Question & Replies 976 to 1000

2009-09-21

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[PMG note: Replies are inserted as soon as they are provided by the Minister]

MEMBER: MR T D LEE

PARTY: DA

HOUSE: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

TYPE: WRITTEN QUESTION

MINISTRY: SPORT AND RECREATION SA

QUESTION: NO 996

(Internal Question Paper No 12 – 2009)

First Session – Fourth Parliament

Mr T D Lee (DA) to ask the Minister of Sport and Recreation:

(1) Whether any gender testing was done on any South African athletes participating at international events; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

(2) Whether any other gender testing was done on any international athletes participating at international events; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW1219E

REPLY:

No. Athletics South Africa (ASA) said they were never requested to do any gender test on athletes by the IAAF. The position of ASA is consistent with IAAF gender verification policy that there will be no compulsory, standard or regular gender verification during the IAAF sanctioned championships.

ASA indicates that they do not have any further information at their disposal that informs them about such tests having been conducted by the IAAF on any athletes. This question will be best answered by the IAAF as all international competitions fall within their jurisdiction.

QUESTION 995

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 28/08/09

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER 12-2009)

Mr D Smiles to ask the Minister of Basic Education:

What (a) is the status of the recapitalisation plans for 100 technical schools as indicated in Budget Vote 13 (details furnished), (b) are the relevant frameworks, including timeframes, (c) is the relevant budget for the (i) 2009-10, (ii) 2010-11 and (iii) 2011-12 financial years and (d) are the names per province of each of the technical schools that will be the beneficiaries of this project? NW1218E

REPLY:

a) The Department of Basic Education (DoBE) has established an inter-provincial steering committee comprised of officials of the DoBE and provincial coordinators for technology subjects. The steering committee is responsible for coordinating the implementation of the recapitalization project. In addition, the Department has finalized the process to appoint a suitable provider to audit selected technical schools to be considered for recapitalization. The audit will assess infrastructure needs, equipment requirements, teacher and learner support and learning and teaching requirements in the selected schools.

b) The Department has developed a framework for the implementation of the recapitalization of technical schools. The first phase of the process will be used for planning purposes and will take place in 2009/10 financial year. This will include a report of the audit of schools and the development of business plans for the recapitalization process.

The second phase of the process will commence in 2010/11 financial year and will include the procurement and delivery of the relevant support to schools. The process will also include the monitoring of schools to ensure compliance with the business plans and the conditions for the recapitalization grant.

The third phase will take place in the 2011/12 financial year and will include the finalization of procurement and delivery of relevant support to schools.

c) The budget allocated for the recapitalization of technical schools is as follows:

2009-10: R4.6 million

2010-11: R80 million

2011-12: R200 million

d) The names of schools to be recapitalized will be informed by the outcomes of the audit process of technical schools.

QUESTION NO 994

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: (28-08-2009) (INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 12-2009)

"993. Ms M R Shinn (DA) to ask the Minister of Science and Technology:

(1) How much funding for research was (a) allocated to South African scientists by the National Research Foundation and (b) unspent (i) in (aa) 2007 and (bb) 2008 and (ii) during the period 1 January 2009 up to the latest specified date for which the information is available;

(2) whether the amount of funding has declined over the years; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what is the reason for the decline?

NW1217E

REPLY:

1(a) (i) The following amounts were allocated to researchers during the financial years indicated in brackets R666 366 323 (2007/8); R759 013 053 (2008/9); and

(ii) R911 390 549 (2009/10 anticipated).

1(b) (i) The following amounts were unspent during the financial years indicated in brackets R123 666 651 (2007/8); R331 169 340 (2008/9); and

(ii) R64 610 992 (2009/10 anticipated).

2As indicated in 1(a) above, in the period 2006/07 to 2009/10 the funding that NRF allocated to scientists has increased by almost 50% from R633 494 223 to R911 390 549.

