Question & Replies No 451 to 500

2008-11-27

[PMG note: Any gaps in the numbering are due to the replies not being provided yet]

QUESTION NO: 454

PUBLISHED IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 9 OF 14 MARCH 2008

MR. A. J LEON (DA) TO ASK THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS:

Whether the South African High Commission in Mauritius received a petition in March 2008, signed by South African prisoners in Mauritius, to be presented to President Mbeki during his state visit in the same month; if so, what was the purport of this petition; whether the High Commission presented the petition to President Mbeki; if not, why not; whether the South African prisoners in Mauritius are receiving any consular assistance; if not, why not; if so, what is the (a) nature and (b) extent of this assistance?

(i) No.

(ii) No. No petition was received from South African Detainees / Prisoners.

(iii) Yes

(a) Consular Assistance is rendered in terms of Article 36 of the VCCR, 1963 and Departmental Prescripts.

(b) An extract of services/support that a detainee/prisoner can expect/can not expect from a Consular Officer as published on the Departmental Web-site is appended hereto.

The Department will, in the case of terminal illness make representation to the respective government to pardon a South African Citizen unconditionally.

No implications for South Africa.

UNQUOTE.

Quote

Advice to South African Citizens in the Event a South African is Arrested or Jailed Abroad

(1) Yes.

Measures that were taken by the Department of Water Affairs and Forsetry to promote adaptation to climate change include research undertaken in collaboration with the Water Research Commission to understand the science and effects of climate change including studies on impacts, vulnerabilities, scenarios and adaptation. As part of implementation of research results, model projections that indicated the likelihood of reduction in rainfall in the south western part of the Western Cape, was considered in our planning for future water requirements in that region.

As the impact of climate change will be gradual; continuous reassessments are made of the risk of supplies and appropriate adjustments are made to implement measures to ensure water availability. These measures include increasing bulk water storage such as the building of additional dams (e.g. Berg River Dam), increasing capacity of existing dams (e.g. the raising of Flag Boshielo Dam wall) or injection of water into aquifers (i.e. underground rock formations that store and transmit water) to increase underground storage (e.g. artificial recharge in Prince Albert). Demand management strategies, including water conservation campaigns, eradication of invasive vegetation and development of operating rules for reservoirs to ensure efficient water use, are other adaptation options undertaken by the Department to build resilience against climate change effects.

Attention is also given to ensure that a monitoring network is in place to measure the actual effects of climate change accurately and to ensure that this information is readily available.

(2) No.

My Department has not undertaken studies to specifically determine costs that are likely to be incurred in adaptation to climate change. However, our budget for infrastructure development, operation and maintenance for the economy and social needs of South Africa increased from R336 million in 2005/2006 to R1,6 billion in 2008/09 markedly informed by our commitment to cater for the multiple stresses on water resources including climate change impacts.

(3) Yes.

Funds have been secured with donor organisations to undertake investigations in the Orange Basin, amongst other to identify climate change adaptation strategies, including funding thereof. These investigations are to take place over the next three years.

QUESTION NO: 458

DATE SUBMITTED:

MR J SELFE (DA) TO ASK THE MINISTER OF CORRECTIONAL SERVICES

(1) Whether her department overspent its budget in the 2008-09 financial year; if so, (a) by what amount and (b) what has been the implications for the delivery of services;

(2) Whether her department placed advertisements in weekend newspapers (details furnished); if so, (a) in which newspapers, (b) at what cost and (c) for what purpose? NW519E

REPLY

(1) The Department overspent the budget in the 2008/09 financial year

(a) The amount of over-expenditure is R483, 821 million.

(b) The over-expenditure is mainly resulting from the payments of overtime to the correctional officials in line with the implementation of the Public Service Coordinating Bargaining Council Resolution number 1 of 2007. There were no negative implications on service delivery.

(2) Yes Correctional Services did place an advertorial in two national newspapers following the budget vote speech delivery.

(a) The City Press and Sunday Times.

(b) The costs are R187 000 for the City Press and R340, 000 for the Sunday Times.

(c) Correctional Services is obligated to inform the stakeholders and the public particularly on the Department's planned use of the allocated budget of over R47billion over the three years of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework. It is a handful of people that was able to listen to the Minister's tabulation of how the allocated budget would be used to improve the efficacy of the corrections system and to reduce re-offending rates. To ensure that opinion makers, stakeholders and ordinary citizens are better informed about these crucial programmes, it was necessary for the department to place these advertorials. The value of further debates on the Minister and Deputy Minister's plans for the use of the allocated R47 billion over three years in and outside of government cannot be compared with the costs of the advertorials outlined in this brief.

