Communications

2011-07-08

THIS FILE CAN CONTAIN UP TO 25 REPLIES.

SEARCH ON THE TOPIC/KEYWORD YOU ARE LOOKING FOR BY SELECTING CTRL + F ON YOUR KEYBOARD

QUESTION NO: 3518

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 11 November 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 38

DATE OF REPLY: 12 December 2011

Mrs J D Kilian (Cope) to ask the Minister of Communications:

(1) Whether, with reference to the findings of an internal audit into the appointment of a certain person (name and details furnished) at the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), she or her department had been informed of the process that had been followed prior to the appointment of the said person; if so, what are the relevant details;

(2) whether she or her department had made inquiries about the (a) process that had been followed and (b)(i) suitability and (ii) qualifications of the said person; if not, why not, in each case; if so, what are the relevant details in each case;

(3) whether the said person (a) was or (b) is associated with a certain company (name and details furnished); if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details;

(4) whether the chairperson of the SABC board had signed any contract to appoint the said person or company; if not, what are the financial implications for the SABC; if so, in terms of what mandate;

(5) whether the said person had declared his interests before accepting the position; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW4218E

REPLY:

SABC

As per the undertaking made to the parliamentary Committee on Communications on 18 October 2011, the SABC is investigating the matter and will be providing a report of its findings to the Committee.

QUESTION NO: 3468

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 11 November 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 38

DATE OF REPLY: 12 December 2011

Mrs J D Kilian (Cope) to ask the Minister of Communications:

Whether, with reference to her department's policy development responsibility to promote access to affordable information and communications technology (ICT) and broadband for all communities, she has found that the altercation between Telkom and the Independent Communications Authority of SA (ICASA) during the recent public hearings about loop unbundling has had any impact on the ICT sector; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) what impact and (b) how does her department intend ensuring that regulatory interventions are made timeously to promote competition and to optimize the usage of communication networks in the country?

NW4142E

REPLY:

The matter is a normal course of public consultation regarding the regulation of the ICT sector where significant interests are concerned. The so-called altercation is no different to the altercations at previous public hearings on topics such as call termination (which this Committee convened parliamentary hearings on in 2009 given the sensitivity of the matter) and spectrum fees.

There are certain licensees that have a tendency to adopt a typically adversarial approach to any regulation of the ICT sector, rather than to work together as a collective to solve the nation's challenges; this is the choice of the licensee in question and indeed those individual representatives of the licensee in question.

However, it is for this reasons the Authority adopted a "right of reply" session at the end of the hearings so that affected parties had an opportunity to respond to views expressed by other parties during the hearings.

The views that are expressed at the public hearings on Local Loop Unbundling have no impact on its work to ensure the efficient use of communications networks in the country, and that the Authority will continue to adopt a fair and impartial approach to the making of decisions regarding the regulation of the ICT sector.

QUESTION NO: 3468

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 11 November 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 38

DATE OF REPLY: 12 December 2011

Mrs J D Kilian (Cope) to ask the Minister of Communications:

NW4142E

REPLY:

QUESTION NO: 3388

DATE OF PUBLICATION:

QUESTION PAPER NO:

DATE OF REPLY:

Dr CP Mulder (FF Plus) to ask the Minister of Communications:

Whether she or her department have (a) entered into any agreements, (b) signed any contracts with and (c) received any services from a certain company (FEVER TREE CONSULTING) since 2006; if so, in each case, what was the (i) nature of the (aa) agreement, (bb) contract and (cc) service and (ii) cost involved?

NW4067E

REPLY:

The Department has not entered into any agreement or signed any contracts with and has also not received any services from Fever tree Consulting.

QUESTION NO: 3014

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 14 October 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 31

DATE OF REPLY: 12 December 2011

Mr A M Figlan (DA) to ask the Minister of Communications:

(1) Whether (a) his department and (b) any entity reporting to him was approached by a certain political organisation (name furnished ANCYL ) to contribute to its 66^th birthday celebrations; if so, in each case, (i) which entities and (ii) what was the (aa) nature and (bb) value of the contribution that was requested;

(2) Whether (a) his department and (b) any of the specified entities reporting to him agreed to the request; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, in each case, (i) who approved the request, (ii) what was the justification for the agreement to the request and (iii) from which budget will the contribution be paid;

(3) Whether (a) his department and (b) any of the specified entities reporting to him made financial contributions to the said political organisation without being approached for such financial contributions; if so, in each case, (i) what amount will be contributed, (ii) from which budget, (iii) who made the decision to provide the specified funds to the said political organisation and (iv) how is this (aaa) decision and (bbb) amount justified;

(4) Whether (a) his department and (b) any of the entities reporting to him rely on any (i) statutory and (ii) policy provisions in (aa) agreeing and (bb) making such contribution; if not, in each case, what is the position in this regard; if so, in each case, what are the relevant details?

NW3498E

REPLY:

ICASA

(1) (b) No, ICASA does not have a budget for the activity.

