Question no

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 6 JUNE 2008

Mr L K Joubert (DA) to ask the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development:

(1) (a) What was the total cost of the supplement that her department placed in newspapers on 29 May 2008 and (b) in which newspapers did the supplement appear;

(2) whether this supplement also appeared in Afrikaans newspapers; if not, why not; if so, in which newspapers?

NW1613E

REPLY
(1)(a) The total cost of the newspaper supplement was R684 000.00.

(b) The supplement appeared in the following newspapers:

• 
  The Star
  
• 
  Pretoria News
  
• 
  Cape Argus
  
• 
  Daily News
  
• 
  Diamond Fields Advertiser
  

(2) No. Due to budgetary and time constraints, the supplement did not appear in Afrikaans newspapers or any other official language. The use of non-English newspapers would have required the whole

QUESTION NO 926
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 6 JUNE 2008

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 16/2008)
Date reply submitted: 11 November 2008
Ms D Kohler Barnard (DA) to ask the Minister of Safety and Security:
(1) What are the full particulars of departmental prescripts regulating the use of State vehicles by the (a) Divisional Commissioner, (b) Deputy National Commissioner, (c) National Commissioner and (d) private persons;
(2) whether a personal friend of a certain official in his department (name furnished) was arrested at a roadblock in Pretoria on 26 August 2006 whilst driving a State vehicle allocated for the use of the official; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so,
(3) whether a docket was opened in respect of the matter; if not, why not; if so, what was the outcome of the investigation?

NW1616E

REPLY:
(1)(a) (c) The vehicle scheme for senior management makes provisions in terms of paragraph 9 of National Instruction 3/2004, that a Deputy National Commissioner, Divisional Commissioner or a Provincial Commissioner may at any time, at their own discretion, drive or travel as a passenger in a state vehicle.
(1)(d) In terms of the provisions of paragraph 10 of Special Force Order (General) 3A of 1987, State vehicles may only be utilized for official purposes and for those duties which the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service may authorise from time to time.
In terms of paragraph 11(2)(b) of Special Force Order (General) 3A of 1987 the following persons who are not members of the South African Police Service may be regarded as competent to drive State vehicles:
An official of another State Department and an employee of a private concern doing motor vehicle repair work who is in possession of a valid driver’s licence and who has to drive a State vehicle in the execution of his/her duties.
(2) Yes, a personal friend of the Divisional Commissioner: Legal Services ( a certain Mr Motsepe) was apprehended in Pretoria (Atteridgeville area) on 27 August 2005, not at a roadblock but whilst the police were doing patrol duties. He was driving a state vehicle allocated for the use of the said Divisional Commissioner: Legal Services.
Mr Motsepe was not arrested as the commanding officer of the roadblock was advised that the individual concerned need not be arrested   as his whereabouts were known to the SAPS, but to open a case docket in this matter.
(3) The matter is still under investigation.

QUESTION NO.: 927

DATE OF PUBLICATION: 6 JUNE 2008

Mr L K Joubert (DA) to ask the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Development:

(a) What was the purpose of a certain special feature spread (details furnished) and (b) what was the total amount spent on the full-colour spread?

NW1617E

REPLY
(a) The feature that appeared in the Independent Newspapers Group on 29 and 30 May 2008 was to provide an opportunity to present a critical overview of my Department’s progress to date and highlight its objectives for the coming financial year. As part of Government work, it is important to regularly provide this information to the public and inform them of the progress Government is making in service delivery.

(b) The total cost was R684 000.00

QUESTION NO. 928
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 06 JUNE 2008

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 16)

Mr M Waters (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

(1) Whether there is a set time period in which applications of foreign medical practitioners wishing to work in South Africa have to be processed; if not, why not; if so, what is the time period;

(2) what is the exact process an application of foreign medical practitioners is subjected to before the application is finalised;

(3) whether her department is looking at streamlining the application process to ensure that applications are dealt with speedily and timeously; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

NW1618E

REPLY:
(1) Yes, there is a set time period of a maximum of 6 weeks;
(2) The exact process entails receipt of applications; recording of information on the database; issuance of instructions to applicants for the submission of further documents; letters for signing by the Director for either endorsement, writing examinations and/or registration with the statutory council, or employment; signed letter sent to the applicant or collected by the applicant; over and above 1 supra, it takes an additional two weeks to finalise the application if further documentation is required from the applicant;
(3) A Call Centre to streamline the application process to ensure that applications are dealt with speedily and timorously was established; the relevant details are that the Call Centre started operating on 03 December 2007, four officers comprising 1 Supervisor and 3 Consultants resumed duty. The officers came to the Department with EU as their employer. However, the third Consultant got a job offer and resigned from the Department in February 2008;
The Call Centre staff works in collaboration with staff of the Workforce Management with regard to activities as indicated in paragraph 2 above.

QUESTION NO. 930
DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 06 JUNE 2008

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 16)

Mr M Waters (DA) to ask the Minister of Health:

Whether she has been informed of an investigation into any officials of her department by the National Prosecuting Authority in terms of the recommendation made by the Public Protector in May 2008 that an advertisement placed by her department containing a criticism of a judicial ruling against her department may have constituted contempt of court; if so, (a) who is being investigated and (b) what is the current status of this investigation?

NW1620E

REPLY:
No.
QUESTION 931
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 6/06/2008

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER 16-2008)
Mrs S V Kalyan (DA) to ask the Minister of Education:
How many (a) applications for places were (i) received and (ii) accepted at each of the specified medical-training universities or colleges and institutions and (b) individuals graduated from each specified facility in each of the most recent seven years for which information is available? NW1621E
REPLY
(i) Applications received for the MBCHB in 2008

Note: the information may include more than one application for a particular student, as students submit applications to one or more institutions. In addition, the number of applications always exceeds the number of available places.

(
ii) Students enrolled for 2008 in 1st year class for the MBCHB
(b) The table below contains the numbers of first-time-entering students for 2000 to 2006 (excluding internal/external transfers and repeats):

Graduates for the MBCHB 2000 to 2006

Note: These are students who are eligible to start their in service clinical training.

QUESTION NO.: 939