QUESTION 468

DATE OF PUBLICATION: Friday, 14 March 2008

INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 9 of 2008

Mr C M Lowe (DA) to ask the Minister of Home Affairs:

(1) With reference to the scarce skills and work permit quotas schedule appearing as a link to her department's website, what are the reasons for (a)(i) chartered accountants, (ii) management accountants, (iii) cost accountants and
(iv) accounting technicians not listed as scarce on the schedule and (b)(i) doctors, (ii) nurses and (iii) other health care professionals not listed as scarce under the health professionals category;

in respect of each of the three most recent financial years for which information is available, how many applications (a) for work permits had been (i) received,
(ii) approved and (iii) successfully placed in terms of permanent employment and (b) considered as having a scarce skill had been (i) received, (ii) successfully registered on the site and (iii) successfully placed in terms of permanent employment?

NW1108E

REPLY

The Department of Home Affairs does not determine the professional categories and occupational classes which are deemed to be scarce and critical or the applicable quotas, but mainly facilitates the issuing of quota work permits to foreigners in these professional categories or occupational classes. For this reason, a national list of scarce skills (Master Skills List) has been developed through collaboration by key Departments (Education, Home Affairs, Labour, and Trade and Industry) in order to provide a concrete picture of skills shortages that have been identified as contributory to blocking economic growth and development.

(2) The following breakdown of information available:

(a) During the period 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006:

(i) 12 765 applications for work permits were received; and

(ii) 12 582 applications for work permits were approved.

During the period 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007:

27 997 applications for work permits were received; and

26 917 applications for work permits were approved.

During the period 1 April 2007 until 31 March 2008:

20 824 applications for work permits were received; and

18 584 applications for work permits were approved.

(b) During the period 1 April 2005 to 31 March 2006:

(i) 339 quota work permit applications were received; and

(ii) 285 quota work permits were approved.

During the period 1 April 2006 to 31 March 2007:

942 quota work permits applications were received; and

661 quota work permits were approved.

During the period 25 April 2007 until 31 March 2008:

1191 quota work permit applications were received; and

1133 quota work permits were approved.

(2)(a) (iii) and (2)(b)(iii) Work permits are temporary residence permits and are issued for temporary employment and not permanent employment. With regard to general- and intra company transfer work permits, foreigners have secured employment prior to applying for work permits, which means that they have been placed successfully. In so far as quota work permits are concerned, foreigners are required to provide proof of having secured employment in the respective professional category or occupational class within 90 days after having entered the RSA.

QUESTION: NO 469

(Internal Question Paper No – 2008)

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

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

(1) Whether his attention has been drawn to the fact that the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium faces construction challenges which could prevent Port Elizabeth from hosting the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup; if so, what are these challenges;

(2) whether his department has put any measures in place to ensure that the stadium is ready to host the 2009 Fifa Confederations Cup; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW1109E

RESPONSE:

1) Yes, the Minister has been alerted of the construction challenges both through the 2010 Government Coordinating Committee and the LOC Board meetings. The technical team made up of representatives from the 2010 Government Coordinating Committee and the Host City of Nelson Mandela Bay has compiled regular reports for tabling both at the 2010 IMC and LOC Board.

Challenges identified with regard to the construction of the stadium are as follows:

The current progress in relation to the revision 6 programme is 28 working days behind schedule on the critical path, due to the weather conditions and the legal claims instituted by the contractor against the municipal.

Unresolved issues around the hazard identification plan and risk assessment in preparation for the erection of the roof trusses.

A communications problem between the roof manufacturers in Kuwait and the consultants on site is causing uncertainty on the delivery of the materials to the stadium.

It is highly unlikely that the 31 March 2009 finishing deadline would be met.

High risk of labour unrest like in all other 2010 stadia projects.

2) The LOC Technical Committee has recommended that the NMB Stadium be dropped from five stadia initially earmarked for the 2009 Football Confederations Cup.

QUESTION NO: 470

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 14 March 2008

QUESTION PAPER NO: 9

DATE OF REPLY: 5 June 2008

Ms M Smuts (DA) to ask the Minister of Communications:

(1) Whether there are still manually operated telephone exchanges in operation in South Africa; if so, (a) how many and (b) where;

(2) Whether any of the communities or consumers served by these exchanges has applied for automated exchanges; if so, how many (a) applications were received, (b) exchanges were automated and (c) communities or consumers have no alternative access to cellular services;

(3) Whether Telkom's license conditions require it to provide telephone services to all South Africans; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what standards of service apply?

