the table below:

Table 2: Number of people who have benefitted from the EPWP as reported in the EPWP-RS in the past five financial years

Financial Year	Number of Work Opportunities created	Unique Individual ID Numbers who have benefitted
2019/20	994 699	927 627
2020/21	938 688	865 022
2021/22	1 016 646	950 297
2022/23	990 686	916 244
2023/24	773 192	719 916
Total	4 713 911

1. From the budget allocated to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) for the EPWP, a total of R4, 650 billion has been paid to the Independent Development Trust (IDT) as an implementing partner for the implementation of the Non-State Sector Non-Profit Organisation (NSS: NPO) Programme in the past five financial years. These amount includes R4.370 billion for the programme's implementation and R280.135 million as a management fee. Below is a table with the budget breakdown.

Table 3: Amount paid to the IDT as an implementing partner for the implementation of the NSS NPO Programme

Financial Year	Wage Subsidy	Management Fee	Total (R,000)
	Amount (R'000)	Amount (R'000)
2019/20	750,424	44486	794,910
2020/21	578,484	31932	610,416
2021/22	956,134	44604	1,000,738
2022/23	1,032,693	87548	1,120,241
2023/24	1,052,431	71565	1,123,996
Total	4,370,166	280,135	4,650,301

Additionally, through the grants allocated to the DPWI for transferring to public bodies implementing the EPWP, a total of R7.724 billion conditional grant has been transferred to provinces and municipalities over the past five years. Below is a table with the budget breakdown.

Table 4: Amounts transferred to provinces and municipalities for the EPWP conditional grant over the past five years

Financial Year	Integrated Grant for municipalities	Integrated Grant for Provinces	Social Sector EPWP Incentive Grant	Total (R,000)
	Amount (R'000)	Amount (R'000)	Amount (R'000)
2019/20	730,046	437,388	430,793	1,598,227
2020/21	748,039	419,262	413,237	1,580,538
2021/22	758,693	421,016	414,444	1,594,153
2022/23	778,395	433,098	424,848	1,636,341
2023/24	522,319	396,171	395,913	1,314,403
Total	3,537,492	2,106,935	2,079,235	7,723,662

For Programme management support provided to the DPWI by the IDT on the EPWP, a total amount of R81, 700 million has been transferred to the IDT over the past 5 years.

Table 5: Amount paid to the IDT over the past five years for Programme Management Support

Financial Year	Amount (R'000)
2019/20	11,000
2020/21	16,443
2021/22	16,483
2022/23	19,174
2023/24	18,600
Total	81,700

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. The following vehicles that were procured for the Minister since 8 May 2019:

(a, b, c) Make, Model, Year Manufactured	(d)Purchase Date	(e)Purchase Price
Audi Q5 4.0 TDI Quattro S 2023 (Pretoria)	27/02/2023	R708 891.75
Audi Q5 4.0 TDI Quattro S 2023 (Cape Town)	31/07/2023	R790 000.00

1. The following vehicles that were procured for the Deputy Minister since 8 May 2019:

(a, b, c) Make, Model, Year Manufactured	(d)Purchase Date	(e)Purchase Price
Audi Q5 4.0 TDI Quattro S 2023 (Cape Town)	30/05/2023	R790 000.00
Audi Q5 4.0 TDI Quattro S 2023 (Pretoria)	31/07/2023	R790 000.00

 

Reply:

1. I am informed that an investigation into allegations of irregularities pertaining to 46 projects executed by Limpopo IDT Provincial Office has been instituted. Gobodo Forensic & Investigative Accounting ("GFIA") was appointed by Independent Development Trust ("IDT") in May 2023 to conduct an investigation into allegations of irregularities pertaining to the 46 projects that the IDT Limpopo regional office completed on behalf of the Limpopo Department of Education (“LDoE”).
2. These contracts are said to have been awarded between the years 2014 and 2017, the bulk which are currently on final account and have all reached practical completion with the last projects completed in 2022.
3. The investigation was initiated against R15.2 million in outstanding invoices owed to service providers for work performed on school programmes that IDT Limpopo was unable to honour due to overclaims/overspending, as alleged by the Limpopo Department of Education.
4. The service providers submitted most of the invoices to the IDT in 2022. In all cases, the department (LDoE) rejected the claims, citing that the IDT had already claimed or used up all of the project funds.
5. In response to a barrage of complaints and concerns from affected parties regarding the IDT’s failure to honour the invoices along with accusations of project fund mismanagement, the IDT appointed Gobodo Forensic & Investigative Accounting ("GFIA") in May 2023 to conduct an investigation into the claims of irregularities and the misappropriation of project funds on the 46 affected projects.
6. The investigations were concluded in August 2023 and the findings are summarized as follows:

• In contrast to the claim by the Limpopo Department of Education, it was discovered that funding and budgets were available for twenty-five (25) projects, which the IDT may still claim from the department in order to offset the outstanding debts.
• Twenty-one (21) of the forty-six (46) projects have exceeded their budgets and the IDT over-claimed from the department.

7. The IDT Limpopo regional office has conducted internal reconciliation process and had recovered some funds from the department.

8. Of the R15.2m of the outstanding invoices, thus far R6.7m has been recovered and already paid to service providers.

9. Additionally, R8.5m worth of invoices have been submitted to the department to recover the balance. These funds will then be directed towards the payment of the remainder of the outstanding invoices.

10. Financial reconciliation is said to be in the process of being finalized to assure full recovery of monies from the Limpopo Department of Education.

 

 

 

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

The response is only with respect to Police Stations, as DPWI is not responsible for Health Facilities.  It must be indicated in this reply that the question regarding Health Facilities, should be directed to the Infrastructure Dept. (DID).

(1) (a) Maintenance in DPWI are divided into two broad groups Preventative and Corrective:

• Preventative maintenance can be divided into two categories, interval based and condition based. Interval based maintenance is carried out in accordance with an established time schedule or an established number of units of use.The condition based preventative maintenance is initiated by monitoring the condition of the asset, this involves inspection of assets, testing and parameter monitoring to determine, if any maintenance is needed and then carrying out any requirements identified. The performance and parameter monitoring may be scheduled on request or continuously.
• Corrective maintenance is carried out after fault recognition and is intended to put an item back into a state, in which it can perform a required function. This type of maintenance can be an emergency repair, unscheduled or planned repair based on inspection or customer complaints.