QUESTION NO 993

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: (28-08-2009) (INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 12-2009)

"993. Ms M R Shinn (DA) to ask the Minister of Science and Technology:

(1) How many scientists (a) were registered and (b) are rated by the National Research Foundation (NRF) (i) in (aa) 2007 and (bb) 2008 and (ii) during the period 1January 2009 up to the latest specified d for which the information is available;

(2) Whether the number of scientists being rated by the NRF has declined; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what is the reason for the decline?

NW1216E

REPLY:

1(a) The NRF does not maintain a registration system for scientists in the country. However, the 2006/07 R&D Survey reported a total headcount of 39 591 researchers, including PhD and postdoctoral students, across all sectors (Government, Business, Higher Education, Science Councils and Non-profit organizations).

(b)(i) The evaluation and rating of individual scientists is based primarily on the quality of the research outputs in the recent past and is undertaken by national and international peers/reviewers who are requested to critically scrutinise the completed research. "Recent", in the context of the NRF evaluation and rating system, means outputs of the past seven years, i.e., from 1 January 2001 to 31 December 2008 (for applications which were submitted on 27 February 2009). It should be noted that while the NRF rating system exclusively focuses on research outputs, student supervision is also a key priority for South Africa.

Since 1984, the evaluation and rating system applied only to scientists in the Natural Sciences, Engineering and Technology (SET), it was introduced in the Social Sciences and Humanities in 2002. Researchers are rated for a period of five years, thereafter they have to be re-evaluated. In the re-evaluation, researchers who had already been rated are invited to submit documents for re-evaluation and if the researcher does not respond to the invitation their rating lapses.

The NRF uses a financial year cycle to report on rated researchers, i.e., from 1 April to 31 March the following year.

(aa) In the year 2007/08, of the 621 scientists who applied for rating, 247 were new applicants. There are 533 scientists who received their rating, bringing the total number of rated scientists or valid ratings to 1 686. The reason for the high number of applications (533) is that this was the first year of re-evaluations for Social Sciences and Humanities.

(bb) In 2008/09, of the 556 scientists who applied for rating, 262 were new applicants. In this year, 478 scientists received ratings from the NRF bringing the total number of rated researchers to 1 914.

(ii) Although the rating of scientists for the current financial year is still in progress, 592 scientists have applied, 341 of these are new applicants; the number of scientists who will be rated this year and hence the overall number of rated scientists has not yet been finalised. It is important to note that an increase in the number of new applicants and hence rated researchers is due to incentive funding, which enables rated researchers to apply for funding for the duration of their rating. Researchers who are ra NRF may apply for incentive for the duration of the rating. The funding is not

2The number of scientists rated by the NRF has increased from 1 686 in 2007/08 to 1 914 in 2008/09. What is also encouraging is that the number of new applicants has increased from 247 to 341 in the period 2007/08 to 2009/10. It is important to note that 39 591 which is the number of researchers reflected in 1(a) above, includes students doing PhD, post-doctoral research, whereas the numbers of rated scientists incorporates scientists who show various levels of expertise in their fields.

QUESTION NUMBER: 992

DATE FOR PUBLICATION: 28 SEPTEMBER 2009

DATE REPLY SUBMITTED: 28 OCTOBER 2009

MS M R SHINN (DA) TO ASK THE MINISTER IN THE PRESIDENCY: PERFORMANCE MONITORING AND EVALUATION AS WELL AS ADMINISTRATION IN THE PRESIDENCY:

Whether financial penalties are applicable to those information and communication, technology (ICT) projects that fail to meet the deadlines; if not, why not; if so, what formula will be applied in determining those penalties?

NW1215E

REPLY:

Depending of the nature of the project, penalties may be instituted. If it is essential for a project to be completed within a certain period of time, penalty clauses are included. This will normally be negotiated with the relevant service provider beforehand and will be included in the in the documentation before the order for the service is generated. Such penalties will then be based on a formula. This is however only applicable to The Presidency and other government departments may have a different approach.