(2) (b) No, ICASA does not have a budget for the activity

(3) (b) No, ICASA does not have a budget for the activity

(4) (b) No, ICASA does not have a budget for the activity

SENTECH

(1) (b) Sentech was not approached by any the named political organisation to contribute to its 66th birthday celebration

(2) (b) Sentech was not approached by any the named political organisation and hence no response

(3) (b) Sentech was not approached by the named political organisation and has not made any financial contributions to the organisation

(4) (b) N/A

USAASA

(1)(b) USAASA was not approached by a certain political organisation to contribute to its 66^th birthday celebration

(2) (b) USAASA was not approached by the named political organisation

(3) (b) USAASA was not approached by the named political organisation and has not made any financial contributions to the organisation

4) (b) USAASA is a 3A entity and its policies is in line with Treasury Regulation section 21.1 state that, " the accounting officer may approve gifts, donations and sponsorships of state money and other movable property in the interest of the state. When such cash amount exceed R 100 000 per case, the approval of the relevant legislature must be sought by including the item separately in the appropriation bill"

SAPO

(1) (b) No, SAPO was not approached by a certain political organisation to contribute to its 66^th birthday celebration

(2) (b) No, SAPO was not approached by the named political organisation

(3) (b) No SAPO was not approached by the named political organisation and has not made any financial contributions to the organisation

(4) (b) SAPO applies the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act with regards to expenditure against the allocated budget which is approved by the Board of directors and submitted to the Minister and Parliament in line with Corporate Plan of the organisation, as required by the PFMA.

The current SAPO policies have no provisions relating to donations to political organisations.

NEMISA

(1) (b) No, NEMISA was not approached by a certain political organisation to contribute to its 66^th birthday celebration

(2) (b) No, NEMISA was not approached by the named political organisation

(3) (b) No NEMISA was not approached by the named political organisation and has not made any financial contributions to the organisation

(4) (b) N/A

SABC

(1) (b) No, the SABC was not approached by certain political organisation to contribute to its 66^th birthday celebration.

(2) (b) No, the SABC was not approached by the named political organisation

(3) (b) No, the SABC was not approached by the named political organisation and has not made any financial contributions to the organisation

(4) (b) N/A

QUESTION NO: 2980

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 22 September 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 30

DATE OF REPLY: 12 December 2011

Mrs JD Killian (DA) to ask the Minister of Communications:

1) Which new internal disciplinary processes have been lodged against officials in his department since he resumed office;

(2) Whether any officials have been suspended with full pay; if so, (a) for how long has each official been suspended, (b) what is the total amount spent on the salaries and other benefits of these suspended officials to date, (c) what other legal costs have been incurred in respect of these disciplinary actions and (d) what has his department's success rate been to date;

(3) Whether he has found that these disciplinary actions have been brought strictly on the basis of transgressions of statutes and public service procedures; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;

(4) What measures has he put in place to curtail expenditure on disciplinary procedures and processes?

NW3458E

REPLY

(1) There are no new internal disciplinary processes lodged against officials.

(2) There are no new internal disciplinary processes lodged against officials.

(3) There are no new internal disciplinary processes lodged against officials.

(4) By ensuring that all outstanding disciplinary cases are finalised without delay.

QUESTION NO: 2979

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 23 September 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 30

DATE OF REPLY: 12 December 2011

Mrs J D Kilian (Cope) to ask the Minister of Communications:

(1) Whether, with reference to the finding of the Special Investigating Unit that an amount in excess of R31 million was paid to staff members of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) without it being recorded on the payroll system (details furnished), any of the beneficiaries of these finds are still employed at the SABC, if not, why not; is so, what are the relevant details;

(2) what explanation has been given why these payments were not included in and recorded on the payroll system;

(3) whether statutory deductions have been made against these amounts paid to persons in terms of pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) and the unemployment insurance fund (UIF); if not, why not; if so,

(4) whether these deductions have been accounted for in terms of statutory PAYE and UIF obligations to South African Revenue Services (SARS); if not, why not; if so, (a) how does the SABC intend to regularize its affairs with SARS in relation to these statutory transgressions and (b) what action (i) has been taken (ii) will be taken against the persons responsible for the breach of basic accounting principles?

NW3457E

REPLY:

(1) The SABC did receive the Special Investigating Unit's report. The position of the SABC and its Board has at every instance been that corporate governance should be observed and that due process should be followed.

(2) All matters relating to the SIU are still being considered by the Board of the SABC. Adequate responses to the questions can only be provided at the conclusion of the internal processes.

QUESTION NO: 2856

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 23 September 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 30

DATE OF REPLY: 12 December 2011

Mrs N W A Michael (DA) to ask the Minister of Communications:

(a) How much money has been paid to the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) since May 2009 in the form of (i) loans and (ii) requests for financial assistance, (b) what were the reasons given for requests for financial assistance and (c) how much money has the SABC paid to Government for the same period?

NW3324E

REPLY:

(1) (a) Loans: R1 000 000

SABC applied for government guarantee amounting to R1.473 billion, which was subsequently granted.

(b) Requests for financial assistance since May 2009: R828 075 000

Channel Africa	R96, 206
Technology	R300,000
Public Broadcaster	R203, 836
AENE	R200,000
Community Radio	R18, 033
Programme Production	R10,000
Total	R828,075

The funds mentioned above were received from the Department of Communication and quarterly reports are sent through as proof that the funds are being used for their specified purpose.

Reasons for requests:

· Channel Africa: SABC has been delegated with the responsibility by the Department of Communications to administer Channel Africa and the Community Radio Project, which are sub-divisions of the Department of Communications.