(b) The maintenance approach for police station facilities is a blend of both Preventative and Corrective. The Preventative actions are schedule and/or condition based and are generally packaged in a form of a long-term contracts. There is part of the work that is done on a Corrective basis, on what DPWI refers to as Day-to-Day maintenance. The other Corrective maintenance is what the department term Planned Maintenance, which entails planned repair, refurbishment and renovation.

(c) The Department employ a 5-prong approach to Facilities Management, namely:

1. In-sourced Services / Workshops

The first line of maintenance dealing with facilities that do not have maintenance contract. Assist as a stop-gap measure during the transition between contracts. This covers some of the SAPS facilities where the workshop offering is available.

 2. Total Facilities Management (TFM)

This is a “premium offering” with sets of qualifying criteria, such as Significant Capital Investment, Facility complexity, Facility size or Facility importance (strategic or priority by User). This type of preventative maintenance approach in its nature has over 70% of the budget allocated for the scheduled base activities. With SAPS, only their Head Office has the TFM offering.

​3. Term Contract

The term contract offers both corrective and preventative maintenance. However, the most current offerings of term contracts are mostly corrective. Several of SAPS police stations are part of the term contract maintenance approach.

 ​4. Corrective/Day to Day maintenance/ Quotation Syste

All SAPS facilities that do not have any formal long-term service contracts are covered through the quotation system. This is carried out after fault recognition and is intended to put an item back into a state in which it can perform a required function.

 5. Facilities Condition Assessment

 The department carried out Facilities Condition Assessment (FCA) for various SAPS buildings as per the GIAMA, and also the maintenance plan of the department. The outcome of FCA reports informs projects within the SAPS portfolio, that are either executed as capital or refurbishment. The reasons that government buildings, in particular police stations are not maintained in a timeous manner to enhance service delivery, is because the maintenance approach is still mostly reactive as opposed to preventative/schedule based approach. The department is hard at work in reversing the current trend.

(2) The record or schedule of the maintenance of government buildings is available through the departmental Archibus system. The job card records of all logged calls closed are available.

In cases where there are preventative maintenance contracts in place, scheduling of periodic services is done either on a monthly or quarterly basis or simply based on the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) or Occupation Health Safety Act provisions. This encompasses the servicing of standby generators, Air-condition services, firefighting system, etc.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

(a) Through the Expanded Public Works Programme Reporting System (EPWP-RS), the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) based on the verifications done with the Department of Public Service and Administration PERSAL system has identified suspicious transactions on the EPWP allocated budgets that may have been lost to corruption, undeserving beneficiaries and theft. In this regard:

• An estimated amount of R13.8 million may have been lost to corruption across the EPWP Sectors and Public Bodies.
• The R13.8 million referenced above in (i) was lost through payments done to underserving beneficiaries/participants benefiting from budgets allocated to the EPWP. These participants are assumed to be underserving participants as they appear as permanent government officials on the PERSAL system.
• Therefore the amount referenced in (ii) can be regarded as money lost through theft.

(b) Although interventions have been made by the DPWI to address the findings related to corruption, payments to underserving beneficiaries and theft in the EPWP, the DPWI does not have records of monies recovered and paid back to the State. However, the DPWI will develop Standard Operating Procedures for outlining practical processes which will be followed to stop payments for cases detected and to recover monies paid to beneficiaries through corruption, payment to underserving beneficiaries and theft in the future.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

1. I am not aware of any case of sexual harassment and gender-based violence that have been reported in the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) projects in the past 10 years.
2. Given that there are no case of sexual harassment and gender-based violence reported in EPWP known to the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure, there has been no cases that were prosecuted to secure a conviction of offending parties in the past 10 years.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

(a) The grass was damaged and not suitable for re use, because the vehicles drove and parked all over the grass area. It is therefore planned to provide a parking area for vehicles adjacent to the security entrance.

(b) The service provider is compensated monthly to address the horticulture for the entire park. Based on expenditure per m2 for horticulture, an amount of R 3 384.16 was spent on the grass in question since the commencement of the project.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

(1)

(a) The work that was implemented was programmed as part of the work packages that was agreed prior to the holiday session, and suitable time to implement was during December 2023 when many people were on holiday. The horticulture services form part of the preventative maintenance scope. Key areas were identified that required attention. Therefore this was not a new project but the continuation of their current services.

(b) The work was undertaken by the contracted facilities management company and not an independent contractor.

(2)

(a) The preparation of the area and groundwork was paid from the scheduled items allowed for in the corrective maintenance bill of qualities. The cost for the preparation and groundwork amounts to R136 420.00. The new plants are part of the supplemental planting that falls under preventative maintenance scope of the works. No additional remuneration is required for this item.

(b) The total facilities management contract is provided for under programme 6 of PMTE.

(3) The facilities management contract is 5 year contract, so funds are used within that period, so this cannot be classified as fiscal dumping, because the 5 year period has not yet come to an end.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

The Ntuzuma Bridge in KwaZulu-Natal province does not fall under Department of Public works’ Welisizwe Bridges Programme.

It is therefore advised that the question be referred to the National department of Transport as well as the Provincial Department.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that:

(1)

(a) 342 state owned properties let out for residential purposes

(b) 226 are unoccupied with security attached to them.

(2) Total monthly expenditure on security is R13 420 210.19

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

(a) The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure did not attend the Rugby World Cup final in France.

(b) The Deputy Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure did not attend the Rugby World Cup final in France.

(c) No official in the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure attended the Rugby World Cup final in France on official duties.

The attendance of international sporting events is not within the mandate of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. Officials who would wish to attend such events would do so at their own cost.

(i) Not applicable

(ii) Not applicable

(iii) Not applicable

(aa) Not applicable

(bb) Not applicable

(cc) Not applicable

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that:

1. Telkom Towers was selected to be part of the pilot project to fast track the refurbishments of the towers so that SAPS can occupy the buildings. Using PPP’s allows the private sector to fund such refurbishments to ease the burden of Capex on the fiscus.
2. SAPS personnel will continue to stay in their current rental buildings until such a time that the Telkom towers are ready. The leases will be cancelled as and when the towers are ready and handed over for occupation.
3. The amounts are not determined yet as the project is still in its infancy. These will be known once all of the project costs have been determined at the conclusion of the bidding process.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

Kindly note that address provided on Parliamentary question number 1293 & 1564 which is 398 Malherbe Street Capital Park does not belong to state, it is privately owned. See attached Aktex.