NW1110E

REPLY:

(a) There are thirty (30) Manual Exchanges in Telkom's network. (b) There are:

· 9 Manual exchanges are in the Free State Province, the other 9 Manual exchanges in Telkom's North Eastern Region comprising of Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West Provinces

· 12 Manual exchanges in the Northern Cape province

2 (a) Telkom receives telephonic enquiries from customers from time to time, as well as written enquiries (minutes of meetings/invites to meetings to answer questions) from various farmer unions and AgriSA enquiring when the exchanges servicing them would be automated. Recent written enquiries from farmers unions include, but not limited to Ottosdal, Swartruggens, Loxton, Carnavon, Victoria–West, Griekwastad and Morgezon.

(b) 12 Exchanges were automated in the period 2005 to 2007. The replacement of exchanges is very expensive. Some of these exchanges service very few customers, making the cost per customer to automate exorbitantly high. As any other business concern, Telkom operates with limited funds and must therefore prioritise expenditure to provide service where the maximum benefit could be achieved for the country and the economy at large. Automation of manual exchanges is prioritised and planned in accordance with this principle.

(c) Appendices A and B, sketch out the national footprint of Vodacom and MTN mobile operators. These maps indicate that most of the relevant communities do not have alternative access to cellular services. Cell C has a roaming agreement with Vodacom which means that there is a complete overlap with the Vodacom footprint. Although Cell C has its own towers, these are all in the Vodacom footprint and are used by Cell C to offer customers differentiation on price.

3 Telkom's license stipulates that, subject to certain conditions, Telkom must provide a basic telephone service to every person in the republic who requests it. The conditions that mitigate this obligation are:

(a) where, in ICASA's opinion, any demand for the service can be met by other means (e.g. by cellular services) and that, accordingly, it would be unduly burdensome for Telkom to provide the telecommunications services requested;

(b) the obligation is only in respect of persons who are able to pay, as qualified in accordance with the credit referencing guidelines contained in the license;

(c) in areas where, at any given time, Telkom has not yet installed the telecommunications facilities necessary to provide the service, provided that at that time Telkom is in compliance with its roll-out obligations

(d) where the person requesting the service:

I. has refused to enter into a contract with Telkom, or

II. is, or is likely to become in breach of the contract with Telkom, or in default of any liability owned under the contract; or

III. Has or is using the service for illegal purposes.

No specific quality of service targets are currently imposed in Telkom's license. Telkom, however, is subject to the standards of service generally imposed by ICASA by regulations.

APPENDIX A: VODACOM COVERAGE

Source: Telkom modified from a Vodacom website : http://168.210.68.3G

APPENDIX B: MTN COVERAGE

Source: URL:http://www.mtn.co.za

"472. Mrs D van der Walt (DA) to ask the Minister of Arts and Culture:

(1) (a) When did his department decide to withdraw its sponsorship of this year's Naledi Theatre awards (media report furnished), (b) when did his department inform the organisers of the award that the sponsorship had been withdrawn and (c) what are the reasons for withdrawing the sponsorship;

(2) whether his department uses any criteria when deciding which cultural institutions/ bodies/ awards to sponsor; if not , how does it make its decision; if so, what criteria are used?"

NW1112E

REPLY

1(a) During 2007/08 financial year the Department of Arts and Culture (DAC) could no longer fund the Naledi Theatre Awards as there were insufficient funds.

The Department of Arts and Culture funded the Naledi Theatre Awards since 2005 by way of assisting that sector of the arts community to establish a recognized token of merit to be awarded annually. From the outset, the Minister explained to the organizers that this was seed money, to assist the award to take-off, after which the theatre sector, like all the others, would be expected to fund the awards itself – through sponsorships, through self-generated funds, etc.

During the 2006/07 financial year, the organizers were once again advised that as the department has no funds designated for this purpose, it was imperative that the theatre sector find funds elsewhere. The DAC did however once again put up the money for the awards.

(b) The organizers of the Naledi Theatre Awards were duly informed in October 2007 that the DAC did not have funds to support the awards.

(c) Funding for the Naledi Theatre Awards, as stated in the foregoing, were not withdrawn. For two consecutive financial years the DAC has found funds to assist the organizers get the awards started, as they were advised from the outset, that was a temporary arrangement to help them get off the ground. When the DAC could no longer fund the awards, the organizers were advised accordingly.