· Technology: In February 2005, the Shareholder (Department of Communications and National Treasury) committed an amount of R700 million including VAT to SABC over a period of five years, in order to facilitate key improvements to infrastructure within the Company.

· Public Broadcaster: The SABC is required by legislation to inform, educate and entertain viewers and listeners. The broascasting of educational programmes is therefore essential to the implementation of its public service mandate. Continual support from the Shareholder for specific educational programme is thus required.

· AENE: the purpose of the funds was to address the unforeseen requirements.

· Community Radio Project/Programme Production: See bullet first bullet point.

(2) During the period in question, the SABC has paid Government: R11 705 392, detailed as follows:

· Perpetual loan: On 1 February 1972, the Company's shareholder converted a long-term loan into permanent capital. The permanent capital is not repayable, in terms of the Exchequer Act, No 66 of 1975 as amended interest will be payable, in perpetuity, at a rate of 6.5% per annum on the capital amount. The instrument represents a financial liability (in the form of perpetual debt) under IAS 32 – Financial Instruments: Presentation, because of the underlying obligation to deliver cash in the form of future payments to the Company's shareholder. Amount paid for the period: R4 450 940

· Government guarantee fees: A The R1 473 billion guarantee was issued for the period 9 December 2009 to 14 December 2015. Since R1, 0 billion is accessible by SABC, this portion attracts fees set at 30 basis points per annum. Note that in year 1 an additional once-off administration fee of R375 000 (R75000 x 5 years) was paid upfront for the full period: R7 254 452

QUESTION NO: 2807

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 16 September 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 29

DATE OF REPLY:

Mrs JD Killian (DA) to ask the Minister of Communications:

(1) Whether the South African Post Office (SAPO) had followed all requisite tender procurement procedures in terms of Treasury regulations and Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), Act 1 of 1999, regulations in the appointment of a strategic adviser to help the Post Office with the Postbank corporatisation plan; if not, why not; if so,

(2) Whether the establishment of a ministerial oversight committee to monitor the process is an indication of his concerns about the developments at SAPO; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;

(3) Whether the tender price by the company that won the bid was twice the value of a competitive tender (details furnished); if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW3271E

REPLY:

(1) The Board of directors of SAPO has reviewed the process followed by the SAPO in appointing the strategic advisor for the Postbank corporatisation process. The Board is substantially satisfied that the appointment was made in accordance with the requisite SAPO office procurement policies, relevant Treasury Regulations and in accordance with the requirement of the Public Finance Management Act.

(2) The establishment of a Ministerial oversight Committee on the Postbank corporatisation was agreed to between the Board of directors of SAPO and the Minister at the bilateral meeting held February 2011. The Committee was established by the Minister to ensure oversight on the Postbank corporatisation project. The terms of reference for the Committee were confirmed at a subsequent meeting of the Board with the Minister.The Committee will oversee the corporatisation programme and allow for accelerated decision making at executive level. The Committee includes representatives from SAPO.

The establishment of the Ministerial Oversight Committee is in line with the powers conferred upon the Minister by the Postbank Limited Act 9 of 2011, which requires the Minister to ensure the establishment and incorporation of the Postbank as a legal entity as well as the registration of the company as bank after it has satisfied the requirements of the Bank's Act no 94 of 1990.

(3) Following concerns raised around the appointment of the strategic advisor for the Postbank corporatisation, the Board of SAPO went through a verification process to ascertain the processes followed including the procurement and evaluation of the various bids that was submitted to SAPO.

The process of considering and evaluating bids is not based on price alone as there are other considerations that need to be looked at such as price, technical ability and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) etc. As indicated in the response to question 1 above, the Board of SAPO has determined that the preferred bidder scored highest overall in terms of the overall evaluation criteria for the bid whereas the "competitive tender" scored low on functionality and made lot of incorrect assumptions which has led to them excluding some of the requested and required cost components of the request for proposals document. The Board will continue to intensify its oversight on procurement within SAPO, including consultation with people involved to clarify any concerns in this regard.

QUESTION NO: 2806

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 16 September 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 29

DATE OF REPLY:

Mrs J D Kilian (Cope) to ask the Minister of Communications:

(1) To what extent is his Department working with other stakeholders in ensuring service delivery to (a) rural post offices, (b) in integrated computer technology rollout and (c) in areas where there is no such technology;

(2) Whether he has found that the (a) coordination or (b) lack of cooperation with other stakeholders will hinder the overall strategic objectives of his Department; if not, why not, in each case; if so what are the relevant details in each case?

NW3270E

REPLY:

(1)(a) SAPO is currently working with the following stakeholder in ensuring service delivery:

· Department of Transport: renewals of motor vehicle licence at the branches;

· Department of Social Services (SASSA): pensions payouts

· Local Municipalities: Bill payments

· GCIS: Thusong centres

(b) SAPO in ensuring that other stakeholders provide critical services at the rural Post Office, SAPO engages with the following stakeholders;

· Local Municipalities for the provision of water and electricity

· Regional Eskom for the provision of electricity

· Telkom/Sentech for the provision of network connectivity

(c) In areas where there is no physical Telkom lines (Diginet lines), SAPO is engaging with Telkom and Sentech to provide satellite connectivity at the branches. In .addition to this SAPO is investigating other wireless solutions available for connectivity

(2) The lack of co-operation from other stakeholders will hinder the overall strategic objective of SAPO as the availability of core service such as electricity, water and network connectivity is critical for the post office to deliver the full basket of service and to meet the Occupational Health and Safety compliance requirements

· Eskom- lack of power at branches will result in non compliance to Occupational Health and Safety and electronic devices cannot be powered.

