Deputy Chair, yes, we are part of the interministerial committee, which is chaired by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe. The interministerial committee has been meeting every month for the past year, and it includes Ministers of relevant departments such as Transport, Communications, Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Arts and Culture, Sport and Recreation, Energy, and many others.
We have also been working as a tripartite grouping with the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality and the LOC in overseeing the production of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2010 World Cup. We have also been working together in ensuring that our South African artists as well as African artists from the continent, particularly those that come from the five African qualifying countries, are part of the opening and closing ceremonies and all the other arts and culture activities during the 2010 World Cup.
The Department of Arts and Culture has also focused its attention on PVAs. As we know, there will be a PVA in every district in our country to ensure that all our people, including rural communities, can enjoy the World Cup. The national Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs is leading various government departments in the intergovernmental committee responsible for ensuring that all systems are attended to in planning for these PVAs.
The Department of Arts and Culture has also forged a partnership with the SABC to activate 10 PVAs per region. At these events the Department of Arts and Culture and the SABC will showcase performing arts and do a live broadcast of the events via television and radio. Each province and district will give artists the opportunity to showcase their talent.
The department has also teamed up with the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality and the Gauteng province to host the Welcome Village at Ekurhuleni, where we will host an African village. This is where all our African countries that want to showcase their crafts, arts, handicrafts, song and dance will be received and hosted for the duration of the tournament. Here also the Department of Arts and Culture, working closely with the Gauteng province and the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, will own an amphitheatre where local up-and-coming talent will be showcased and celebrated.
We will also showcase African artists from various countries on the continent at this African village. This will be the main stage to host our local and African artists. We will also host fashion shows for African traditional attire and entertain guests and fans with African cuisine. Thank you, Chairperson.
Deputy Chairperson, I thank the Minister for her comprehensive response. We would like to have her response so that we can market and showcase the good plans that she is telling us about. Thank you. [Interjections.]
Hon Mncube, there is a concern from the rest of the members that you actually spoke without standing up.
My apologies.
Accepted.
Deputy Chairperson, we will make copies of the response. We will also distribute the tournament guide, which has all the heritage sites and activities, so that members can assist us in distributing them and informing their communities. These activities will not just happen in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town, but also in the host cities, provinces and all the districts in the country where we will be having PVAs. We will also host African artists and South African artists, including local and emerging artists. Thank you, Chairperson.
Madam Chair, the Minister mentioned that there will be a PVA in every district, and she also talked about PVAs and regions. Could the hon Minister tell us whether she is saying regions and districts are the same thing or whether she means district municipalities. Furthermore, could the hon Minister tell us who will be funding these PVAs because I know that at my own home there is concern that the local municipality doesn't have funds. Is your department going to fund such PVAs in each of the district municipalities?
Chairperson, I think the hon member has answered for me. Yes, it's not regions. As Arts and Culture we have been allocated 10 PVAs throughout the country. So, perhaps we will fund one district per province. The others are funded through the Department of Co- operative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the DTI, municipalities and provincial governments are also involved.
Chair, the Minister referred to the work that her department and other entities have been putting into the opening ceremony of the World Cup. Could the Minister tell us how long ago they started rehearsing for that opening ceremony and whether she believes that there is enough time, considering that the Chinese began rehearsing years before the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Thank you.
Chairperson, I was at the rehearsals at Nasrec on Sunday. I believe we have experts in the area - choreographers, artistic directors and creative directors. They are out there in the field. Those people meet there from 8:00 sometimes right up to 20:00 in the evening. I believe they are ready, and I already have a clear picture of what is going to happen from my visit on Sunday.
I don't know about China. Maybe their dances and songs are very complicated. But I think South Africans are artists and songstresses by nature. So, the question of rehearsing comes naturally. For example, I can call on the Deputy Chairperson to dance and she will dance right now. [Laughter.] So, I don't think there will be a problem in that regard. I am confident that we are going to have a super and extraordinary African celebration during the opening and closing ceremonies. Thank you, Chairperson.