QUESTION NO 991

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 28 AUGUST 2009

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 12 - 2009)

Date reply submitted : 14 September 2009

Ms D Kohler-Barnard (DA) to ask the Minister of Police:

(1) (a) How many SA Police Service stations use private security companies in each province and (b) what services do these companies provide;

(2) for each type of service provided, how many police stations per province use a private security company?

NW1214E

REPLY:

(1)(a) The following police stations in the provinces make use of private security companies:

PROVINCE	NUMBER OF ACCOUNTING STATIONS
Gauteng	35
Northern Cape	17
Eastern Cape	28
Free State	18
KwaZulu-Natal	28
Western Cape	28
Limpopo	15
Mpumalanga	15
North West	13

(1)(b) The private security companies perform guard and access control duties at the South African Police Service premises.

(2) The same service is provided by these companies to all SAPS premises that they are contracted to and the number of police stations using these services are tabulated in the aforementioned table.

988. THE MINISTER OF TOURISM ANSWERS:

The figure of 63% of tourists the media report is referring to, was part of the results of a study commissioned by Cape Town Tourism in partnership with the University of Cape Town. The study was done on a sample of 323 foreign tourists who were in South Africa during the Confederations Cup and the significance of the study was not indicated in the report. However, about 21% of the respondents indicated that they were not coming back for the World Cup and 15, 3% were not sure. This indicates that we might have more that 63% coming back, but it is not clear from the study what the reasons were that were indicated by those who were not coming back for the 2010 World Cup. Even though some of the respondents indicated that they will not visit South Africa during the 2010 World Cup, more that 95% of all respondents indicated that they would recommend South Africa as a holiday destination.

The department is not aware on any studies done in previous Confederations Cups. However, the total attendance during the 2005 Confederations Cup and the 2006 World Cup held in Germany were 603 106 and 3 353 655 respectively.

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

FOR WRITTEN REPLY

QUESTION NO 986

DATE REPLY SUBMITTED: THURSDAY, 15 OCTOBER 2009

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: FRIDAY, 28 AUGUST 2009 (INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 12 – 2009)

Mr G R Krumbock (DA) asked the Minister of Transport:

(1) What are the current (a) actual and (b) required levels of air traffic controllers (ATC) at the (i) OR Tambo, (ii) Durban, (iii) Cape Town, (iv) Port Elizabeth and (v) East London airports;

(2) whether there are any delays in let-down flight procedures as a result of ATC shortages; if so, (a) what are the economic costs of such delays and (b) what steps has been taken to overcome this problem?

NW1205E

REPLY:

The Minister of Transport:

(1) (a), (b) (i), (iii), (iv) and (v)

The number of air traffic controllers in the Air Traffic and Navigation Services Company Limited (ATNS) (specified airports only) is listed in the table below.

Airport	Required	Actual	Planned and current training	External recruitment	% Staffing level expected during the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup

OR Tambo	117	87	24	4	98%
Durban/La Mercy	24	12	11	0	96%
Cape Town	58	38	7	10	95%
Port Elizabeth	18	14	8	0	122%
East London	6	6	0	2	133%
Total	223	157	50	16	100%

(2) (a)

Staff shortages in Air Traffic Control (ATC) normally translate into airline delays. These delays can be experienced anywhere in the Air Traffic System. At present these delays are managed in the system prior to start up (without any engines running). There are therefore no direct costs associated with the staff shortages.

(b)

Fifty air traffic controllers are currently being trained and an additional 16 international air traffic controllers are being recruited. The international controllers will only be appointed on a fixed term employment of six months. ATNS has also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the South African Air Force (SAAF) for the training of Aerodrome Controllers. In terms of this MOU, six (6) ATNS personnel are currently under training at the Air Force Command and Control School, and another six (6) will be sent in November 2009. Six SAAF aerodrome controllers will be deployed in ATNS air traffic service units from December 2009 for a period of a year. The above- mentioned interventions are meant to address the ATC staff shortages in preparation for the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup. Staffing requirements beyond 2010 are being addressed through ATNS' internal training programme, which currently consists of 113 ATC/ATSA bursars. Furthermore, ATNS is currently negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding with Airways New Zealand, the air navigation service provider of New Zealand, for the possibility of sharing information and expertise in terms of Air Traffic Control training and other Air Traffic Management concepts, such as safety.