· Water- lack of water will result in non compliance to Occupational Health and Safety and the branch will not able to operate

· Network Connectivity – lack of network connectivity will result in data not being transmitted online to the central server and certain online services cannot be provided.

The lack of co-ordination with other stakeholders will result a delays for SAPO in implementation of the strategic objective and meeting licence obligation.

QUESTION NO: 2549

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 2 September 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 27

DATE OF REPLY:

Mr. HP Maluleka (ANC) to ask the Minister of Communications:

Whether (a) his department and (b) the entities reporting to him have implemented any energy-saving (i) practices or (ii) devices for buildings, offices and boardrooms in the 2010-11 financial year; if not, why not, in each case; if so, what are the relevant details in each case?

NW2757E

REPLY:

DoC

(a) The Department uses the Eskom electricity which is supplied via the municipality

(i) Practices

Officials were requested to adhere to the following practices/ provisions:

Lights

· If they are to be out of the office for more than 20 minutes, they should switch off lights;

· All other lights such as those in passages etc. should be switched off by the last person to leaves for home, except those necessary for security reasons. Security is also assisting in this regard.

(ii) Devices

Air conditioners

· These should be used only when necessary and switched off when not in use or when officials are out of the office. This however excludes server and PABX rooms. Security staff also help when patrolling the building after hours

Urns and kettles

· These should not be kept boiling the whole day but only switched on when hot water is required.

Computers, printers and photocopying machines

· These should be switched off when officials knock off for the day.

Lifts

· Use the lifts only when necessary (stairs can surely be used for 2 or 3 floors).

It must be noted that the DoC is currently planning to install the energy-saving lights in all its offices. A company called Yelela is assisting the Department for this project also to register the DoC with Eskom in order to obtain the rebate which the Eskom is using to promote the use of energy-saving lights.

The department is intending to rollout this project before the end of the financial year

2011-12.

SABC

The SABC has implemented electricity saving measures during the winter of 2010/11 financial year as follows:-

Significant energy savings: a 20% reduction from 85 million KwH/ annum to 65 million KwH/ annum.

Predicted energy savings were 14 million KwH/ annum; actual savings now closer to 20 million KwH/ annum.

Maximum demand was reduced from around 12000 kilovolt-amperes to a more manageable 8500 kilovolt-amperes

The total energy the SABC has saved over the three years is almost 58 million KwH/annum or about R 23.4 million gross saving

The SABC project prevented nearly 58000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from being generated and saved more than 80 million litres of water

The SABC has also implement the installation of energy efficient lighting such as Compact Fluorescent Tube and Light Emitting Diode lighting in certain areas.

SENTECH

Sentech has not embarked on such an exercise yet. However, the Company is busy with the basic restoration of the network and it will certainly include energy saving in this work

SAPO

The SA Post Office has initiated a pilot project at the Tshwane Mail Centre

i. By installing a smart metre to enable SAPO to set a baseline to measure energy consumption. This will also enable SAPO to deploy energy efficient technologies to reduce both the maximum demand (KVA) and consumption of energy (KwH).

ii. The next step was installation of three sub metres to understand the energy drivers.

iii. the current process will be the optimisation of energy consumption and maximum demand by putting in mechanism to introduce the following:

· Instituting lighting modernization where current high energy intensive highbay lights are replaced with energy efficient alternatives.

· Current 2X3000 litre boilers are modernised with energy efficient alternatives like solar or geo-thermal technology

· Optimising the current HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) system through optimising the building envelope.

ICASA

(b) (i) Security and facilities staff check if lights are switched of in all offices and boardrooms after hours.

Routine maintenance of electrical appliances such as air conditioners is done regularly.

(ii) Basement parking areas have sensors detecting movement after hours, ensuring that light is off all the time.

The process of installation of repo relays on geysers was put on hold to the eminent relocation of the Authorities Head Office.

The Authority has been working on the project of relocating its offices nationally over the past two years to ensure accessibility to stakeholders. In its accommodation requirements, the Authority ensured that legislative building requirements and standards are met.

NEMISA

(a) (i) Practices or:

NEMISA has implemented the following energy-saving practices:

· Shutting down any other electrical equipment/ appliances after usage on daily basis before knock-off;

· Shutting down of the lights in the building after knock off time

· Shutting down of all air conditioners after work

· Only cameras (CCTV) etc are left on as from the Security's point of view there is a need for them to be left on.

(iii) devices for buildings, offices and boardrooms in the 2010-11 financial year:

NEMISA has implemented the energy-saving by:

Our IT department shuts down all devices on daily basis before knock off time

· Mobile Projectors (Boardroom)

· Wireless access point (Boardroom)

· Scanners, faxes and printers has an automatic energy saver mode (Offices)

· All computers and monitors are shut down on daily basis(i.e. Every staff member and every student switches off their PC / Computers daily (devices for building and classrooms)

USAASA

(b) USAASA has not implemented any energy saving means for (i) practices or (ii) devices for building, offices and boardrooms in the 2010/11 financial year

However, the employees of USAASA have been informed to ensure that they switch off the lights and any energy consuming equipment before going home. USAASA will ensure that a policy is made and implemented in going forward.