Assistance by department to senior citizens registering for social pensions, bottlenecks at state agency offices and staff complement processing pensions
52. Mr F Adams (ANC) asked the Minister of Social Development:
(1) (a) What assistance will her department provide to senior citizens who are queueing during the night for a place to register for social pensions and (b) what causes these bottlenecks at the state agency offices;
(2) whether her department has enough staff members to process pensions for senior citizens; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? CO267E
Chairperson, it should be noted that Sassa and the Department of Social Development do not support the notion of people sleeping at offices overnight whilst waiting for services. Indeed, everything in our power will be done to eradicate and discourage this. In order to assist in managing this situation, our community members and leaders are earnestly requested to support the actions that are taken by Sassa and to also ensure that accurate information is disseminated to the public.
All our regions are currently experiencing challenges. This may have come to the attention of this august House, particularly our select committee. The challenges are related to trying to manage the number of people reporting to Sassa offices for assistance. This is indeed as a result of pressure both from people wanting to make applications for grants and from those responding to requests to review their grants. I did indicate earlier on that we are currently at a stage where we are reviewing beneficiaries.
The number of people who want to apply for grants has indeed increased exponentially as a result of the changes in policy, which also allow all children born after 31 December 1993 to apply for child support grants. The one policy area that has also necessitated these changes is men over the age of 60 years being allowed to apply for grants for the aged, as well as the increases in the means test limits.
In order to manage this influx, a number of initiatives have been put in place, and they are as follows. The number of reviews to be done per month has been staggered, requiring affected beneficiaries to respond only when they receive letters informing them to come for a review. Community leaders and councillors, especially where we have a large influx, have been asked to assist in this process to ensure that beneficiaries have indeed received their letters that request them to come for a review before they stand up and go to the Sassa office. This kind of influx increases queues. The queues are also inflated by people who call Sassa offices for a review when they have not actually received letters, but because they heard about the need for a review from a neighbour or a friend.
The staff at Sassa has been trained on the need to queue-walk often during the day when there are queues to ensure that everyone waiting in the queue should in fact be there at the right time and that they have all the necessary documents. Those who still require additional documents are provided with a checklist of documents to bring along the next time they come. They are also advised on the return date, which is a different day from that day. Where practical, different days are identified for different grant types, thus ensuring that the aged are given priority and that they do not compete for places with younger beneficiaries in the queue.
Many offices have introduced an appointment system whereby an assessment of a number of people who can be served by the available staff is also done. The remaining beneficiaries are given specific dates and times on which to return, when they will be prioritised over new arrivals. The critical thing to note here is that our people believe or think that if they are not present on that particular day, they will lose out on their grant. That is not the case.
A communication strategy has been developed and is being implemented in order to ensure that beneficiaries and applicants receive accurate messages regarding who may qualify for a grant, what criteria are in place and the need to review regularly when informed to do so.
With regard to the question of sufficiency of staff, it must be noted that Sassa is currently experiencing some serious financial constraints just like all other government departments, which has been necessitated by the financial crisis. This challenge is being addressed through the implementation of austerity measures. One of the measures implemented is the moratorium on staff appointment. So, while the number of staff in specific offices may be insufficient to deal with the current influx, the answer is not to look at appointing additional staff but rather to utilise the staff within Sassa more effectively and efficiently. It will also not be prudent to appoint additional staff to deal with an abnormal situation as this may result in excess staff once the situation has stabilised. We believe that indeed this situation will stabilise.
In addition, Sassa is reviewing its current business process. A project, which we call "business process review", will determine the number of staff required at each local service office. I thank you, hon Chair.
Chair, I may run the risk of asking a new question. But if it is so, the Minister will give guidance. During our recent site visit to Limpopo in Greater Tubatse municipality through our Taking Parliament to the People programme, we came across a situation where it was pension payout day. Our elderly people were exposed to very difficult conditions in that it was very hot on that day and there was not even a tent for them to be comfortable whilst they were receiving the service. Is there something that can be done to ensure that on the days that services are being rendered to our people, these people are at least looked after with basic provisions such as shelter and so forth? Thank you very much.