Response provided on Parliamentary question number 1293 & 1564 provided relate to state owned property on address 227 Malherbe Street, Capital Park.

(a) Department of Public Works and Infrastructure is still waiting for response from the Department of Social Development. KAM sent email to DSD on the 01/06/2021 with three months to respond.

(b) The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure does not have a record of an application seeking a donation of property in question from Capital Park Residents and Ratepayers Association. The organization is welcome to make such application through the Regional office to Director, REMS: Mr. Ndivhoni Mathivha or Deputy Director, REMS: Mr. Sylvester Tshilwane.

(i) There is no house on the property, it’s a vacant land.

(ii) Not applicable.

(iii) Not applicable.

(iv) Not applicable

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that:

1. Remainder of Portion 7 of Farm Groenkloof 358-JR has been allocated to the Department of Defence (DOD) for Utilization. The property in question is subject to the Endowment Act No. 33 of 1922.

2. Remainder of Portion 7 of Farm Groenkloof 358-JR is subject to the Endowment Act No. 33 of 1922. The property can be used exclusively for the benefit of the Defence force organizations and establishments.

3. Remainder of Portion 7 of Farm Groenkloof 358-JR is subject to the Endowment Act No. 33 of 1922. The property can be used exclusively for the benefit of the Defence force organizations and establishments.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that in order to repurpose the buildings that have been brought back successfully into the hands of Government, the Department will employ two approaches which in the main are:

1. Government use;

Existing resources including DPWI and User departments’ CAPEX budget will be utilised. Where the scale and the financial extent of the repurposing projects exceed available resources, Public Private Partnership (PPP) approach will be considered

2. Revenue generation:

Based on highest and best use analysis of the properties, the Department will approach the market in refurbishing the buildings for short and long-term letting for income generation purposes.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that:

a) The contractor was terminated due to poor performance and the process to get a replacement contractor is underway. The tender is scheduled to go to the market on 26 October 2023.

b) The amount spent to date is R 51,676,923.29

c) The anticipated date of completion is 18 July 2025

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that:

a) The intended handover of phase 1 of the renovations is 03 May 2024

b) (i) The available budget for Phase 2 is R 51,828,205.97

(ii) The intended time frame for completion of Phase 2, is 14 months with the anticipated completion date for Phase 2 is planned for 30 March 2026

c) The total amount allocated for the entire project since inception is R 82,766,187.19

d) The Implementing Agent for the project is the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA)

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure does not own any towers within the City of Johannesburg.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

I have been informed by the Department that:

1. DPWI is identifying a further 25 buildings for the ROT programme. The pilot programme consists of 5 buildings, bringing the total to 30.
2. Government departments that are willing to move into the refurbished state owned building will stay in their current accommodation until such time that their identified and refurbished buildings are ready.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

Total number of the buildings that have been identified as shelters are user-friendly for persons living with disabilities.

The Department has handed a total of thirteen (13) properties to Department of Social Development (DSD) for use by victims of Gender Based Violence.

DPWI only renovated the properties to be fit for purpose and that scope did not necessarily include accessibility for people with disabilities as this is the responsibility of the user department.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

a) There has been a total of five projects public infrastructure projects that has been halted due to interference by the construction mafia since 2019, one (1) in Gauteng (Pretoria) and four (4) in KwaZulu Natal.

b) Name, location and total cumulative costs of disruptions to the economy:

Name of project	Location	Cost implications due to disruption
Repairs and Maintenance of Roof and Stabilizing of Foundation for Salvokop Radio Tech Unit Official Quarters	Salvokop, Pretoria	Business forum from the community of Salvokop disrupted the project and project experienced some delays, extension of time was granted to the contractor without additional cost
Durban High Court: Refurbishment and Renovations Including Upgrading Of Toilets and Additional Accommodation	Durban Central	Site was forcefully stopped by external forces at gun point and the contractor’s security and staff were removed from site and replaced by unknown security personnel. The stopped by on 1st February 2022 to 4th February 2022. The total standing time claim by the contractor was for the amount of R904 682 excl. vat for expense and loss for 4 days. The Dept. and ward councillor assisted in resolving all issues relating to the stoppage. The Contractor brought in additional armed security and there is no longer a threat from external elements and site work is proceeding well ahead.
Umlazi Complex Heritage: Repairs and Renovations to Office Building	Umlazi	Owner of the contractor managed to intervene. No cost implication.
Port Shepstone Magistrates Office: Construction of a New Building	Port Shepstone	Project was delayed for 3 days. No cost implications.
Durban Department of Labour: Durban Service Product: Repair and Renovations	Durban Central	4 months delay. Estimated R120,000

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

During the implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) Phase IV which covers the period from 01 April 2019 – 30 September 2023, the following persons have been employed on the EPWP per province in each financial year as per the records sourced from the EPWP Reporting System.

Table 1: Number of persons employed in EPWP in each province per sphere of government in 2019/2020	Table 2: Number of persons employed in EPWP in each province per sphere of government in 2020/2021
Province Municipal National Provincial Total EC 26 426 78 888 73 381 176 817 FS 7 092 38 220 18 373 63 108 GP 23 489 36 923 33 984 93 629 KZN 42 580 68 760 103 642 212 430 LP 19 258 50 174 32 396 101 151 MP 10 810 40 885 19 772 70 625 NC 5 032 30 564 11 442 45 731 NW 7 275 34 445 23 370 64 554 WC 42 450 39 616 24 355 102 555 Total 184 383 416 642 340 662 927 627	Province Municipal National Provincial Total EC 25 515 62 510 91 579 177 745 FS 7 884 33 000 17 398 57 815 GP 16 409 33 029 36 330 84 975 KN 41 841 58 796 103 665 202 154 LP 22 221 45 499 36 709 103 534 MP 10 834 34 830 19 688 64 900 NC 4 263 23 462 12 509 39 557 NW 6 505 26 124 29 466 61 749 WC 27 485 26 842 22 415 74 657 Total 162 924 343 223 369 706 865 022