QUESTION NO: 2412

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 2 September 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 27

DATE OF REPLY:

Mr EJ Marais (DA) to ask the Minister of Communications

Whether (a) his department and (b) entities reporting to it have (i) awarded any tenders and (ii) concluded any (aa) contracts and (bb) financial transactions with certain companies (names and details furnished) in each specified financial year since 2005-06; if so, (aaa) which company or entity, (bbb) what are the relevant details, (ccc) what was the value of each (aaaa) tender, (bbbb) contract or (cccc) financial transaction and (ddd) what was the name of the companies who failed for each tender, contract or financial transaction that was awarded?

NW2806E

REPLY:

The Department of Communications did not award any tenders, contracts and had no financial transactions with any of the above listed companies or entities.

QUESTION NO: 2383

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 2 September 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 27

DATE OF REPLY: 12 December 2011

Mrs J D Kilian (Cope) to ask the Minister of Communications:

(1) (a) How many Labour Court cases did his department (i) win or (ii) lose with regard to disciplinary hearings against staff of the Human Resource management in his department in the (aa) 2009-10 and (bb) 2010-11 financial years, respectively;

(2) whether he has been informed of any appointments made during the past 18 months which (a) were in contravention of Public Service regulations and/or (b) did not comply with the minimum skills levels or academic requirements for the advertised positions; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details;

(3) whether his department will take any disciplinary steps against any officials who were responsible for the recruitment and appointment processes; if not, why not; if so, what steps;

(4) whether his department has ever invoked the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act, Act 1 of 1999, to recover alleged irregular expenditure from errant officials; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW2772E

REPLY:

(1) None

(2) The allegation is still under investigation

(3) The decision whether to discipline employees will be informed by the investigation mentioned above

(4) The decision whether to invoke the provisions of the Public Finance Management Act, Act 1 of 1999, will be informed by the investigation mentioned above

QUESTION NO: 2374

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 2 September 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 27

DATE OF REPLY: 12 December 2011

Mr. HP Maluleka (ANC) to ask the Minister of Communications:

NW2755E

REPLY:

DoC

(a) The Department uses the Eskom electricity which is supplied via the municipality

(i) Practices

Officials were requested to adhere to the following practices/ provisions:

Lights

· If they are to be out of the office for more than 20 minutes, they should switch off lights;

(ii) Devices

Air conditioners

Urns and kettles

· These should not be kept boiling the whole day but only switched on when hot water is required.

Computers, printers and photocopying machines

· These should be switched off when officials knock off for the day.

Lifts

· Use the lifts only when necessary (stairs can surely be used for 2 or 3 floors).

The department is intending to rollout this project before the end of the financial year 2011-12.

SABC

The SABC has implemented electricity saving measures during the winter of 2010/11 financial year as follows:-

Significant energy savings: a 20% reduction from 85 million KwH/ annum to 65 million KwH/ annum.

Predicted energy savings were 14 million KwH/ annum; actual savings now closer to 20 million KwH/ annum.

Maximum demand was reduced from around 12000 kilovolt-amperes to a more manageable 8500 kilovolt-amperes

The total energy the SABC has saved over the three years is almost 58 million KwH/annum or about R 23.4 million gross saving

The SABC project prevented nearly 58000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from being generated and saved more than 80 million litres of water

The SABC has also implement the installation of energy efficient lighting such as Compact Fluorescent Tube and Light Emitting Diode lighting in certain areas.

SENTECH

Sentech has not embarked on such an exercise yet. However, the Company is busy with the basic restoration of the network and it will certainly include energy saving in this work

SAPO

The SA Post Office has initiated a pilot project at the Tshwane Mail Centre

ii. The next step was installation of three sub metres to understand the energy drivers.

iii. the current process will be the optimisation of energy consumption and maximum demand by putting in mechanism to introduce the following:

· Instituting lighting modernization where current high energy intensive highbay lights are replaced with energy efficient alternatives.

· Current 2X3000 litre boilers are modernised with energy efficient alternatives like solar or geo-thermal technology

· Optimising the current HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) system through optimising the building envelope.

ICASA

(b) (i) Security and facilities staff check if lights are switched of in all offices and boardrooms after hours.

Routine maintenance of electrical appliances such as air conditioners is done regularly.

(ii) Basement parking areas have sensors detecting movement after hours, ensuring that light is off all the time.

The process of installation of repo relays on geysers was put on hold to the eminent relocation of the Authorities Head Office.

NEMISA

NEMISA has implemented the following energy-saving practices:

(b)(i) Practices or devices for buildings, offices and boardrooms in the 2010-11 financial year:

· Shutting down any other electrical equipment/ appliances after usage on daily basis before knock-off;

· Shutting down of the lights in the building after knock off time

· Shutting down of all air conditioners after work

· Only cameras (CCTV) etc are left on as from the Security's point of view there is a need for them to be left on.

