People's Assembly

2015-w2261 - 29 June 2015

Annelie Lotriet to ask the Minister of Science and Technology

Whether (a) her department and (b) any entities reporting to her has paid out the remainder of any employee's contract before the contractually stipulated date of termination of the contract since the 2008-09 financial year up to the latest specified date for which information is available; if so, (i) what amount has (aa) her department and (bb) entities reporting to her spent on each such payout, (ii) to whom were these payouts made and (iii) what were the reasons for the early termination of the contracts in each specified case?”

NW2803E - 26 June 2015

Johanna Fredrika Terblanche to ask the Minister of Science and Technology

What amount did (a) her department and (b) each entity reporting to her spend on advertising in (i) Sowetan and (ii) Daily Sun in the (aa) 2012-13, (bb) 2013-14 and (cc) 2014-15 financial years?

NW2620E - 12 June 2015

Annelie Lotriet to ask the Minister of Science and Technology

Whether (a) her department and (b) any entities reporting to her has paid out the remainder of any employee's contract before the contractually stipulated date of termination of the contract since the 2008-09 financial year up to the latest specified date for which information is available; if so, (i) what amount has (aa) her department and (bb) entities reporting to her spent on each such payout, (ii) to whom were these payouts made and (iii) what were the reasons for the early termination of the contracts in each specified case?

Reply from the Minister of Science and Technology on 12 Jun 2015

(a) The department has not paid out the remainder of any employee’s contract before the contractually stipulated date of termination of the contract since the 2008-09 financial years.

(b) The Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC); Technology Innovation Agency (TIA); Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf); South African Space Agency (SANSA) and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) did not pay out ...

More »

NW2508E - 05 June 2015

Annelie Lotriet to ask the Minister of Science and Technology

Is her department currently involved in a work exchange and/or employment agreement with the Republic of Cuba; if so, (a) what number of Cuban nationals (i) are currently employed and (ii) are due to be employed by her department, (b) what specific work roles are envisaged for the Cuban nationals, (c) what are the specific skill sets of each of the Cuban nationals (i) currently employed and (ii) due to be employed, (d) what are the details of the process followed to ensure that the same skill set was or is not available in the country and amongst South African citizens and (e) what is the total cost of the (i) employment or (ii) prospective employment of such Cuban nationals?

Reply from the Minister of Science and Technology on 5 Jun 2015

No, there are no Cuban nationals currently employed by the Department of Science and Technology. However, there are scientific exchanges in specific research and development areas facilitated through the Bilateral Scientific and Technological Cooperation Agreement signed in 2001. Important collaborations in the past have focused on biotechnology and nanotechnology, with five related flagship projects implemented from 2005 to 2014, namely:

(a) Cholera vaccine development ...

More »

NW2291E - 29 May 2015

Johanna Fredrika Terblanche to ask the Minister of Science and Technology

(a) How many data analysts, capable of processing the big data that will be generated, will the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) require once it has been commissioned, (b) how many data analysts are being produced by South African universities and (c) does she have a plan in place to ensure that enough data analysts are available to process the data generated by the SKA?

NW2279E - 29 May 2015

Johanna Fredrika Terblanche to ask the Minister of Science and Technology

Does her department maintain an updated asset register; if not, why not; if so, what is the (a) total number and (b) value of all motor vehicles recorded on such register?

NW2151E - 22 May 2015

Gregory Allen Grootboom to ask the Minister of Science and Technology

(a) Who are the current chief financial officers of (i) her department and (ii) the entities reporting to her and (b) what is the qualification of each chief financial officer?

NW2116E - 22 May 2015

Johanna Fredrika Terblanche to ask the Minister of Science and Technology

Since 1 January 2015, has her department installed generators at any of (a) its offices or (b) the offices of the entities reporting to her as a result of load shedding; if so, what is the total cost of the (i) installation and (ii) running of these generators?

Reply from the Minister of Science and Technology on 22 May 2015

a) The Department of Science and Technology has not installed generators at any of its offices as a result of load shedding since 1 January 2015. b) None of the Public Entities reporting to the Minister of Science and Technology have installed generators at any of their offices as a result of load shedding since 1 January 2015. i) Nil. ii) Nil.

More »

NW2015E - 22 May 2015

A de W Alberts to ask the Minister of Science and Technology

(1) Why has the SA National Space Agency (Sansa) not adopted Afrikaans as one of its official languages in terms of the Use of Official Languages Act, Act 12 of 2012, in spite of the fact that Afrikaans has an extensive lexis for technical space terminology at its command and the first South African satellite was developed successfully by an Afrikaans-speaking student at an Afrikaans-speaking University, namely Stellenbosch University; (2) (a) what was Sansa’s motivation for each individual official language chosen in terms of the Use of Official Languages Act, Act 12 of 2012, (b) whether each of these specified languages has an extensive lexis for technical space terminology at its command and (c) what contribution each of the specified languages has made to date to the expansion and development of South Africa’s space agency and programme?

NW1730E - 24 April 2015

Annelie Lotriet to ask the Minister of Science and Technology

What steps is the Academy of Science of South Africa taking to review the editorial board of the SA Journal of Science to support the improvement of the journal visibility and impact factor?