Table 3: Number of persons employed in EPWP in each province per sphere of government in 2021/2022	Table 4: Number of persons employed in EPWP in each province per sphere of government in 2022/2023
Province Municipal National Provincial Total EC 27 697 66 570 106 900 198 756 FS 7 765 33 688 18 640 59 671 GP 31 492 34 464 38 006 102 727 KN 42 962 68 900 103 501 212 556 LP 22 456 48 896 34 830 105 397 MP 13 315 38 161 23 823 74 674 NC 3 891 26 069 13 727 42 759 NW 6 881 29 047 25 257 60 933 WC 49 027 29 169 20 565 96 079 Total 205 458 373 915 385 187 950 297	Province Municipal National Provincial Total EC 20 428 70 675 83 098 172 114 FS 7 469 34 023 12 283 53 469 GP 39 728 32 206 31 753 102 470 KN 42 684 70 592 96 372 207 096 LP 22 617 48 699 31 289 101 830 MP 13 020 38 795 19 785 70 735 NC 3 386 29 718 13 447 45 468 NW 6 520 31 032 25 533 62 786 WC 52 932 33 299 19 815 103 307 Total 208 746 389 447 333 337 916 244

Table 5: Number of persons employed in EPWP in each province per sphere of government in 2023/2024 (up to end of quarter 2)

Province	Municipal	National	Provincial	Total
EC	16 686	41 530	71 395	128 728
FS	4 043	18 873	8 825	31 665
GP	26 603	19 387	21 131	66 625
KN	33 474	45 187	77 758	155 493
LP	14 291	29 859	23 555	67 468
MP	8 479	24 220	13 839	46 282
NC	1 614	14 987	6 554	23 061
NW	3 863	19 210	22 471	45 402
WC	36 029	13 328	14 685	63 449
Total	145 068	229 247	260 200	630 619

Reply:

a) The projected and actual revenue from state-owned properties occupied by the user departments are indicated below;

State Owned Accommodation
Financial Year	(a) Invoiced/Projected	(b) Received
2020/2021	R 5 382 221 884,11	R 5 048 285 505,60
2021/2022	R 5 719 345 190,78	R 4 921 330 617,60
2022/2023	R 5 257 798 063,65	R 5 124 918 666,37

The projected and actual revenue from state-owned properties occupied by private individuals are indicated below;

Rental Debtors
Financial Year	Invoiced/Projected	Received
2020/2021	R 61 164 329,20	R 53 454 604,02
2021/2022	R 67 426 045,17	R 58 131 159,65
2022/2023	R 84 865 150,26	R 61 976 390,53

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. The programme's suspension, which impacted 3,541 participants, was brought about by a decrease in the Presidential Employment Stimulus (PES) grant budget to the City, which was projected to be R298 million in the 2023–2024 financial year, but only R141 million was allocated, as opposed to R387 million in the previous financial year. In terms of the PES grant conditions, salaries should account for 70% of the total amount, with the remaining 30% going towards any other project-related expenses. In 2022–2023 salaries accounted for R311 million of the R387 million allocated. However, in the 2023-24 financial year, a total budget of R141 million of the budget was received for all costs including salaries. Owing to this shortage, the Municipality was forced to choose between cutting programme participants significantly or to continue the programme for three months with 5,394 participants appointed. After careful consideration of all available choices, the city ultimately decided to suspend the current participation when the available funding allocation run out.

2. The EThekwini Municipality, the municipality is currently engaging National Treasury with an application for additional funding of R270 million submitted in September 2023, for consideration during the adjustment budget process. Furthermore, engagements are also being made within EThekwini Municipality to ascertain whether internal departments that include; Cleaning and Solid waste, Water and Sanitation, and Parks, Recreation and Culture can fund the stipends of the participants on projects being implemented from their own budgets.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

The matter regarding the revamping of the Kempton Park Hospital is not within the purview of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. All matters in relation to hospitals, as public structures, can be best dealt with by our sister Department of Infrastructure Development, which is responsible for providing public infrastructure delivery and property management solutions for the people of Gauteng. Therefore, the question should be referred to the relevant MEC, accordingly.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

The matter regarding the revamping of the Kempton Park Hospital is not within the purview of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. All matters in relation to hospitals, as public structures, can be best dealt with by our sister Department of Infrastructure Development, which is responsible for providing public infrastructure delivery and property management solutions for the people of Gauteng. Therefore, the question should be referred to the relevant MEC, accordingly.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

With regard to the revitalisation of the Kempton Park Hospital to ensure that it aligns with healthcare service requirements, the matter is not within the purview of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. Hospitals are public structures, therefore, the matter can be best dealt with by our sister Department of Infrastructure Development, which is responsible for providing public infrastructure delivery and property management solutions for the people of Gauteng. Therefore, the question should be referred to the relevant MEC, accordingly.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

With regard to the assessments and studies conducted to evaluate the current state of infrastructure at the Kempton Park Hospital, the matter is not within the purview of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure. It can be best dealt with by our sister Department of Infrastructure Development, which is responsible for providing public infrastructure delivery and property management solutions for the people of Gauteng. Therefore, the question should be referred to the relevant MEC, accordingly.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

a) There are a number of projects that are affected by the budget cuts, and these are submitted by various regions on an urgent need basis. See attached preliminary list from all our regions.

b) The locations of projects are across all 11 DPWI regions.

c) The total costs for each project are reflected in Annexure A.

d) Regions submit detail motivation for projects to be prioritised, and these are approved by the Accounting Officer.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

Based on verified Quarter 1 report the level of performance per key performance (KPI) is on track at an average of 95% performance. In terms of targets achieved in the quarter under review, a total of 29 targets were reported of which 12 were achieved above the 90% threshold as per the DPWI performance legend. This represents about 41% level of targets achieved. The Quarter 2 performance information is still being verified for accuracy.

The following programme experience challenges:

• Construction Project Management Programme

The level of KPI performance is at 65%. However, in terms of targets achieved, no targets were reached above the 90% threshold. The challenges experienced include change of project scope from Repair & Renovation to Capital Project due to status of facilities. Secondly, delays experienced in the appointment of the structural engineers. There were also delays in the confirmation of funds by the client Departments thus affecting the procurement process. Of significant impact has been the termination of contracts due to poor performance as well as extension of time being applied for by contractors. The Department has however put initiatives to mitigate these challenges to enhance performance.

• Real Estate Management Services Programme

The Department is on track on all seven indicators with few challenges where interventions were put in place to improve performance in the second quarter

• Facilities Management Programme

The Department is progressing well on the utilisation of preventative term contracts geared towards reducing reactive maintenance. However, challenges are still experienced on the area of critical components assessed to determine the conditions of components (lifts, boilers, HVAC and Gensets and Water systems).