(ii) Our IT department shuts down all devices on daily basis before knock off time

· Mobile Projectors (Boardroom)

· Wireless access point (Boardroom)

· Scanners, faxes and printers has an automatic energy saver mode (Offices)

· All computers and monitors are shut down on daily basis(i.e. Every staff member and every student switches off their PC / Computers daily (devices for building and classrooms)

USAASA

(b) USAASA has not implemented any energy saving means for (i) practices or (ii) devices for building, offices and boardrooms in the 2010/11 financial year

QUESTION NO: 2349

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 26 August 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 26

DATE OF REPLY:

Mrs N W A Michael (DA) to ask the Minister of Communications:

(1) Whether his department has put communication plans in place to (a) inform the public about the plans and implementation methods of the digital migration and (b) advertise the process the public will have to follow to allow the transfer to digital; if not, why not, in each case; if so, what are the relevant details in each case;

(2) whether there has there been any consultation with retailers with regard to the assistance they may give in the dissemination of information regarding the digital migration; if not, why not; if so; what are the relevant details?

NW2725E

REPLY:

(1) The Department has developed a communication strategy as per the Project Plan. The strategy has been shared with the GCIS and it was also shared with all the other stakeholders who are part of the migration process. A communication working group including all the other stakeholders is in the process of being constituted, and this working group will refine the strategy and the tactical plan, as well as ensure the implementation of the strategy. The strategy is comprehensive and includes all the communication channels to ensure that all South Africans are reached and educated about the migration process, and its main aim is to educate and inform South Africans about Digital Migration and what they need to know in order to migrate successfully.

(2) Retailers have been engaged, and these include the JD Group, Ellerines, Pep Stores, Shoprite, Edcon and Boxer Superstores. The commercial model of retailers is such that they communicate to the public regarding items they sell in their outlets. As they do currently with products such as cell phones, DSTV and others, they indicated that they will follow the same approach with STB's. Usaasa will partner with retailers and training will be implemented with their employees (salespersons) on all aspects of DTT and STB's, so that they can communicate with their customers.

QUESTION NO: 2323

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 26 August 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 26

DATE OF REPLY:

Mr I M Ollis (DA) to ask the Minister of Communications:

(1) Whether (a) his department and (b) any entity reporting to him was approached by a certain political organisation (name furnished) to contribute to its centenary celebrations; if so, in each case, (i) which entities and (ii) what was the (aa) nature and (bb) value of the contribution that was requested;

(2) whether (a) his department and (b) any of its entities reporting to him has a policy that provide for such funding; if so,

(3) whether (a) his department and (b) any of the specified entities reporting to him (i) agreed to the request and (ii) made financial contributions to the said political organisation; if not, why not; if so, in each case, (aa) who approved the request, (bb) on what grounds was the decision made, (cc) from which budget was it agreed to pay the contribution, (dd) what amount was paid, (ee) who made the decision to provide the specified funds to the said political organisation and (ff) how is this (aaa) decision and (bbb) amount justified?

NW2699E

REPLY:

1. The department has not received any request from any political party to contribute to the centenary celebrations of any political party.

2. The department and its entities do not have any policy of funding political parties.

3. Neither the department nor any of its entities have been requested to make financial contributions towards any political party.

QUESTION NO: 2265

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 26 August 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 26

DATE OF REPLY:

Mrs J D Kilian (Cope) to ask the Minister of Communications:

(1) (a) In what capacity does a certain person (name furnished) serve in his department, (b) what are his (i) qualifications and (ii) experience and (c)(i) when and (ii) how was he appointed to that position;

(2) whether he submitted a full written statement disclosing his financial interests and possible direct or indirect conflicts with his role in the Ministry and or his department; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;

(3) what are the details of his remuneration package or contractual agreement with the Ministry or the department, including the terms of his employment;

(4) whether any provision has been made for a cooling-off period after the conclusion of his contract period during which time he may not be involved in any business in the telecommunications sector; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

W2636E

REPLY:

(1) (a) He serves as Special Advisor to the Minister of Communications. He serves

as a full-time Special Advisor to the Minister.

(b) (i) Mr Nkuna has a Post Graduate Diploma and Master Degree in Public and Development Management from the University of Witwatersrand. He also possesses certificates in ICT from international universities and colleges.

(ii) He served in the Government Communications and Information Systems (GCIS) from 1999 to 2001 as Deputy Director Policy and from1991 to 2001 served as a Spokesperson for the then Minister of Communications.

He also served in the South African Post Office as a General manager Communications and also in ICASA as a Councillor from 2006 to 2010.

(2) He signed a Disclosure of Financial Interest form in terms of the provisions of Chapter 9 of the SMS handbook.

(3) Mr Nkuna is paid according to the Revised Dispensation For the Appointment and remuneration of Person's (Special Advisors) Appointed To Executive Authorities on Grounds Of Policy Consideration In Terms of Section 12A of The Public Service Act, 1994

(4) Currently there are no provisions for cooling off period in the public service. Mr. Nkuna or the department has therefore not made any provision regarding the cooling off period.