2. The DAC does use a number of criteria to determine funding of initiatives in the Arts and Culture sector. A number of Cultural Institutions and Funding bodies, for example, are awarded annual grants voted by parliament. Such funding is also determined by the DAC's own policies and the government's programme of action which spelt out in the President's State of the Nation address at the commencement of each parliamentary year. Funding proposals received by the DAC and the Ministry that are congruent with the government's programme of action, may be funded on the basis of merit. The availability of funds during a financial year will, in the last instance, determine whether or not a particular proposal is funded.

QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY

QUESTION NO.: 480

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 10 June 2009

Dr S M van Dyk (DA) to ask the Minister of Public Enterprises:

(1) How many (a) workers at management level and (b) ordinary workers at each of the nine public enterprises (aa) have been dismissed or (bb) left the service with voluntary packages from (i) 1 January 2006 to 31 January 2008 and (ii) 1 February 2008 to 30 April 2009;

(2) On how many management boards does each of the management board members of the nine public enterprises serve? NW542E

REPLY

The tables below indicate workers at managerial and ordinary workers of nine SOE that have been dismissed or left the service with voluntary packages:

(1) Eskom

Period	Category
	Managerial level		Ordinary workers
	Dismissed	Left service	Dismissed	Left service
01 January 2006 to 31 January 2008	16	33	158	427
01 February to 30 April 2009	8	17	106	182

The table below indicates other board memberships of the Eskom Board of Directors. This includes Subsidiary board memberships.

Board Members	Active Boards	Eskom Subsidiaries	Dormant	TOTAL
Mr Mpho Makwana (Executive Chairperson Designate)	4	0	0	4
Ms Zee Cele	6	0	0	6
Mr Daniel Dube	1	0	0	1
Mr Lars Josefsson	2	0	0	2
Mr Hee-Beom Lee	2	0	0	2
Ms Wendy Lucas-Bull	13	0	0	13
Mr John Mirenge	5	0	0	5
Mr Jacob Modise	32	0	0	32
Mr Allen Morgan	8	0	0	8
Ms Uhuru Zikalala (Nene)	0	0	0	0
Mr Paul O'Flaherty (CFO)	0	0	0	0

(2) PBMR

Period	Category
	Managerial level		Ordinary workers
	Dismissed	Left service	Dismissed	Left service
01 January 2006 to 31 January 2008	0	0	0	0
01 February to 30 April 2009	0	0	0	0

The table below indicates other board memberships of the PBMR Board of Directors.

This includes Subsidiary board memberships.

Board Members	Active Boards	PBMR Subsidiaries	Dormant	TOTAL
Dr Alistair Ruiters (Chairperson)	9	0	0	9
Dr Rob Adam	8	0	0	8
Dr Alex Tsela	2	0	0	2
Mr Gert Gouws	10	0	0	10
Dr Regis Matzie	1	0	0	1
Mr Peter Readle	1	0	0	1
Dr Xolani Mkhwanazi	5	0	0	5
Mr Jaco Kriek – CEO	1	0	0	1

(3) Transnet

Period	Category
	Managerial level		Ordinary workers
	Dismissed	Left service	Dismissed	Left service
01 January 2006 to 31 January 2008	21	610	364	4854
01 February to 30 April 2009	23	341	200	2550

The table below indicates other board memberships of the Transnet Board of Directors. This includes Subsidiary board memberships.

Board Members	Active Boards	Transnet Subsidiaries	Dormant	TOTAL
Prof Geoffrey Everingham (Acting Chairperson)	5	0	0	0
Ms Nolwazi Gcaba	2	0	0	2
Mr Michael Hankinson	8	0	0	8
Dr Norman Haste	1	0	0	1
Mr Peter Joubert	9	0	0	9
Ms Nomngando Matyumza	6	0	0	6
Mr Peter Moyo	16	0	0	16
Ms Nunu Ntshingila	7	0	0	7
Mr Anoj Singh (Acting CFO)	6	1	3	10
Mr Chris Wells (Acting CEO)	3	2	1	6

(4) DENEL

Period	Category
	Managerial level		Ordinary workers
	Dismissed	Left service	Dismissed	Left service
01 January 2006 to 31 January 2008	0	10	30	61
01 February to 30 April 2009	1	5	19	13

The table below indicates other board memberships of the DENEL Board of Directors. This includes Subsidiary board memberships.