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has conceptualised a programme called Refurbish, Operate and Transfer Programme (ROTP). In terms of the programme, the Department is planning to lease out state owned properties to the private sector through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) for the sector to refurbish, lease out and maintain such properties over a period of time and hand them back to the state in a functional state.

Five (5) properties, namely, (Telkom Towers, Cervitas Building, Public Works House, Police Barracks and Department of Defence Flats) have been identified in the City of Tshwane as pilot projects and the procurement process is expected to start at the end of the fourth quarter.

1. No property has been leased out as yet as the process is still in its conceptual stage.
2. No property has been released back either.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

There is a need for the Department to conduct forensic investigation in order to determine:

1. The total number of properties that are illegally occupied, hijacked/ or sold.
2. In addition to the above, the Department shall use the professional services (Structural engineers) to determine the condition and general state of the illegally occupied properties.

The terms of reference and procurement strategy are at “ready to go on the market” to source the assistance of competent service providers on the forensic audit of all hijacked and illegally occupied state owned properties.

The project would enable the Department to quantify with accuracy, the total number of state owned properties which are illegally occupied, hijacked and /or sold.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

The final results for Quarter 2 of the 2023/24 fiscal year will be officially released by the end of October 2023. As of October 13, 2023, the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) has showcased a commendable performance, with a total of 637 875 work opportunities reported for 2023/24 by 322 public entities. This achievement represents 61.4% of the annual target of 1 038 742 work opportunities, indicating a strong progression towards reaching the 2023/24 target. The performance is above the 50% benchmark expected at the end of the 2nd quarter of the 2023/24 financial year.

(a) These reported work opportunities had an average duration of 48 person-days, leading to the disbursement of a substantial sum, amounting to R4 814 010 947, which is paid in wages to the EPWP participants. The average wage for the work opportunities created was R156.66. 452 927 of the work opportunities created were filled by women, 238 796 by youth, and 4 624 by persons with disabilities.

(b) The different sectors, namely the Infrastructure, Social, Environment & Culture and Non-State within the EPWP, all contributed to the creation of work opportunities. The Social Sector led the way, having already achieved 80% of its annual work opportunity target. Following closely behind were the Environment and Culture Sector, which achieved 60.9% of its target, and the Non-State Sector, registering at 60.1% of the target. The Infrastructure Sector has also made an important contribution, reaching 53.2% of its annual work opportunity target. All sectors are above the 50% benchmark expected at the end of the 2nd quarter of the financial year.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. The tender with RFB number LDE/B02/02/2022/23 was not issued by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure.
2. N/A
3. N/A
4. N/A

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure does not provide accommodation to Provincial Departments. The Provincial Public Works is providing accommodation to Provincial Departments.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

Yes, the Office of the Minister receives monthly reports from the Cape Town Regional Office on all Prestige Debtors.

1. Two (2) Sessional Officials have been evicted in the past three months.
2. Fifteen (15) Sessional Officials will be evicted in the next three months.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

Considerable progress has been made to date, albeit the process was delayed by having to obtain a recent Valuation Report, as the last valuation was outdated. The IDT has received a Valuation Report with a validity of up to 31 December 2023. The next step would be to table the Head Office Building Submission to the Asset Disposal Committee; inform the National Treasury; and request approval of the sale of the Head Office Building from the Executive Authority. However, these processes have not been undertaken, as the Board did not approve the proposed Head Office Lease Agreement, as explained in the response to National Assembly Question number 918 of 2023.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

A(i) The Department of Public Works has identified 68 vandalised buildings within the 11 regions.

A(ii) The Department of Public Works has identified 27 hijacked buildings within the 11 regions.

B(i) The Department has put in place various measures to reclaim the buildings which include:

• Secure buildings which are not secured.
• Identify buildings which have been earmarked for use as offices by the clients and all of these buildings are in a process of being fenced and safeguarded
• Placing security on properties to be safeguarded
• legal eviction proceedings instituted
• Demolition application process initiated
• hijacked buildings were referred to operation bring back program
• Eviction orders sought through Court
• Planned maintenance for some of the vandalised properties
• Leasing voetstoots as the Department has received applications to lease the properties
• Renovate and allocate to Gender Based Violence project

B (ii) Reclaim dates are not yet know as they are dependent on the above processes.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

a) The table below shows the total amount collected as revenue from state-owned properties as at 31 March 2023 and 2022

Category	Revenue (2023)	Amount Collected ( 2023)	Amount Collected ( 2022)
Rental Debtors	84 865 150,26	59 806 906,54	56 524 041,59
Prestige Debtors	2 387 426,29	1 925 178,29	1 847 488,51
Accommodation charges from National Departments and Entities	5 405 759 788,00	5 089 855 877,49	4 861 427 494,06
Total	5 493 012 364,55	5 151 587 962,32	919 799 024,16

(b) 

• Revenue from National Departments and Entities is generated from the following categories of properties:-

1. Office Accommodation
2. Specialised properties such as police stations, prisons, courts and museums

• Revenue from houses or residential accommodation is generated from the following categories of properties:-

1. Prestige debtors that relates to the occupation of state houses by the Ministers and Deputy Ministers;
2. Rental debtors that relates to the rental of state houses to public officials, private individuals and institutions such MTN, Vodacom etc.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

a) The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) has been mandated by Cabinet to oversee the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP). Collaboration between the DPWI and other government departments are essential to achieving the creation of work opportunities across the different spheres of government, including targeting 55% participation of youth in the EPWP projects. In this context, a number of mechanisms and partnerships are in place to maintain continued cooperation and collaboration with different public bodies covering the short- to medium-term timeframes, including:

i. Cooperative coordinating mechanisms that enable dialogue on matters impacting the EPWP among all public entities. Amongst these coordination structures is the EPWP National Coordinating Committee (NCC) comprising the EPWP EXCO and Lead Sector Departments (i.e. Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Department of Social Development and Department of Public Works) and all Provincial Departments of Public Works. Furthermore, similar coordination structures exist at a provincial and municipal district level.

ii. Additionally, there are short-term partnerships in place which focus on training and enterprise development promoting youth unemployment. Amongst these partnership are the following; the National Skills Fund for funding of training initiatives in the programme, Agricultural Sector Education Training Authority (AgriSETA) for the training of participants in various trades towards certification as artisans as well as with the Financial Service Conduct Authority (FSCA) for training of participants on basic financial literacy.