Hon Chair, this is indeed a new question. But with your permission, I can respond to the question.
You are not forced to answer if there is no answer.
No, I think I would like to respond to it because I think it is indeed necessary that hon members also help us in this regard.
Okay.
The current system, which Sassa inherited from all nine provinces and which is also documented in contracts that have been signed between the current service providers and Sassa in the provinces, details exactly and precisely what should be done at any pay point and at every pay point. Services should be provided to all our beneficiaries and to our elderly people, in particular, with dignity. This is contained in the contract.
However, what is currently happening is something very different, and we are beginning to see this. I appreciate the hon member's concern on what he has been exposed to because this is a challenge we are currently dealing with.
We have begun a process of ensuring that we move towards electronic payment, without any exception and without any racial connotations. It is really high time that we do this because the majority of our people in the white sections of our communities are currently getting their payments and grants from some of the banks. We have begun working on this process. The majority of our beneficiaries, just over 400 000, have already moved to electronic payment. We encourage the young people to begin to move because, with the elderly, we understand that we have to conduct particular education in this regard even before we can get there.
However, when we move to institute this new tender, it will not be something that is negotiable. At least up to 80% of the grants should be paid through a system that allows our people to get their payments under quality situations and conditions, preferably through a banking system. We are not saying which bank you can use. But we are doing some work in this regard, and we really want to do away with this kind of problem once and for all. I thank you.
Chairman, the Minister or the department has come up with a solution which I am sure will alleviate part of the overcrowding. My concern is that not everyone has a postal address, and the people may not get the letters. Therefore their grants may then be terminated because reviews have not been done. Is there any plan to try and handle people who don't respond when they should? In other words, they may not have received the letters to go for reviews. Is there some kind of follow-up process before grants can be stopped? Thank you, Mr Chair.
Chair, as I have indicated, additional measures have been put in place for all of us who are in this House, our councillors, traditional authorities and leaders, or anybody within a particular body, to enquire on a continuous basis from Sassa.
Firstly, if by any chance any one of our members of society may not have received a letter or may not have an address, an enquiry can be made through the councillor, a traditional leader and through whoever to find out from the offices of Sassa whether such a letter was released. This is allowed. We are aware and we also understand the situation under which our people function or live. Some of them do not have addresses. But those are some of the measures that we think will help us if all of us act and help those who do not have postal addresses. You will be informed in this regard just by enquiring.
Secondly, when it comes to the second stage, where a particular member may have been left out or removed from the system, there is an appeals process that allows any member of society to still come to Sassa and report that they have been removed from the system and that they need to be reinstated. When such an application is made, the entire amount that remains behind is paid over to the particular person upon reinstatement because this would be correcting what had gone wrong. It could be an administrative process or something, but such cases are indeed very few.
The influx that we see from our people approaching Sassa just to enquire is indicative of the fact that they accept and know now that there is a review that all of us need to do. We had cases where people were reinstated into the system, hon member. Thank you very much.
Measures to assist small and emerging contractors in Northern Cape through programme of human settlements and plans to assist contractors
53. Mr R J Tau (ANC) asked the Minister of Human Settlements:
Whether his department has any measures in place to assist small and emerging contractors through his department's programme of human settlements in the construction of houses in the Northern Cape; if not, what plans does his department have to assist these contractors; if so, what measures? CO269E
Chairperson, thanks to the hon Tau for the question. In responding to the question, I want to say that we do have the support that we give to emerging contractors. The National Urban Reconstruction and Housing Agency, Nurcha, and the National Housing Finance Corporation, NHFC, which are housing support institutions, are in place to assist those emerging contractors. If emerging contractors are building gap housing, they can ask for assistance from the NHFC.