Board Members	Active Boards	Denel Subsidiaries	Dormant	TOTAL
Mr Sibusiso Sibisi (Chairperson)	5	0	0	5
Ms Seadimo Chaba	5	2	2	9
Dr Gert Cruywagen	4	0	0	4
Dr Bengt Halse	5	1	0	6
Mr Alan Hirsch	2	1	0	3
Mr Llewelyn Jones	2	1	0	3
Mr Zoli Kunene	10	4	0	14
Ms Nonqubela Maliza	2	0	0	2
Ms Chantyl Mulder	4	0	0	4
Ms Seth Phalatse	16	1	4	21
Mr Cedric Savage	3	0	0	3
Ms Tebelelo Seretse	2	1	0	3
Mr Fikile Mhlontlo - CFO	1	2	0	3
Mr Talib Sadik – CEO	1	2	0	3

(5) SAA

Period	Category
	Managerial level		Ordinary workers
	Dismissed	Left service	Dismissed	Left service
01 January 2006 to 31 January 2008	1	117	41	819
01 February to 30 April 2009	0	6	19	19

The table below indicates other board membership of the SAA Board of Directors. This includes Subsidiary board memberships.

Board Members	Active Boards	SAA Subsidiaries	Dormant	TOTAL
Ms Cheryl Carolus (Chairperson)	7	0	0	7
Mr Teddy Daka	12	0	0	12
Mr Tukela Cyril Jantjies	3	0	0	3
Mr Russell Loubser	3	0	0	3
Ms Duduzile Cynthia Miyeni	5	0	0	5
Mr Bonang Mohale	9	0	0	9
Ms Lindi Nkosi Thomas	0	0	0	0
Ms Margie Whitehouse	1	1	0	2
Mr Kaushik Patel - CFO	0	0	0	0
Mr Chris Smyth – Acting CEO	0	0	0	0

(6) SAFCOL

Period	Category
	Managerial level		Ordinary workers
	Dismissed	Left service	Dismissed	Left service
01 January 2006 to 31 January 2008	7	3	35	80
01 February to 30 April 2009	5	4	34	4

The table below indicates other board memberships of the SAFCOL Board of Directors. This includes Subsidiary board memberships.

Board Members	Active Boards	SAFCOL Subsidiaries	Dormant	TOTAL
Ms Gugu Moloi (Chairperson)	7	0	0	7
Ms Elaine Alexander	1	0	0	1
Mr Mohammed Bhabha	0	0	0	0
Mr David Bills	2	0	0	2
Mr Peter Derman	0	0	0	0
Dr Mothomang Diaho	0	0	0	0
Prof Rashid Hassan	0	0	0	0
Mr Seth Radebe	4	0	0	4
Ms Refiloe Sedibe	11	0	0	11
Mr Kobus Breed - CEO	4	4	0	8

(7) SAX

Period	Category
	Managerial level		Ordinary workers
	Dismissed	Left service	Dismissed	Left service
*01 January 2006 to 31 January 2008	1	0	7	1
01 February to 30 April 2009	0	0	0	0

*South African Express before 2008/09 was under Transnet and its information was reported as Transnet's.

The table below indicates other board memberships of the SAX Board of Directors. This includes Subsidiary board memberships.

Board Members	Active Boards	SAX Subsidiaries	Dormant	TOTAL
Ms Lilian Boyle (Chairperson)	4	0	0	4
Mr Ezra Bunyenyezi	4	0	0	4
Mr Chris Christodoulpou	3	0	0	3
Mr Ndoda Madalane	3	0	0	3
Mr Bonang Mohale	5	0	0	5
Mr Stavros Nicolaou	2	0	0	2
Ms Bridget Ssamula	0	0	0	0
Mr Glen Van Heerden	2	0	0	2
Mr Matsotso Vuso	3	0	0	3
Ms Siza Mzimela - CEO	2	0	0	2
Mr Sikhumbuzo Zulu - CFO	0	0	0	0

(8) Alexkor

Period	Category
	Managerial level		Ordinary workers
	Dismissed	Left service	Dismissed	Left service
01 January 2006 to 31 January 2008	0	0	19	41
01 February to 30 April 2009	0	0	0	128

The table below indicates other board memberships of the Alexkor Board of Directors.

This includes Subsidiary board memberships.

Board Members	Active Boards	Alexkor Subsidiaries	Dormant	TOTAL
Mr. Reginald Muzariri (Chairperson)	3	0	0	3
Ms Viola Makin	0	0	0	0
Ms Simangele Ngoma	2	0	0	2
Mr. Roger Paul	5	0	0	5
Mr. Claude Towell	3	0	0	3
Ms Khetiwe Maseko - CEO	5	0	0	5

(9) Infraco

Period	Category
	Managerial level		Ordinary workers
	Dismissed	Left service	Dismissed	Left service
01 January 2006 to 31 January 2008	0	0	0	0
01 February to 30 April 2009	0	0	0	0

The table below indicates other board memberships of the Infraco Board of Directors. This includes Subsidiary board memberships.