iii. Through a partnership with the International Labour Organisation, a partnership for the provision of the Start and Improve Your Business Programme training for participants who want to venture into enterprises post their participation in the EPWP has been put in place.

iv. In addition, the DPWI is in partnership with other departments and the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) through the National Pathway Management Network coordinated by the Department of Employment and Labour to optimise the participation of youth in the different EPWP programmes.

b) In terms of long-term plans, the DPWI is currently engaging different stakeholders to finalise EPWP phase V proposals planned to be submitted to Cabinet for approval for implementation from 01 April 2024 to 31 March 2029. In addition, the DPWI is engaging the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services (MerSETA) and the AgriSETA to secure additional funding on training initiatives to ensure impactful outcomes. Likewise the DPWI is working with the Department of Defence (DoD) to identify other training areas that the DoD can support. It is anticipated that the present collaboration with the FSCA will continue in providing foundational financial literacy to new recruits in the EPWP. Engaging the private sector to help with finance and job placements for experiential learning for participants in the EPWP for different Learnership programmes is also another area being considered for the long term.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

a) The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) as the overall coordinator of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) has a reporting system which allows the capturing of EPWP work opportunities by implementers across all the spheres of government. The EPWP Reporting System (EPWP-RS) contains information captured during the implementation of the EPWP Phase IV which started in the 2019/20 financial year to date for short term and long term opportunities. The different programmes captured on the system vary in terms of duration with some implemented over a short term period while others are implemented over a long term duration. The duration of participation for the EPWP participants is linked to the duration of the different programmes implemented. Table 1 on the next page shows a summary of EPWP participants on short-term programmes in the different provinces

Table 1: Summary of number of participants reported for short-term duration per province

Province	2019_20	2020_21	2021_22	2022_23	2023_24 Q2 Prelim
	Sum of Work Opportunities (year)	Average WO Duration	Sum of Work Opportunities (year)	Average WO Duration	Sum of Work Opportunities (year)	Average WO Duration	Sum of Work Opportunities (year)	Average WO Duration	Sum of Work Opportunities (year)	Average WO Duration
Eastern Cape	2,098	103	26,243	72	44,439	60	30,695	97	22,892	65
Free State	2,059	159	1,733	198	1,728	184	1,248	138	747	101
Gauteng	5,641	158	4,612	176	10,776	113	5,751	179	4,749	75
KwaZulu-Natal	5,237	166	15,172	68	5,936	175	5,447	134	3,778	96
Limpopo	3,054	204	3,129	142	1,202	168	661	142	344	52
Mpumalanga	1,523	142	1,641	140	1,878	164	1,482	161	897	70
Northern Cape	938	159	1,266	104	1,452	185	982	200	106	67
North West	695	118	693	85	663	79	468	77	95	47
Western Cape	13,335	66	7,108	80	12,170	81	13,000	60	9,098	49

b) Within the information captured in the EPWP Reporting System (EPWP-RS) during the implementation of the EPWP Phase IV which started in 2019/20 - date, some programmes have had long term duration. Table 2 below shows a summary of EPWP participants in programmes with long-term duration:

Table 2: Summary of programmes with participants reported for long-term duration per province

Programme Name / Province	2019_20	2020_21	2021_22	2022_23	2023_24 Q2 Prelim
	Sum of Work Opportunities (year)	Average WO Duration	Sum of Work Opportunities (year)	Average WO Duration	Sum of Work Opportunities (year)	Average WO Duration	Sum of Work Opportunities (year)	Average WO Duration	Sum of Work Opportunities (year)	Average WO Duration
Eastern Cape	114,639	102	107,249	57	103,618	77	77,680	103	54,471	49
Free State	40,693	110	40,177	61	42,504	78	37,182	97	21,928	45
Gauteng	44,693	125	51,364	66	47,035	89	48,283	106	36,106	50
KwaZulu-Natal	134,120	107	126,456	75	138,063	87	130,156	97	99,902	48
Limpopo	59,522	116	62,279	70	65,077	88	61,412	111	39,446	54
Mpumalanga	49,388	113	44,989	53	51,592	76	48,582	89	30,618	39
Northern Cape	30,674	92	28,660	32	32,380	54	37,427	83	16,805	49
North West	47,195	104	46,026	63	48,331	82	48,145	99	34,464	49
Western Cape	42,767	104	36,173	74	40,178	83	41,437	87	16,285	44

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

Three priority areas have been identified for implementation starting from the 2023–24 fiscal year in order to introduce urgent actionable plans to give effect to the restructuring of the Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) for ensuring sustainable employment. Projects in these priority areas will be implemented with an emphasis on improving participant skills and entrepreneurial outcomes through training. Public bodies in the different spheres of government will implement projects in the identified priority areas as follows:

(i)  Road upgrading and maintenance interventions related to pothole patching and block paving;

(ii) Cleaning of public spaces and waste management including the cleaning of public buildings; and

(iii) Clean energy interventions related retrofitting of government buildings and solar installations.

To this end, in my capacity as the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure mandated to lead the EPWP, I have engaged with various EPWP stakeholders from all spheres of government to focus on the approach of implementing the above-mentioned priority areas.

a) The plans were not adopted on a particular date but have been communicated with different public bodies and are different stages of implementation depending on the plans of the different public bodies.

b) The projects that have been implemented so far in the different priority areas are as follows:

(i) Road upgrading and maintenance

A total of 144 block paving and Pothole patching projects with 14, 424 work opportunities have been implemented by provincial roads departments and municipalities so far in the 2023/24 financial year.

(ii) Cleaning of public spaces and waste management

A total of 912 cleaning and Waste Management projects with 74, 642 work opportunities reported have been implemented by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, Provincial Departments of the Environment, Municipalities and the Department of Public Works & Infrastructure so far in the 2023/ 24 financial year.