QUESTION NO: 2218

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 19 August 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 25

DATE OF REPLY:

Ms L D Mazibuko (DA) to ask the Minister of Communications:

(1) Whether (a) he, (b) his deputy minister, (c) any specified officials and (d) any other persons have been issued with a government or official credit card during the period 1 April 2010 up to the latest specified date for which information is available; if so, what are the relevant details for him, his deputy minister and each holder of a credit card in respect of the (i) name, (ii) job title, (iii) credit limit, (iv) outstanding amount as at the latest specified date for which information is available, (v) monthly expenses incurred for each month since receiving the credit card, (vi) reason for such persons being issued with a credit card and (vii) uses that such a credit card is intended for;

(2) whether any such credit cards are over their credit limit; if so, (a) whose credit cards are over the limit and (b) what is the reason for the credit cards exceeding the limit;

(3) whether any action has been taken against such persons for exceeding their credit card limits; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW2593E

REPLY:

No official in the Department is in possession of an official credit card. These credit cards were stopped many years ago by National Treasury and since then the Department has never issued any official credit cards again.

QUESTION NO: 2218

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 19 August 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 25

DATE OF REPLY:

Ms L D Mazibuko (DA) to ask the Minister of Communications:

(2) whether any such credit cards are over their credit limit; if so, (a) whose credit cards are over the limit and (b) what is the reason for the credit cards exceeding the limit;

(3) whether any action has been taken against such persons for exceeding their credit card limits; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW2593E

REPLY:

QUESTION NO: 2158

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 19 August 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 25

DATE OF REPLY:

Mrs J D Kilian (Cope) to ask the Minister of Communications:

(1) Whether, with reference to the WebRiposte™ retail system that was launched in 2004 to replace the PostLink system, the new system has been operating within the budgeted amount that was allocated to the project; if not, why not; if so, (a) what are the relevant details, (b) what has been the cost of rolling out the system to date and (c) at how many of the total number of retail outlets has the new system been installed;

(2) Whether any assessment of the system in respects of (a) its efficiency or (b) other aspects has been conducted; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;

(3) Whether the Post Office intends allocating additional funding to the rolling out of the project; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW2529E

REPLY:

(1) (a) Budgeted amount and Relevant Details

The budgeted amount for the project is R191 551 722.A total cost of R168 648 634 has been spent to date (end June 2011), leaving a total of R22 903 088 available to complete the project .The project is within the budgeted amount as approved. Details presented below:

Description	Amount
Costs to date:
License	34 128 120
Hardware	52 065 507
ALT(Professional Service Agreement)	4 039 413
IT Specific Back-end Systems	2 990 253
Resources	24 037 911
Change Requests to date	7 016 450
Escher development	17 459 195
Escher Readiness Review	306 000
Escher Support Proposals	9 596 750
Front-end controls review	864 655
Manual Offices, Fallback and RPA	5 028 000
Postbank on WRE Implementation	4 705 060
Other Capex (License, Equipment Insurance)	6 411 320
TOTAL COST	168 648 634
Budgeted Amount	191 551 722
Total Available	22 903 088

(b) Cost of Rolling Out the System

Hardware Infrastructure. The hardware infrastructure for the system has already been rolled out on a national basis, and is being utilized by the old application as well as the new application system (WRE POS). This approach immediately resulted in SAPO getting the full business benefit of new hardware, and the reliability that goes with new hardware. Additionally, the national roll-out of the new WRE software will hereby be simplified, as converting an outlet to the new software only entails installing the software and migrating the stock data associated with the outlet. As indicated in (a) above, the hardware renewal cost was R52 065 507

WRE POS Application (software), for the WRE POS application (software) system, the projecting life cycle consists of a design phase, build phase and roll-out phase. The phases include the following activities:-

Design phase-requirement analysis and specification

Build phase-product implementation, testing, business acceptance and pilot site verification

Rollout-national rollout of the system to the SAPO offices

The WRE POS application system has not yet been rolled out. The project is currently at the end of the build phase, and more specifically pilot site verification Seven (7) pilot sites have been implemented, verifying the operational and support behaviour of the system. One of the sites was specifically selected to test cash grants and voucher payments, and an additional 8^th site will be converted to the new system during the course of September 2011, to verify Manual, RPA and offline transactions. The cost implementing these sites was minimal in relation to the rest of the project. Each site takes approximately a day to convert to the new system, therefore the low cost.

An amount of R20 976 466 has been earmarked for final national roll-out preparations and office conversion activities.

As indicated in paragraph (b) above, the system in currently running at seven (7) retail outlets for purpose of verifying operational and support behaviour. This approach ensures that the design of the system is properly tested in representative production environments. The outlets range from large branches (e.g. Church Square) to a small 2 terminal outlet at the SAPO Nation Head Office.

(2) System Assessment and Verification

(a) WRE is a POS system, and as such the project went to great lengths to assess and verify especially the transaction integrity, transactional performance, as well as financial and stock controls. The quality system employed on the project consists of different levels of assessment and verification. The main aspects can be summarized as follows, and were implemented by the WRE POS Steering Committee through the appoint SAPO project manager:

Ø Reviews: All specifications were reviewed and formally approved by the relevant business and technical personnel. The specifications were also analysed by the supplier in advance of the delivery activity, to ensure that the specification took cognizance of the core product design.

Ø Delivery Check: The deferent software iterations were first delivery to a QA site, where completeness of the deliveries was verified, and correctness/understanding of delivery notes was checked.

Ø Integration Testing: The software was deployed to the integration and testing site, where project engineers integrated the system into an end environment (WRE POS integrated to backend systems like MYSAP Financial System). The system was the tested according to predefined test scenarios that were that were traceable to the designed specifications, thereby proving requirements conformance and integration integrity.

