Question no

QUESTION 513

FOR WRITTEN REPLY
Date of publication on internal question paper: 20 March 2008

Internal question paper no:

Mrs J A Semple (DA) to ask the Minister of Social Development:

(1) Whether any investigation has been conducted into why there are more than 3 000 summonses being served on the SA Social Security Agency in order to obtain social grants; if not, (a) why not and (b) when will it be done; if so, (i) what are the results of the investigation and (ii) who is responsible for the delays;

(2) Whether any action will be taken against the people responsible for the delays; if not, why not; if so, what action? NW1155E

REPLY:

1. 
   (i) A random investigation had been conducted by SASSA regarding the current litigation status particularly in Kwa Zulu Natal, as well as the summonses that are issued daily. It was discovered that the attorneys for the beneficiaries lodged court applications against SASSA prematurely, without having provided SASSA with reasonable time to respond to a claim. A substantial number of summonses were issued prior to the establishment of SASSA and in most instances SASSA is not in a position to investigate or refute the allegations or claims because even the applicants’ attorneys do not have supporting evidence to substantiate their clients’ allegations.
   

SASSA is dealing with almost 11 million beneficiaries. It was recently pointed out in the Durban and Coast Local Division (High Court) in the matter between PN Cele vs The South African Social Security Agency and 22 related cases, case No.7940/2007, Page 22, that “…if there are 50 000 or 100 000 problematic cases, whilst that is 50 000 or 100 000 too many, it nonetheless represents only between 0.5% and 1% of the total number of recipients of such grants.”

Most of the litigation against SASSA has been instituted without the beneficiary first exhausting all internal remedies. The procedure directive that was set out in, in the PN Cele matter, will ensure that all the internal SASSA remedies get exhausted before applicants resort to litigation. Attorneys for the grant applicants cannot therefore enrol a matter until the internal remedies have been exhausted and the State Attorney’s office at that Region and this will drastically reduce the volume of litigation related to social grants.
(ii) The delays are due to a number of factors, the main reason being that SASSA had inherited the files from the Provincial Department of Social Development, and most files cannot be traced. To enable SASSA to verify the applications for grants would involve locating the beneficiary’s application, which in many instances cannot be located because it was never lodged in the first place.

2. 
   There is no need for action to be taken against anyone. However, the Legal Services of SASSA and the Department of Social Development are intending to develop a joint litigation strategy, which would be informed by the Cele judgment that was handed down on March 19^th 2008, and meet with the State Attorneys in other regions to request them to consult with the courts in their respective regions about the setting of procedure directives similar to those at KZN ( and the Eastern Cape), as this will un - clutter the courts with unnecessary grant related matters.
   

Furthermore SASSA is working closely with German Technical Co–operation (GTZ) regarding the roll-out of the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA) training to ensure that all the relevant officials at SASSA, particularly those officials in Regions know and understand the implications of PAJA.

QUESTION NO 517

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER: 20 MARCH 2008

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 10)
517. Mr M M Swathe (DA) to ask the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry:
(1) What (a) was the backlog in respect of the eradication of the bucket system in each province (i) in 2006 and (ii) as at 15 March 2008, (b) amount was allocated by the Government in this regard in each of the past three financial years and (c) was the actual estimated cost to eradicate this backlog;

(2) whether her department has conducted any audit of the (a) percentage of the budgets spent by municipalities to eliminate this backlog and (b) actual percentage of buckets that were eradicated; if not, why not; if so,

(3) whether any discrepancies were found regarding these figures at any municipality; if so, what are the relevant details? NW1159E

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REPLY:
The programme of replacing the bucket system of sanitation was started in 2005. It is focusing on replacing all bucket toilets in established settlements that were in existence prior to 1994.
(1)(a) The bucket sanitation backlog in 2006, as well as in mid-March 2008 is shown in the table below:

Province__(1)(a)(i)_Backlog_as_at__July_2006__(1)(a)(ii)_Backlog_as_at'>Province	(1)(a)(i) Backlog as at July 2006	(1)(a)(ii) Backlog as at 15 March 2008
Eastern Cape	23 521	1 924
Free State	102 142	36 471
Gauteng	1 325	0
Mpumalanga	3 435	0
North West	26 299	0
Northern Cape	7 321	1 739
Western Cape	1 869	0
Total	165 912	40 134

(1)(b) The budget allocated to the Programme and ring-fenced in the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG) which is managed by the Department of Provincial and Local Government (DPLG) in 2005 was R1,2 billion over the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08 and this budget was allocated as follows:

2005/06: R200 million;

2006/07: R400 million; and

2007/08: R600 million.

2
(1)(c) The current estimate is R1,8 billion. At the beginning of the Programme, it was estimated that the cost of replacing each bucket toilet would range between R4 000 and R9 000. Assuming that the technology that would be used would range from on-site dry sanitation system e.g. a Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) latrine to water-borne sanitation system i.e. a flush toilet.

However, in 2006 it became evident that the unit cost was increasing due to, among other factors, inflation, excavation in hard rock and high demand for construction skills caused by the increase in infrastructural projects in the country. Additional funds were requested from National Treasury and an additional allocation of R400 million was made available at the beginning of the 2007/08 financial year and another R200 million was allocated in October 2007, bringing the total allocation to the Bucket Eradication Programme by Government to R1,8 billion.

(2)(a) No. The responsibility of monitoring and assessing MIG expenditure rests with DPLG, however, the Department of Water Affairs and Forestry works together with DPLG in respect of water services matters. Funds for the first two financial years have all been spent and the expenditure for the 2007/08 financial year looked as follows at the end of February 2008:

Expenditure on Bucket eradication

Province	Allocations Rx000	Actual Expenditure to Date Rx000	Expenditure of Total Allocation %
Eastern Cape Free State Northern Cape North West Western Cape	212 472 748 000 100 241 185 316 33 972	125 626 579 387 40 176 98 121 31 653	59 77 40 52 93
TOTAL	1 280 001	874 963

At the end of February 2008 municipalities had managed to spend more than R874 million of the R1 ,280 billion, which represents 68% of the year’s allocation. The Western Cape Province is the best performing province in terms of expenditure at 93%, followed by Free State at 77% and Eastern Cape at 59%.

(2)(b) No, but according to the information at my disposal the position is that in February 2005 when this Programme started, the bucket sanitation backlog was 252 254 buckets and on 15 March 2008 the bucket sanitation backlog was only 40 134 buckets. This translates to 84% of buckets that have been replaced.

(3) The only challenge that was experienced in relation to figures was with regard to the backlog figures, as most municipalities included buckets in informal settlements. My Department supported municipalities to verify the number of qualifying buckets in all municipalities that had bucket sanitation systems in established settlements that were in existence prior to 1994, in order to ensure that the budget is allocated appropriately, as well as for the purposes on monitoring progress in respect of buckets replaced and remaining backlogs.

QUESTION 519
DATE OF PUBLICATION: Thursday, 20 March 2008
INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO 10 of 2008
Mr C M Lowe (DA) to ask the Minister of Home Affairs:
Whether her department has a national data base containing the records, including fingerprints, of all persons who have applied for an identity document; if not, (a) why not and (b) what plans are envisaged to address this matter; if so, (i) what is the nature of the information recorded on the data base, (ii) what steps are planned to ensure that every person applying for refugee or residence status have such information recorded on the data base and (iii) what arrangements have been made to share the information with other agencies like the SA Police Service?

NW1161E
REPLY

(a) Yes. A full set of fingerprints in respect of every South African citizen who applies for a South African identity document is kept on the Home Affairs National Identification System (HANIS). The HANIS System further makes provision for the integration with other Information Systems of the Department, such as the new Refugee System.
(b)(i) The nature of the information that is recorded on the database is as follows:
The identity document number of the applicant or South African citizen.

A full set of fingerprints of the applicant or South African citizen.

A photograph of the applicant or South African citizen.