Board Members	Active Boards	Infraco Subsidiaries	Dormant	TOTAL
Mr Andrew Mthembu (Chairperson)	14	0	0	14
Mr Cornelius Groesbeek	3	0	0	3
Mr Nolo Letele	3	0	0	3
Mr Sydney Mabalayo	3	0	0	3
Mr Tumi Magasa	4	0	0	4
Mr Shakeel Meer	4	0	0	4
Ms Monica Singer-Saul	7	0	0	7
Ms Sindisiwe Koyana	5	0	0	5
Mr Suren Maharaj - CFO	1	0	0	1
Mr David Smith - CEO	1	0	0	1

QUESTION 486

WRITTEN REPLY 14 MARCH 2008

486. Mr J P I Blanchè (DA) to ask the Minister of Public Works:

(a) Why did her department import engineers from Cuba, (b) how many will be employed (i) in her department and (ii) in the private sector, (c) for how long will their employment be required in both cases and (d) on what public works projects will they be deployed? NW1127E

REPLY

I have provided a response to the Honourable Member on this question already. The initial question was posed as Question 67 for written reply.

QUESTION 487

WRITTEN REPLY 14 MARCH 2008

487. Mr S E Opperman (DA) to ask the Minister of Public Works:

Whether a certain tender (details furnished) for the upgrading of the Police College at Oudtshoorn was advertised; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? NW1128E

REPLY

Yes, the tender was advertised on 26 October 2007 and closed on 28 November 2007.

QUESTION NO 488

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 14 MARCH 2008

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 9/2008)

Mr M H Hoosen (ID) to ask the Minister for Safety and Security:

(1) Whether the SA Police Service is currently experiencing any staff shortages in (a) police personnel, (b) administrative back-up staff, (c) professional staff such as (i) forensic investigators, (ii) DNA experts, (iii) accountants, (iv) legally trained personnel and (v) psychologists and (d) other officials with university degrees; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what is the extent of the shortage with regard to each of the above categories;

(2) Whether any steps are being taken to rectify these shortages; if not, why not; if so, what steps?

NW1129E

REPLY:

(1) (a) No. The South African Police Service is not experiencing any staff shortages concerning police personnel. The SAPS recruited 11 360 members on entry level as provided for in the Human Resources Plan to ensure policing capacity for the Medium Term Expenditure Framework period. The target of 173 120 members set for the SAPS at the end of the 2007/2008 financial year was achieved by the 31^st of March 2008.

(b) No. The South African Police Service experiences no staff shortages in respect of the administrative back-up staff. The 3 200 positions that were available in the 2007/2008 financial year were all filled to ensure support capacity as provided for in the Human Resources Plan of the SAPS.

(c) (i) & (ii) Yes. The Forensic Science Laboratory has a shortage of 10 forensic investigators which includes DNA experts in terms of the allocation for the 2007/2008 Medium Term Expenditure Framework cycle.

(iii) & (iv) No. There are no shortages of accountants and legally trained personnel as provided for in the approved organizational structures on all levels within the South African Police Service. Vacant posts were advertised and filled from the pool of applicants that became accessible outside the SAPS.

(v) No. The SAPS is not experiencing staff shortages concerning psychologists. Positions in this field are advertised to attract officials with the required skills to join the Service. However, the SAPS is experiencing a high personnel turnover with members of personnel leaving the Service for lucrative offers outside the public sector.

(d) No. There are generally no problems experienced by the SAPS in this regard. All positions provided for in the Human Resources Plan are filled as planned in the MTEF period. The SAPS is consistently meeting the organizational establishment target set for the financial year.

The granted (funded) posts for the Medium Term Expenditure Framework 2007/2008 have allowed for the growth of the establishment to a total number of 173 120 employees. The granted (funded) posts for the Medium Term Expenditure Framework for 2008/2009 will allow for further growth of the establishment of the South African Police Service and future shortages will be addressed through the processes of enlistment, transfers and promotion.

(2) In the present financial year, 199 posts of forensic analysts (which includes forensic investigators and DNA experts) were filled. Another 100 posts for forensic analysts have been advertised as a first phase for 2008/2009 and the selection of candidates will be completed soon.

QUESTION 491

491. Mr I E Jenner (ID) to ask the Minister for the Public Service and Administration: (Interdepartmental transfer on 20/03/08)

(a) Which provincial departments and local authorities reporting to her do not have fraud prevention plans (FPPs) (i) in place and (ii) fully operative and (b)(i) what are the reasons in each case for the delays in (aa) setting up and (bb) implementing FPPs and (ii) what action is being taken to rectify this?