MEMBER: MR T D LEE

PARTY: DA

HOUSE: NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

TYPE: WRITTEN QUESTION

MINISTRY: SPORT AND RECREATION SA

QUESTION: NO 985

(Internal Question Paper No 12 – 2009)

First Session – Fourth Parliament

Mr T D Lee (DA) to ask the Minister of Sport and Recreation:

(1) Whether Athletics South Africa (ASA) was at any time requested to do any gender testing on a certain person (name furnished); if not, what is the position in this regard; if so,

(2) Whether the testing was done; if not, why not; if so, when was it done;

(3) Whether the test results were released to any athletics body; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;

(4) Whether ASA objected to the gender testing required by the

International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF); if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW1204E

REPLY:

Athletics South Africa (ASA) states that they were never requested to do any gender tests on any athletes by the IAAF. The position of ASA is constant with the IAAF gender verification policy that there will be no compulsory, standard or regular gender verification during the IAAF sanctioned championships.
There was no gender testing done on any athlete. ASA is in line with both the Constitution of the IAAF and that of the country. As far as they are concerned both Constitutions do not provide for compulsory, standard or regular gender verification tests. They do not have details as no test was undertaken by ASA.
ASA indicates that it is not possible to release results for a test that has not taken place and they do not have any details to that effect.
There was no request for gender tests by the IAAF and as such no basis for them to object.

QUESTION NO. 976

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 12 of 2009

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 28 August 2009

Mr G.R. Morgan (DA) to ask the Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs:

(1) Whether the department is investigating any measures to improve the turnaround time for the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) attached to government housing projects; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;

(2) whether the department was approached by (a) the Department of Human Settlements or (b) any provincial housing department about mechanisms to improve the turnaround time for EIAs for housing developments; if so, what are the relevant details;

(3) what are the key barriers to improving the turnaround time for EIAs for housing projects?

W1177E

MR G.R. MORGAN (DA) SECRETARY TO PARLIAMENT

HANSARD

PAPERS OFFICE

PRESS

976. THE MINISTER OF WATER AND ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS ANSWERS:

(1) The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) function is constitutionally a concurrent function between the National and Provincial spheres of government. This means that provincial authorities are 100% autonomous in terms of their EIA functions and the National Department cannot summarily intervene in these functions. Government housing projects fall within the mandate of the provincial authorities. It should also be mentioned that there is very little evidence of any significant delays in provincial departments in as far as the processing of Housing related EIA applications are concerned.

However the Department, through the Programme of Action (POA) of the Infrastructure Cluster, is planning to expand the EIA Strategy for Strategically Important Development (SID) to all government infrastructure development projects, including government housing projects. This approach allows for reduced time frames (reduced from the regulated time frames) for processing EIA applications by ensuring adequate human and financial resources to both process applications and develop decision-support instruments, norms & standards, etc, that would further aid expedient and effective decision-making. The SID EIA approach is currently piloted with the EIA applications of Eskom, Transnet and the PBMR and is enabled by financial contributions from these State Owned Enterprises. The expansion of the SID EIA Strategy to all government infrastructure development will however require substantial financial resources and this underpins the Department's submission to the Department of Finance for additional funds. The expansion of the SID strategy is dependent on securing such additional funds.

It should further be noted that the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) is also investigating various other measures to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the EIA system including the improvement of the EIA Regulations (following the amendment of the Act); the development of instruments such as Environmental Management Frameworks and guidelines, etc.

