Whether a certain person (name furnished), who has been appointed to the board of Onderstepoort Biological Products, has been cleared of any past wrongdoing at the SA Weather Services; if not, how was the specified person appointed to the board; if so,
(2) whether she will furnish Mr N P Masipa with proof thereof; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
1. Appointment of the Board of Directors of the Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) follows a call for nominations, assessment of nominees by the appointed selection committee and shortlisting of nominees who best meet the criteria. The call for nominations advert also specified the requirement for nominees to be fit for appointment as board members. OBP will be requested to conduct personnel suitability checks on ...
Whether a certain person (name furnished), who has been appointed to the board of Onderstepoort Biological Products, has been cleared of any past wrongdoing at the SA Weather Services; if not, how was the specified person appointed to the board; if so,
(2) whether she will furnish Mr N P Masipa with proof thereof; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
1. Appointment of the Board of Directors of the Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) follows a call for nominations, assessment of nominees by the appointed selection committee and shortlisting of nominees who best meet the criteria. The call for nominations advert also specified the requirement for nominees to be fit for appointment as board members. OBP will be requested to conduct personnel suitability checks on all ...
What intervening steps has her department taken to close the huge gap between smallholder and commercial farmers in terms of access to technical skills and advice in the past three financial years?
The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, through its Comprehensive Agricultural Support Programme (CASP) provides training and capacity building programmes to smallholder farmers. One of the objectives of this programme is to assist smallholder farmers to acquire relevant technical skills to become commercial farmers. All the training interventions are needs based.
Total beneficiaries who received training through CASP during the past three ...
Whether (a) she, (b) the Deputy Ministers and (c) any other official in her department attended the Rugby World Cup final in France in October 2023; if not; what is the position in this regard; if so, what (i) are the relevant details of each person in her department who attended the Rugby World Cup, (ii) is the total number of such persons and (iii) were the total costs of (aa) travel, (bb) accommodation and (cc) any other related costs that were incurred by her department as a result of the trip(s)?
(a)(b),(c) No.
(i)(ii),(iii),(aa),(bb),(cc) Falls away.
What are the details of (a) livestock and (b) animal products that have been (i) exported to and (ii) imported from the neighbouring countries in the Southern African Development Community such as Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland, and Lesotho since the outbreak of the Foot-and-Mouth disease in 2019 and the recent outbreak in 2022?
(a)-(b)(i) All neighbouring countries suspended trade of live cloven-hoofed animals from South Africa when the 2019 Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak was reported and the Republic of South Africa (RSA) lost its Free Status with the World Organisation for Animal Health, therefore no livestock has been exported since 2019, nor are there any official records of exported products.
(ii) The following import permits have ...
(a) What progress has been made with the development and/or acceptance of an effective avian flu vaccine, (b) how will the private sector be involved in the (i) development and (ii) roll-out of such a vaccine and (c) what are the projected time frames;
(2) whether she will make a statement on the matter?
(1)(a) The Department has received applications from two companies to consider registering avian influenza vaccines. To date three vaccines have been registered.
(b)(i) The development and distribution of vaccines is by the private pharmaceutical companies.
(ii) The poultry industry has been consulted on the use of the vaccines and is continuously being engaged on the use and monitoring of the vaccines in the roll ...
Whether Botswana is currently exporting (a) cattle and (b) beef to the Republic despite the recent outbreak of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease in the specified country; if not, what is the position in this regard, if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) what are the reasons that the Republic is facing challenges in exporting to the specified country if the country can export its beef and animal products to the Republic in the context of both countries having experienced incidents of the specified disease?
(1)(a),(b) Yes. South Africa still imports cattle and beef from zones in Botswana that are recognised by the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE). Botswana had 6 zones which are recognised by WOAH as free from FMD without vaccination. These zones are separated by fencing and managed separately with very strict movement control between zones, to maintain their free status; as ...
Whether the process of drafting the proposed new Animal Welfare Act (AWA), has been put out to public tender; if not, who is drafting the new AWA; if so, (a) what progress has been made with the specified tender, (b) at what stage is the drafting of the new AWA and (c) what timeline does she envisage for the completion of the AWA, including the (i) completion of the drafting, (ii) public participation hearings, (iii) request for submissions thereon and (iv) submission to Cabinet;
(2) whether she will make a statement on the matter?
1. No. The Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (DALRRD) has recently added additional internal capacity in the form of 3 state veterinarians, who are currently handling the animal welfare portfolio; DALRRD will therefore not proceed with tenders for the drafting of the Animal Welfare Bill. The first draft is expected to be completed by March 2024 and the Bill will follow ...
What are the relevant details pertaining to the total number of (a) applications received and (b) successful land claims since the establishment of the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights under her department?
a) The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights received over 80 000 claims by the 31st December 1998.
b) A total of 83 067 land claims have been settled since inception until 30 June 2023. The higher number of settlement is due to the counting of rights lost per claim as opposed to the number of claim forms lodged.
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(1)Whether, with reference to her reply to question 1195 on 4 May 2023 relating to the settlement of the Lower Zingcuka Land Restitution claim in terms of which she committed that the land claim will be settled by the third quarter of the 2023-24 financial year, the claim has been settled yet; if not, what is the current status of the claim;
(2) whether she still maintains that the land claim will be settled during the current financial year; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, by what date does she envisage to settle the specified claims?
1. The processing of the Lower Zingcuka land claim is underway as per the commitment of May 2023. The settlement memorandum was supported by the Departments Quality Control Committee on 12/10/2023 and currently being processed for consideration by the relevant delegated authority.
2. Yes, we remain confident that the claim will be settled during the third quarter of the current financial year.