RESPONSE

(a) A comprehensive list of departments which do not have Fraud Prevention Plans has not been developed by my department or the Public Service Commission at this at this stage*. However, according to a recent PSC Report on the Implementation of Fraud Prevention Plans (FPPs) in the Public Service in which 69 departments were sampled, it was found that ninety three percent (93%) of the national and 85% of the provincial departments had FPPs.

(b)The PSC Report cited as a key reason for the delay the fact that departments face capacity challenges in fully constituting specialist fraud prevention and risk management functions.

The PSC Report recommended, among others, that accountability for and implementation of fraud prevention practices could be improved by clearly allocating responsibilities and delineating roles and task designations amongst departmental staff, especially managers In order to draw the attention of departments to the findings and recommendations contained in the PSC report, copies of the report were sent to each Executing Authority (EA) and Head of Department (HoD). The PSC will monitor progress in this regard as part of its follow up oversight work.

*It should be noted however, that the requirement for Fraud Prevention Plans derives from the Public Finance Management Act which falls within the mandate of the Minister of Finance and questions in this regard should be directed accordingly. It should also be noted that no local authorities report to the Minister for the Public Service and Administration.

QUESTION NO.: 493

Mr I E Jenner (ID) to ask the Minister of Housing:

In respect of the 20061. Whether her Department or any institutions falling under her Department are currently experiencing any shortages in qualified personnel; if not what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) what is the extent of the shortages in each category of specialized work, including in respect of qualified (i) project managers, (ii) electricians, (iii) architects, (iv) plumbers, (v) accountants and (iv) other skilled specialised workers and (b) what steps are being taken to rectify these shortages?

REPLY

The budgeted cost, actual cost and unit cost in respect of the Statutory and other Entities reporting to the Department were as follows:

THUBELISHA HOMES

Thubelisha Homes is currently being wound down and shortages should be seen against this background.

B. SOCIAL HOUSING FOUNDATION (SHF)

The SHF is currently being wound down and shortages should be seen against this background.

C. SERVCON HOUSING SOLUTIONS

(a) Servcon Housing Solutions is not experiencing any shortages in skilled staff, since well created positions have been successfully filled

D. NATIONAL URBAN RECONSTRUCTION HOUSING AGENCY (NURCHA)

(a) Nurcha is not experiencing any shortages in skilled staff.

E. RUARAL HOUSING LOAN (RHLF)

(a) RHLF does not experience any staff shortages in qualified personnel. All the approved job positions of RHLF are filled in line with the capacities of the size of the institution as required.

F. NATIONAL HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATION (NHFC)

(a) The NHFC does experience skills shortages, as follows:

· Institutional Level

The expansion of the NHFC's mandate has included restructuring of the Corporation's structure to align it with the changed mandate and direction. The restructured organization necessitated new competencies to ensure that the new demands of the mandate were fulfilled. This meant additional capabilities at institutional level, to ensure that institutional interventions such as skills audit, leadership capability assessment are undertaken. The NHFC engaged well equipped partners to assist in this regard. The result from both processes was an implementation of the recommendations which are currently underway.

· Individual Level

The changes, also meant that the Corporation needed to acquire new capabilities (human, process, and technology) in order to ensure delivery of its new mandate.

Priority to the resourcing of the Corporation was given to the internal candidates who were adequately skilled to fulfill the demands of the newly established roles. Where there was a need to go externally because of inadequate competencies, there was a deliberate effort to ensure mentoring of the internal resources through shadowing. This was deliberate in order to beef up the internal competencies and to preserve jobs.

The challenges are experienced in the recruitment of specialized financial skill e.g. Turnaround Specialist, Enterprise Wide Risk Management and Actuarial skills, which skills are requisite in the financial industry which NHFC is in. The NHFC has drafted a retention strategy which is aimed at ensuring that its mission critical employees are retained.

G. NATIONAL HOME BUILDERS REGISTRATION COUNCIL (NHBRC)

(a) NHBRC is experiencing staff shortages in respect of engineers as there is a general shortage of technical skills in South Africa in particular Engineering, Finance and scientific fields as espoused by our Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETA's). NHBRC has lost some of its recruited engineers since the beginning of 2007/08 financial year to organizations that offer far higher salaries. Whilst some of the positions have been filled, the NHBRC presently has to fill vacant positions of Structural Engineers.