(iii) Clean Energy

There are no clean energy projects currently implemented, however, pre-project planning activities are being finalised to ensure implementation in the current financial year.

c) Leveraging from the existing budgets (i.e. Provincial Roads Management Grant, Municipal Infrastructure Grant, Department of Fisheries, Forestry and the Environment Budget Vote, Department of Public Works and Infrastructure Budget Vote, EPWP Integrated Grant to Municipalities and Integrated Grant to Provinces) a total budget of R4.074 Billion has been identified to implement 1,101 projects under these focus areas, with 101,894 work opportunities projected to be created by public bodies and reported within the 2023/24 financial year.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

a) The challenges were as a results of the absence of a governance document which outlines the responsibilities of the two user departments in shared accommodation. In a meeting that took place on the 8th of August 2023, the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) was tasked to develop the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) which will outline legal responsibilities of the two user departments. The MOA was finalised on the 17th of October 2023. A round robin approach has been proposed to get signatures of the 3 accounting officers.

b) The date on which the court rooms will be operational, will be informed by the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement by all parties.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1.

a) Number of Applications received	b) Progress of each application	C Full details in terms of
		(i) Applicant	(ii) timelines	(iii) Additional Information
3	This application has progressed through the Agrément South Africa evaluation process. Status: The application is at the final stages of evaluation, pending confirmation from the client for a site/factory visit in the USA.	Black Lion Capital	End of March 2024.	ASA will reach out to the client to finalise the anticipated site visit.
	Progress: The application is stalled at the application review phase. Reason: The client wants to further develop their system.	SMACT Building systems	The timeline is dependent on the client’s response.	After the peer review of the application by ASA assessment team, questions were sent SMACT, and we are still waiting for their response.
	Progress: The application is at the assessment work offer phase; the contract of assessment is currently with the client according to Agrément South Africa records. Status: The assessment work offer was sent to the client and has elapsed without the client’s approval; revision of the assessment work offer would be required to proceed with the project	RevCon Technologies	The timeline is dependent on the client’s response.	The initial offer was sent to RevCon on the 22/01/2020, which was not accepted by the client and it has lapsed.

2. Indicate if any ASA employee or board member is:

(a) An employee of the applicant/s	(b) members of the board of the applying organisation / company	(c) have any links with the companies that have applied
None	None	None

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

(1)

(a)

- MOU was prepared in 2020, GPG referred it back stating that clauses need to be changed;

- Secondly in 2021 the department prepared lease agreement and they stated that they have don’t budget;

- The department in 2022 prepared a user agreement where it was going back and forth, until the parties (GPG, DSD and DPW&I) decided to sit together and draft in order to suit everyone;

(b)

- November 2023,

- All 5 houses are not occupied presently and they are renovated but 1 is occupied and it is used as offices.

(c)

(i) For security, from January 2019 to 31 September 2023 the amount will be R11’694’ 9927.60:

- 421 Ulundi Street in Mountain View = R58 250.14 per month

- 54 Kordaat Avenue in Die Wilgers = R60 000.00 per month

- 05 Adina Street in Waterkloof = R60 750.00 per month

- Salvakop = Not safe guarded by the department

(ii) Renovations and/or refurbishments were done through workshops (in house)

(iii) Gardening was done through workshops (in house)

(d) The projected monthly cost to the DPWI, should the buildings remain closed, is approximately R 259 887.25 for 5 to secure the buildings

(2) No. There were no unforeseen costs incurred.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

(i) With respect to the Department:

a) In terms of the annual reports for (aa) 2020-21, (bb) 2021-22 and (cc) 2022-23 financial years, no service providers were used and no costs incurred in the printing of the Annual reports. The compilation of the Annual reports were done in-house (from collection, analysis and provisioning to stakeholders via emails as electronic documents as well as making it available on the Departmental website.

b) No suppliers were used as these document in the financial years in question, have been compiled in-house.

c) Over the 3 financial years in question, given that these were compiled in-house, electronic copies were provided via emails as electronic documents as well as making it available on the Departmental website.

(ii) With respect to Entities reporting to the Department:

Agrément South Africa (ASA)

In terms of the annual reports for ASA (aa) 2020-21: R13 864.91, (c) 100 copies were printed by the supplier: (b) (Lebone Litho Printers).

(bb) 2021-22: R 88 844,40, (c) 112 copies were printed by the supplier: (b) (Seriti Printing Digital).

(cc) 2022-23: R 64 585, (c) 30 copies printed by the supplier (b) (YesDirect Trading (Pty) Ltd).

Council for the Built Environment (CBE)

In terms of the annual reports for CBE (aa) 2020-21, (b) printed by supplier Lebone Litho, (c) Zero (0) distribution (lockdown, only electronic distributions, R 102 645.55).

(bb) 2021-22, (b) printed by supplier Lebone Litho, (c) 25 limited distribution, R 111 151. 26.

(cc) 2022-23, (b) printed by supplier Atlarela Consulting, (c) in progress, CBE will be limiting the distribution to 50 copies, Design/Layout: R 38 000 + Printing Cost estimated at R 35 000.

Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB)

a) In terms of the annual reports for (aa) 2020-21, (bb) 2021-22 and (cc) 2022-23 financial years, cidb appointed Meropa to assist with design and layout on the cidb’s annual reports. There is no cost for printing cidb's annual report. All annual reports were electronic. The compilation of annual reports were compiled internally (from collection, analysis and delivery to stakeholders via email in the form of electronic documents as well as posting on CIDB website).

b) No suppliers were used for printing as these documents were, in the relevant years, produced in-house by a contractually appointed service provider during the stated years.

c) During the 3 financial years, as these were developed in-house, electronic copies were made available via e-mail in electronic document form as well as on the CIDB website.

https://www.cidb.org.za/resource-centre/downloads-1/#45-49-wpfd-annual-reports

Independent Development Trust (IDT)

(aa) 2020-21; the supplier was (b) Letheric Solutions; (c) 250 Copies of the Annual Report were printed, and the total cost was R268 488.00.

(bb) 2021-22 financial year; the supplier was (b) Shinning Nova; (c) 300 copies of the Annual Report were printed, and the total cost was R367 780.00.

(cc) 2022-23 financial year; no service provider has been appointed.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

Legal opinion is attached as requested. Annexure A.

In terms of the legal opinion obtained from the State Attorney, the complainant should not be paid unless if there is a court order to that effect. The complainant, as per the legal opinion provided, is not being disadvantaged, but in the event they believe in their case, they may proceed and test their case before a competent court of law as they did by way of issuing a letter of demand, hence litigation starts by issuing a letter of demand and the subsequent process shall follow thereafter.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure:

1. The constitution or appointment of the Committee was made in accordance with Section 4 of the Land Titles Adjustment Act No. 68 of 1979.