In addition to that, we have the Youth Build programme and the Women Build programme. In the Northern Cape, women emerging contractors are building 100 units in the China Square area. Youth emerging contractors are building 15 units in Upington. This is the kind of assistance that we are trying to give.
At the same time, we have asked - because of the new mandate of social amenities as far as human settlement is concerned - that all provinces must have emerging contractor conferences to ensure that people are aligned with the new ethos in terms of human settlements. We are going to have a national human settlement emerging contractor conference to ensure that we give better assistance in accordance with the new mandate of the department.
But we want to cite the issue of shoddy work done by some emerging contractors - not all, but some. In this situation, government does not get value for money. This is not the route we want to take. We will not continue engaging with contractors that do not give us value for money in building the quality housing units we want.
Chair, as we move in this direction with the response, one of the critical things that I think would also assist would be the question of encouraging departments and contractors to source material from emerging contractors. Yes, you may have an emerging contactor who may, on the basis of the contract they have, source material to do work from the usual suspects or established contractors. I am talking about simple things like bricks and so forth. In my appreciation for the response, I thought I should emphasise that area.
Hon Deputy Minister, that was not a supplementary question but an input. You can add to it.
Chairperson, I think it is correct. At the end of the day, we are not able to move away from the ethos of giving emerging contractors work because we are obliged to adhere to the black economic empowerment, BEE, concept of government.
They can outsource quality building material and big contractors can get materials from them. This will assist them in creating jobs and it will also help them grow.
The other problem we have is that we don't want emerging contractors to continue "emerging". We want incubator processes that will make them big contractors at the end of the day. We would like to do away with the process of continuous emerging so that we can inject the kind of ethos that makes them big companies as well.
Madam Deputy Minister, if we use these emerging contractors like the women's project that you spoke about, would that not slow down the whole process of house building while we are trying to build houses as fast as possible? Will the backlog in houses not be a problem if we go that route instead of using bigger contractors in big developments?
Chairperson, definitely the government wants to build housing on economies of scale. But in doing so, we must be able to develop people along the way. There is no way in which we can exclude everybody from building houses. If all hands are on deck, it will be better. If we are many, we can do our work better, and together we can make things happen. We cannot exclude them because we want to build on economies of scale.
Hon Chairperson, I am worried about the shoddy building of houses. What measures does the department have in place to ensure that quality houses are being built? At what stage of the project development do department officials or the measures kick in to make sure that quality is assured?
Chairperson, what would guarantee quality housing units is ensuring that projects are monitored across the project cycle, right from the ground level.
The problems we experience are that projects, in some instances, get monitored after houses have been built. There should be continuous monitoring and evaluation of the projects so that the National Home Builders Registration Council, NHBRC, is on board from the outset. This would ensure that we have quality housing units.
So, we need to revamp our monitoring mechanisms and evaluation systems, especially as far as the inspectorate is concerned. We must also ensure that we have quality material. Shoddy work comes as a result of bad material that people use for building houses.
Hon Deputy Minister, I would just like to know about the registration of all these developments at the NHBRC. I know that there are a few of these projects that have not been registered with the NHBRC, and these are actually the people that look at the quality of houses. I know there are one or two projects in the Northern Cape that are not registered. Do people have to comply with this, especially small groups that will start working, like the women's group you spoke about? Is this applicable to this group as well?
Chairperson, since 2004, every single project is supposed to be registered with the NHBRC. Prior to that, they were not registered. We do know that there are many that are not registered as yet, but this is a requirement. Provinces should not approve projects that are not registered with NHBRC because that is a recipe for disaster.
They must be NHBRC-registered from the outset because that is an assurance by government to ensure that we have quality homes. If that is not the case, we need to know about it. Please give us the names of the projects so that we can make the necessary follow-ups.
Chairperson, we visited a housing project in Limpopo after all the houses were completed. I understand that there are measures in place in the department. If we find that the NHBRC and project leaders did not adhere to the requirements after completing the houses, who is responsible for the shoddy housing?