Demographic data of the applicant or South African citizen, such as surname, full names, date and place of birth, residential, as well as, postal address and the applicant’s status, with regard to South African citizenship.

(b)(ii) The Department of Home Affairs has acquired a new Refugee System, and it is currently being piloted by the Department for capturing asylum seekers or approved refugees, and their fingerprints will also be stored in HANIS.
(b)(iii) The SA Police Service has access to the information from the database in electronic, as well as, hardcopy format. In addition, there are three members of the SA Police Service attached to the Criminal Record Centre, and these three members are permanently stationed at the New Co-Operation Building in Pretoria, and they have easy access to any information on the Department’s data basis.


QUESTION 520

FOR WRITTEN REPLY
Date of publication on internal question paper: 20 March 2008

Internal question paper no:

Ms H Weber (DA) to ask the Minister of Social Development:

(1) (a) How many mobile units deployed for the processing of grants under SA Social Security Agency (i) are available, (ii) are in working order and (iii) are in need of repairs, (b) how long will they be out of commission, (c) how many applications have been processed by these mobile units to date and (d) in what areas are these units deployed;

(2) Whether these vehicles need extra drivers; if not,

(3) Whether they are driven by his department’s officials; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details;

(4) Whether there is a definite schedule available on the deployment dates of these mobile units, if so, what are the relevant details in each province? NW1163E

REPLY:
(1)(a) There are forty (40) mobile units that are available and thirty (30) of these are currently deployed for the processing of grants under South African Social Security Agency.

1. 
   Forty mobile units are available
   

2. 
   Thirty are in working order
   

3. 
   Ten need repairs
   

(b) The units will be out of commission until April and May respectively. One is expected to be commissioned during the second week of April 2008 and the remaining nine units during the first week of May 2008.

(c) The number of applications processed through the mobile units is 97 903 of which 78 305 are child grants.
(d) The areas in which the units are deployed are listed below:

Region	Units allocation per Region
Eastern Cape	6
Free State	2
Gauteng	1
KwaZulu-Natal	5
Limpopo	4
Mpumalanga	4
North West	4
Northern Cape	2
Western Cape	2
Total	30

(2) No, extra drivers are not required.

(3) The vehicles are driven by SASSA appointed drivers and seven contracted drivers in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal where the appointment process has not yet been finalized.
(4) Each Region has a deployment schedule for the mobile units in each of the districts they are servicing. The attached schedule is for the remainder of the current financial year (2007/2008). The schedule for the 2008/2009 financial year is currently being finalised.

Region	District	Dates
Eastern Cape	Ukhahlamba, Alfred Nzo, OR Tambo and Amatole	03–31/03/08
KwaZulu Natal	Pietermaritzburg, Ulundi and Midlands.	03-31/03/08
Mpumalanga	Inkangala, Gert-Sibande and Ehlanzeni	01-31/03/08
Free State	Xariep,Lejaaleputsaa, Fezile Dabi,Thabo Mafutsanyana and Motheo	03 – 31/03/08
Limpopo	Mopane and Sekhukhune	03-31/03/2008
Northern Cape	Pixley KaSeme and Siyanda	03-31/03/2008
North West	Bophirima Dr Kaunda	03-31/03/2008
Western Cape	Cape Metro Mossel Bay Vredeburg	07/04-14/04/2008

QUESTION 522

DATE OF PUBLICATION: FRIDAY 21 MARCH 2008 [IQP N 04 -2008]

Question 522 for Written Reply, National Assembly: Mr S B Farrow (DA) to ask the Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs:
(1) Whether the Minister is aware of the document entitled “Review of Animal Care Legislation in South Africa” which has been released by the South African Veterinary Foundation: if so, when will the document be discussed by the Portfolio Committee?
(2) Whether the above mentioned body, viz SAVF had any discussions with the Department regarding the contents of the document mentioned above: if so, what is the Minister/Department’s view on this document and its contents?

REPLY
(1) No, I am not aware of this document.
(2) No, there has not been any formal discussion between the Department and the SAVF on the contents of the document.