Section 4(1) (a) of the Acts read thus: “A committee shall consist of three members appointed by the Minister, of whom one shall be a judge of the Supreme Court of South Africa or a magistrate with at least ten years’ experience as a magistrate or a person who has held office as such a judge or such a magistrate’’

(b) The Minister shall designate such judge, magistrate or a person as chairman of the committee and the chairman shall regulate the conduct of the business of the committee’’.

The Department consulted the office of the State Attorney Cape Town to enquire about the reasons why the transfer of other portions of Farm 1331 was not completed. Subsequent consultation with the office of the State Attorney, the Department was advised that two members (one being the Chairman) of the committee has since passed on and there is only one surviving member.

The office of the State Attorney assisted in identifying three candidates to act as members of the Johannesdal Land Division Committee (JLDC) one candidate is the surviving member of the previous committee and the second candidate is the retired conveyancer who worked on the transfer of other portions of Farm 1331 then.

Following the identification of the candidates, the Department prepared letters of appointment in respect of the two candidates for them to serve as members of the Johannesdal Land Division Committee (JLDC) and letters were signed in 2021 by the then Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Ms P de Lille, however the candidate to serve as chairman was not yet identified at the time of signing the appointment letters of the two members.

In order to complete the quorum, the Committee needs to have a judge or a magistrate as Chairman as indicated in subsection (b). A judge was suggested to the Department by Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.

2. The committee has since ceased to function, it is defunct. A new committee need to be appointed. The question is who has the authority to appoint a new committee.

3. The Department has sourced legal advice concerning the appointment of the committee owing to the issues raised by the identified judge (to serve as chairperson) pertaining to the relevant ministry to confirm appointment, this is because the appointment of the committee was in terms of Land Titles Adjustment Act 68 of 1979, which has been wholly repealed by the Land Titles Adjustment Act No. 111 of 1993.

It is advised that, the saving clause in the Section 15(2) of the Land Titles Adjustment Act No. 111 of 1993 (any proceedings commenced with prior to the commencement of this Act, in terms of any law amended or repealed by this Act shall be concluded as if this Act had not been passed) only talk to proceedings that had already commenced and in process.

It is further advised that the powers of the Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure to appoint a committee cannot be sourced from a wholly repealed Act. A wholly repealed Act is regarded as Act that does not exist. We cannot use a repealed Act to appoint a committee.

In that sense, the authority now vest with the Minister of Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural development and as such the matter must be transferred in accordance with the now operational Legislation Act 111 of 1993.

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

State Capacity

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure has a two-prong approach to executing the maintenance functions. It is a blend of Out-sourced and In-sourced Services. On the other hand, the In-sourced services, are executed internally through utilisation of the Workshops in our various Regional office, whilst on the other hand, the Department acquires the talent of young graduates and tradespeople and facilitates with the on-job training. Through this, the Department also assists in market absorption within the spheres of government with overflow branching-off to the private sector. The artisan trainees are paired with the appointed service providers to transfer the skills towards obtaining the trade certificates.

Furthermore, the continuous improvement strategy in Facilities Maintenance is inter alia to improve the up-keeping of assets throughout their life cycle through the increased use of the In-Sourced Workshops. The aim of the initiative is to expand on the Workshops to deliver in-sourced facilities management services, efficiently and cost-effectively in line with the FM Strategy. This will in turn build the maintenance capacity within the department.

Credible Suppliers

The Department of Public Works and Infrastructure sources the suppliers for its various undertakings within the confines of current prescripts such as the National Treasury Central Supplier Database (CSD) and including the provisions of the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) where applicable.

CSD is a repository of service providers that wish to participate in the goods and services rendered in government. The department has committed to enhancing the levels of screening of the service providers obtained from the CSD to ensure the department sources credible suppliers. Quotation-based procurement does not ideally facilitate for the adequate screening, hence a move toward tendering process where possible.

The tendering process allows for appropriate screening of the competencies of potential service providers. This is through an established procurement process that allows for the establishment of competent committees such as the Bid Specification Committee (BSC) and Bid Evaluation Committee (BEC) and the Bid Adjudication Committee (BAC).

 

Reply:

The Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure

South Africa has seen declining fixed capital investment and economic performance over the past decade. Analysis of this widening investment gap to National Development Plan targeted growth levels, shows that an additional R1.6 trillion in public sector infrastructure investment is required by 2030, over and above that forecasted for current public sector entities. Delivering an effective infrastructure-led economic recovery plan will require the government to overcome various challenges currently faced in the infrastructure ecosystem, including but not limited to infrastructure under-spend due to poor project preparation and lack of capability and capacity in the public sector.

The pipeline of well-prepared projects is scarce, therefore limiting investment opportunities. Given the risks and uncertainties of project preparation, private sector has understandably been hesitant to get involved during the early stages of infrastructure projects or programme. It is important that government invests in project preparation. The intended objective of the project preparation funding is to:

• unleash significant quanta of private sector investment for catalytic public sector infrastructure projects;
• ensure viable, efficient and bankable project portfolio;
• augment the technical and financial engineering capacity in under resourced provinces and municipalities; and
• enable economic and social development impact through projects that are brought to financial close

Infrastructure South Africa has a pipeline of projects and programmes, a significant number of these projects are not sufficiently prepared and packaged such that funding and financing decisions can be made. Moreover, the majority of these projects are submitted by less-resourced municipalities. The R600 million allocated to Infrastructure South Africa is over the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework. That is, R200 million is allocated in the 2023/24 FY; R200 million in 2024/25 FY and R200 million in the 2025/26 FY. The funding will be directed to preparing and packaging infrastructure investment projects and programmes in priority sectors such as water and sanitation, rural and municipal roads, energy, education and health infrastructure projects and programmes.

Infrastructure South Africa does not own projects, the relevant projects owners, when procuring and implementing their infrastructure projects must ensure that partnership opportunities in relation to promoting gender and race transformation as well as technical capabilities by growing the community of skilled black professionals and companies in the built environment. In addition, the project sponsors need to ensure that where appropriated, the use of locally manufactured materials are used when the assets are built.

Infrastructure South Africa will provide continuous oversight and monitoring of the projects that benefit from the project preparation funds to support the successful execution of projects beyond preparation stages. Through the Infrastructure South Africa Centre of Excellence, the impact of the infrastructure projects will be monitored closely to quantify the extent to which, inter alia, job opportunities in the local area were realised and the value to society and economy that is derived from the infrastructure asset.