Ø User Acceptance: The System was handed over to the assigned business user community, and formal acceptance test wereperformed. These tests were all formally signed off by the business user community.

Ø Pilot Verification: As indicated earlier in the document, 7 pilot sites were converted from the old system to the new WRE POS system, starting the process in June 2009. This process verified that the system is fit for operations and support

Ø Internal Audits: Several independent audits were performed by the SAPO Internal Auditing department.

Ø External Controls Audit: Accenture were appointed to perform an independent system controls audit. This audit verified the security, stock and financial controls employed by the system. A report was presented to the Project Steering Committee, as well as the SAPO Executive Committee. A handful of recommendations were made in certain areas, and the Project Steering Committee took a principle decision to implement all the recommendations. Change requests were drafted approved, and the recommendations are now part of the WRE POS solution.

Ø National Roll-out Readiness Review: The next (and last) step before national roll-out is performing the national roll-out readiness review, where findings from pilot verification and roll-out planning/readiness will be reviewed will be reviewed by the project Steering Committee, and a recommendation of roll-out be recommended to the SAPO Executive Committee for final approval. This approval is schedule for September.

(b) It stands to reason that the different levels of assessment mentioned above led to a number of issues and risks being uncovered. These were all resolved and mitigated by implementing defect corrections and system changes respectively.

(3) Additional Funding for National Roll-Out

At this stage of the project SAPO has not considered additional funding for the project. According to the national roll-out plan, the currently available funds in the budget should be sufficient. As indicated before, the available budget is R 23 903 088, and the estimated cost of national roll-out of the WRE POS software is R 20 976 466.

QUESTION NO: 2074

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 29 July 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 20

DATE OF REPLY:

Mrs J D Kilian (Cope) to ask the Minister of Communications:

(1) Whether (a) he and (b) the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) received the Special Investigating Units (SIU) Report on their investigation into irregular financial management practices at the SABC (details furnished); if not, in each case, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details in each case;

(2) Whether the SIU Report has been presented to the SABC board; if not, why not; if so, when;

(3) Whether any action has been taken in terms of the findings of the SIU Report; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;

(4) Whether any monies have been recovered from persons who have benefited illegally through the contravention of the Public Finance Management Act, Act 1 of 1999; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW2345E

REPLY:

(1) The SABC has received the SIU Report; the board is still considering it.

QUESTION NO: 2057

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 5 August 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 21

DATE OF REPLY:

Mrs J D Kilian (Cope) to ask the Minister of Communications:

(1) When was notice given of the recent general meeting of the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) board;

(2) whether any board members noted concerns regarding the constitution of the general meeting; if so, what are the relevant details;

(3) whether the Risk Committee, headed by a board member, alerted the board members of any potential risk to the SABC that may be caused by this general meeting; if so, what are the relevant details;

(4) whether the board sought legal advice to determine the (a) legality of the process followed to amend the memorandum and articles of association of the SABC and (b) the implications of such process being found to be flawed; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW2306E

REPLY:

(1) Notice of the General Meeting of the SABC was given by the Member [Shareholder] to the SABC Company Secretary on 27 June 2011.

(2) Former SABC Board Member Mr Harris requested that the Board and the Shareholder to note his concerns regarding the constitution of the General Meeting and that the proposed amendments of the Memorandum of Incorporation [MoI which were replacing 'Articles of Association'] were not discussed with the Board of the SABC.

The Shareholder informed the meeting that the Board proposed the amendment of the MoI for several months to the extent that some Directors had urged the Shareholder to act speedily to amend the said MoI.

Board Members Gina and Golding confirmed that the Board had been considering the amendments to the MoI for a considerable period of time.

(3) The meeting had been convened at shorter notice (27 June 2011).

(4) The Board of the SABC did not seek any legal advice.

QUESTION NO: 2055

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 5 August 2011

QUESTION PAPER NO: 21

DATE OF REPLY:

Mrs J D Kilian (Cope) to ask the Minister of Communications:

(1) With reference to the recent events at the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), (a) on what date and (b) in terms of which legislative provision did he convene the shareholders meeting;

(2) whether she has been informed of the resolution taken by the SABC Board on 24 June 2011 to extend the contract of the chief financial officer for a period of six months; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, why did he proceed with amendments to the memorandum and articles of association;

(3) whether he has been informed that the chairman of the Board would be abroad; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, why did he proceed with the shareholders meeting;

(4) what prompted him to intervene directly in the governance of the public broadcaster?

NW2304E

REPLY:

(1) (a) The Member (Minister of Communication) convened the General Meeting of the

SABC on 29 June 2011.

(b)The General Meeting of the SABC was convened in terms of the Broadcasting Act of 1999

(2) As at 29 June 2011, the date of the General Meeting of the SABC, the Minister of Communications had not been informed by the SABC Board of the resolution taken by the Board on 24 June 2011 to extend the contract of the Chief Financial Officer for a period of six months.

(3) The Chairman of the Board is not required to be present at a General Meeting. Only the Member i.e. the Shareholder or his /her representative is required to be in attendance at a General Meeting.

(4) The intention of the Minister was to enable the Board of the SABC to appoint any individual they deem to be fit within the Corporation to act in the position of Executive director. Previously, the Articles of Association of the SABC stipulated that only the Executive director could be appointed to act in the position of the GCEO.

2011-07-08

What's wrong with this page?