(b) The NHBRC is taking measures to recruit engineers from India, Cuba and to use the Presidential database in identifying engineers who can be recruited. NHBRC has introduced a programme of adopting schools by providing financial assistance to Grade 12 students and encouraging them to pursue engineering and IT fields.

Learnerships and internship programmes have been introduced within the NHBRC to increase capacity and to expose young South Africans to the environment. Bursaries are also given to matriculants who have attained excellent results and pursuing the field of engineering e.g. 17 students were offered bursaries and are studying at various institutions.

Question no.496

QUESTION PAPER DATE: FRIDAY, 14March 2008

496: Mr. L Greyling (ID) to ask Minister of Minerals and Energy

Whether she and or her department are investigating possible savings in energy demand by introducing daylight saving or different time zones for certain provinces, if not why not if so (a) what progress has been made with the instigation and (b) when does she intend announcing any decisions?

RESPONSE:

The Department of Minerals and energy is not investigating the use of Daylight saving as a demand side management or energy saving measure.

(a) The studies conducted as far back in the 1980's by CSIR and more recently ESKOM, concludes that there will not be any significant impact on the energy consumption, either in the reduction on the peak demand or reduction on the base-load power stations, as a result of introduction of daylight savings. The available evidence from the two studies are conclusive on the fact that South Africa will not gain from the introduction of day night saving.

(b) The department is not intending to conduct any future study as they are conclusive on the impact of daylight saving on the energy consumption in the country.

Background Information

As far as could be established there exists no body of scientific information on the potential impacts of Daylight Saving Time (DST) with direct relevance to South Africa. Arguments are thus mostly built on perceptions and probabilities.

The only way to achieve greater certainty would be to introduce DST for a 2 year experimental period and to then do modeling, quantification of benefits, cost analysis and comparative research.

Though there is no conclusive empirical evidence applicable to the South African context, based on a balance of possibilities, it can be argued that:

There is a dichotomy between the benefits of DST for people residing in the East of the country, and the inconvenience suffered by people in the West of the country. Because of the width of the country and the fact that the 30° E meridian is well towards the East, all of the country West of the 30° meridian by default already enjoys a degree of DST.

The East-West difference is the most important political reason why the various attempts at introducing DST over the previous century have failed in South Africa.

Latitude is important. The DST advantages documented for Europe and the USA, which are situated further from the equator, have limited applicability to South Africa

The advantages of DST are also linked to socio-economic circumstances. Generally: a more affluent person with own transport living in the East of country and close to his/her place of work, and with the financial resources to unlock outdoor recreational opportunities, has the most to gain from DST.

The impact of DST on energy conservation and the magnitude of the demand peak will in all likelihood be marginal. 8519

In terms of quality of life, crime reduction, road safety and tourism the arguments in favour of DST are speculative. The convenience of someone in the East of the country will be off-set by the inconvenience of commuters without own transport in the East and West of the country who would then have to travel to work and school before sunrise. Any improvement in the "crime-after-dark" or "traffic accidents-after dark" trends may well be off-set by the increase in the "crime-before-sunrise" or "traffic accident-before-sunrise" trends. In terms of tourism spending, it is possible that it will simply be the category of spending, and not the total amount of spending, that changes due to DST.

There have not been any costing done of the implementation of DST, e.g. the communication challenges in a developing country with a large illiterate population without access to modern communication means, the rescheduling of transport systems, the re-programming of computer-controlled traffic lights and of computer-linked business transactions. In the regional context, uniformity with our Southern African neighbours will also be a political and practical challenge, e.g. linkages between the banking sectors, the operating hours of border posts, etc.

Question 500

Adv H C Schmidt (DA) to ask the Minister for Public Enterprises:

(1) With reference to his reply to Question 59 on 26 February 2008 with regard to the condition of Eskom's coal stockpiles for the period 2000 to 2006, how can his response be reconciled with (a) the statement by Eskom's chief generating officer on 8 March 2008 in which specific details about the current condition of Eskom's stockpile were given and (b) the information in Eskom's 2002 annual report, which stated that coal stock at the end of 2001 was 14,8 million tons, representing 44 days of burn;

(2) whether, with reference to his reply, he will take action against Eskom for releasing information that is confidential and could be prejudicial to the security of supply and could lead to significant cost escalations; if not, why not; if so, what action;

(3) whether he will reconsider his position and supply the relevant information; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? NW1091E

Reply:

(1-3) Question number 59 required information relating to each power station. This information is confidential and therefore cannot be made public.

The statement made on 8 March 2008 does not provide a breakdown per power station.

2008-11-27

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