Chairperson, the person responsible for shoddy housing is the developer and the province. This is because, at the end of the day, they work to ensure that government gets value for money. When any project does not adhere to the norms and standards of government, all who were responsible must be held accountable. At a provincial level, heads of department are responsible. At a national level, the director-general is responsible.
At the end of the day the buck stops with us at the departmental level because we acquire those developers to build houses. The money is given to us to do the necessary development. So, we will be responsible for any shoddy work. That is why the Minister has taken measures to demolish the shoddy work in the Eastern Cape. This is because we are responsible for ensuring that we give quality homes to our people. Unfortunately, when we get to this level, it is a waste of government resources because more money needs to be made available to build these houses.
Leratong Park flagship programme and reasons for delay in implementation of programme
54. Mr R J Tau (ANC) asked the Minister of Human Settlements:
Whether Leratong Park in the Northern Cape is still part of his department's flagship programmes; if not, why not; if so, why is the implementation of the programme taking long? CO270E
Chairperson, as far as this question is concerned, the challenge is with regard to the infrastructure. The Leratong Park project is still a flagship programme; it is part of our pilot projects. But the challenge here is around the issue of bulk infrastructure. This is what we are dealing with, and it is one of the priorities of government to ensure that we assist the province in getting the bulk infrastructure so that the Leratong Park project can get off the ground. This is a project that is supposed to be like the N2 Gateway project. But unfortunately, because of the bulk infrastructure, it could not proceed; but it is getting attention.
Thank you very much, Deputy Minister, for the response. I think the problem here is that this project or programme has been coming for quite some time. There are many mixed messages that are being given to the community. I mean, just three weeks ago, the information I got about that particular project was that there was an agreement that should have been signed between Absa and the municipality, and then again there was something about the municipality with the provincial department and so forth.
This is creating a whole range of levels of instability within the community. What measures are then being put in place to constantly engage the community in giving them the correct information to avoid a situation where we have too many voices on the same subject going through?
On the Absa aspect, it is true that an engagement has been made with Absa to ensure that we kick-start the project. So, there are about 800 units that we are going to begin with right now, following the discussions that the Absa development project agency had with senior officials in the department. We are still waiting since the council was supposed to pronounce on the matter in May 2011 so that at least the first 800 units out of the 8 000 can start being built in the process.
But concerning the other issue with regard to continuous engagements with communities, I agree with you that it is very important to do that continuously. That is a responsibility of my Member of Parliament here, the municipality out there and all of us. Thank you.
Plans or allocations in relation to housing construction for Magareng municipality and implementation of plans/allocations
55. Mr R J Tau (ANC) asked the Minister of Human Settlements:
Whether his department has any plans or allocations in relation to housing construction for the Magareng municipality in the Northern Cape; if not, why not; if so, (a) what are these allocations and (b) when will they be implemented? CO271E
Chairperson, I thought I had a national leader. I didn't know that I had a Northern Cape leader!
With regard to the issue you have raised, the answer is yes. I think this is also important. Sixteen subsidies have been allocated to the Warrenton project in the Northern Cape, which we spoke about. The project is awaiting submissions from the municipality to approve the roll-out of those houses. Of course 1 000 units are planned for that area. Firstly, however, they are treating the 16 Warrenton subsidies as a test case to see if it is feasible to really start these projects.
Regarding the other area, some feasibility study is being done at the moment, but we have begun with the Warrenton one. Thank you.
Chair, I just want to say that unfortunately this is my constituency. Thank you.
Okay!
He is raising provincial interests.
Measures to deal with allegations of corruption and fraud relating to issuing of tenders in SA Social Security Agency
56. Mr R J Tau (ANC) asked the Minister of Social Development:
Whether her department is instituting any measures to deal with allegations of corruption and fraud in relation to the issuing of tenders in the SA Social Security Agency; if not, why not; if so, (a) what measures and (b) what are the further relevant details?