(2) The DEA was approached by the Department of Human Settlements (DoHS) about mechanisms to improve the turnaround time for EIAs for housing developments. In essence, their letter to DEA requested that a special dispensation, not dissimilar of the SID approach described above, be adopted for housing projects. A meeting in this regard was held between the two Departments on 28 April 2009. This was followed up by a letter from DEA, where the mandates of the national and provincial EIA authorities were explained and wherein the DEA offered to facilitate a meeting between the DoHS and the provincial EIA authorities where interim solutions, better coordination and cooperation could be discussed and agreed to. This DEA facilitated meeting between DoHS and the 9 provincial environmental departments responsible for the review of the EIA applications, took place on 10 September 2009. DEA undertakes to make the provincial departments aware of the urgency of housing delivery projects and to request these departments to prioritise the processing of such applications.

(3) As per (1) above, evidence of delays on housing project related EIAs is largely anecdotal and it is our understanding that the DoHS is actually calling for a "more expedient than regulated time frames" approach. The capacity audit and needs analysis study undertaken by DEA revealed that although other factors also play a role, the EIA authorities' ability to deliver an effective and efficient service in terms of the EIA system is dependent on adequate human and financial resources. Neither DEA nor any of the provincial authorities currently have adequate human resources and most EIA authorities do not have adequate financial resources. Other challenges faced include inadequate decision support systems such as Geographical Information Systems (GIS), guidelines, policies, etc. in some provinces, inadequate resources such as computers and pool vehicles and the vast geographical areas to be serviced.

It is the view of DEA that these issues would generally also apply to housing project related delays but have proposed that the meeting held on 10 September 2009 also be utilised to identify additional barriers to improvement of the turnaround time for EIAs for housing projects specifically. Once these barriers have been identified with the provinces, corrective measures will be proposed and an action plan developed and implemented.

QUESTION 977

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 28/08/09

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER 12-2009)

Dr W G James (DA) to ask the Minister of Higher Education and Training:

Whether he has taken any steps with regard to suspending import duties or on finding other means of reducing the cost of imported prescribed text books for university students, especially in the disciplines of science and medicine; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? NW1178E

REPLY:

I would like to recommend that the Minister of Trade and Industry be approached for a reply as tariffs and related duties are determined by the Ministry of Trade and Industry in consultation with the International Trade and Administration Commission. I will however explore this possibility in the near future and ask my officials to consult with the Department of Trade and Industry.

QUESTION NO 987

DATE REPLY SUBMITTED: THURSDAY, 15 OCTOBER 2009

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: FRIDAY, 28 AUGUST 2009 (INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 12 – 2009)

Mr G R Krumbock (DA) asked the Minister of Transport:

Whether additional (a) check-in attendants, (b) security personnel and (c) x-ray machines are laid on at (i) O R Tambo International, (ii) Cape Town International and (iii) Durban Airports before popular sporting events attracting local and international tourists; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW1206E

REPLY:

The Minister of Transport:

(a) Check-in attendants/clerks

The Airports Company South Africa Limited (ACSA) has no responsibility towards the check-in attendants at (i) OR Tambo International Airport, Cape Town International Airport and (iii) Durban International Airport, although ACSA engages with its airline partners on a regular basis during formal established platforms (meetings) and as major events draws closer, ACSA encourages and sensitises them to resource adequately ahead and during every major event, be it sport, cultural or conferences.

(b) Security personnel

(i), (ii) and (iii)

Additional security personnel are deployed to check points, terminal public areas, car parks and drop-off zones during a major sporting event or a major conference to ensure that our airports are safe and secure. Staff deployments are based on the forecasted number of passengers to be processed at the respective airports. Prior to a major sporting event or a conference there is consultation with the events organising team to establish requirements for the specific event in terms of facilitation.

(i), (ii) and (iii)

X-ray machines are deployed to checkpoints in terms of airport processing capacity. Additional machines are deployed at check-in points in the event of break down, preventative maintenance or additional passengers such as tour groups, sporting teams and major events to ensure optimal facilitation in terms of service standards. Hence, the number of X-ray machines operational will be determined by the operational resource management plan based on forecasted passenger numbers.

2009-09-21

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