With reference to his decision to sanction the Minister of Defence, Ms N N Mapisa-Nqakula, by docking her salary for her error in judgement to use a SA Air Force plane to ferry a delegation of the African National Congress to attend party-political meetings in Harare, Zimbabwe from 8 to 9 September 2020, on what statutory grounds did he rely (a) in this regard and (b) when determining that no further action should be taken against the (i) specified Minister for allowing a delegation of the specified political party to use the SA Air Force plane and (ii) specified political party for abusing taxpayer-funded State resources for party-political purposes;
(2) whether he intends referring the matter for further investigation to the Special Investigating Unit and/or the SA Police Service in respect of (a) any of the officials from the specified political organisation for contravening any of the applicable regulations and (b) the Minister pertaining to the prohibition on international travel during the national State of Disaster; if not, in each case, why not; if so, what are the relevant details in each case;
(3) whether he is satisfied (a) with the Minister’s calculations of the amount owed by the political organisation as reimbursement to the State for being ferried on the flights and (b) that the political organisation has reimbursed the State; if not, in each case, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details in each case?
The Constitution provides that Ministers serve at the pleasure of the Head of the Executive. Section 91(2) of the Constitution empowers the President to appoint and dismiss them. Assignments to Ministers and decisions on their performance are within the President’s discretion.
I made clear that I disapproved of the Minister’s decision and actions, and therefore I applied the sanction in a manner that I ...
With reference to his reply to oral question 2 on 18 June 2020, (a) why has he not instructed the Government to release the full details of the modelling and assumptions used by it to determine its response to the Covid-19 pandemic and (b) by what date is it envisaged that the full details of the modelling and assumptions will be released?
As I indicated in the National Assembly on 18 June 2020, in determining the appropriate response to the global coronavirus pandemic, government has been informed by the advice of scientists, by the experiences of other countries and from the guidance of the World Health Organization and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
In planning its health response, government has made use of ...
Whether he has been informed that Andrew Babeile, who was sentenced for stabbing a fellow white pupil after racial violence at his school in Vryburg in 1999, is struggling to secure a sustainable job because of the criminal record he carries; if so,
(2) whether his Office has considered giving Andrew Babeile a Presidential pardon, taking into account the (a) circumstances which led to the incident and (b) fact that the magistrate who convicted him was a chairperson of the school governing body that had initially expelled him from the school?
The Department of Justice and Correctional Services receives and considers applications forPresidential pardons. The Department undertakes an evaluation of the matter and prepares a recommendation to the President on whether or not it will be in the public interest to grant a pardon. All matters are considered on their own merit and the recommendation is forwarded by the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services ...
With reference to his reply to question 419 on 5 June 2020, and notwithstanding the provisions relating to international travel in the Guide for Members of the Executive which makes provision for a spouse or adult family member to accompany the Minister or Deputy Minister along with essential departmental staff and/or advisors, and no more than two support staff, on what grounds did he make his finding that Deputy Minister H I Bagopane-Zulu did not violate any standard procedures or regulations by taking her niece’s would-be fiancé on three different international trips to assist them in saving enough subsistence and travel allowance from the Department of Social Development’s travel allowance, in order to be able to pay lobola;
(2) whether it is his position that Ministers and Deputy Ministers are allowed to take any person they would deem essential, regardless of whether the person has any relevance to assisting with official tasks on the specified trip, or regardless of whether the Minister or Deputy Minister feels that they have not done anything unlawful as long as the standard procedures and regulations pertaining to international travel are properly followed; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?
As I indicated in my reply to Question 419, I have not been provided with any grounds for the allegation that a certain person was taken on international trips without following standard procedure and regulations.
And as I said in my reply, if the Honourable Member or any other person has evidence of a violation of the relevant prescripts, they are requested to make ...
With reference to the reply of his Parliamentary Counsellor, Dr G W Koornhof, on 31 May 2020 to a letter addressed to him from Mr G G Hill-Lewis, which stated that the contents of the letter had been noted, what is his position on (a)(i) including certain clear performance expectations relating to the speed and quality of replies to parliamentary questions and (ii) the regular attendance at Oral Question Sessions, as targets in the performance agreements concluded with each member of his Cabinet, (b) reprimanding the 15 members of his Cabinet with the highest percentage of unanswered questions on a quarterly basis and (c) delegating additional responsibilities to the Leader of Government Business to empower him to enforce Rule 145(5) of the National Assembly to ensure that questions are responded to within the 10 working days provided for by the specified Rule, instead of just delivering a report to Cabinet on the number of unanswered questions;
(2) whether he has or will institute disciplinary steps against the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr N C Dlamini-Zuma, as his appointee in terms of section 91(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996, for failing in her responsibility to account to Parliament for the exercise of her powers and the performance of her functions by not responding meaningfully and fully to any parliamentary questions; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details?
The practice of Parliamentary Questions to the Executive for written or oral reply is an important part of the exercise of accountability and transparency.
As my Parliamentary Counsellor, Dr Gerhard Koornhof indicated in his correspondence to the Honourable Member of 31 May 2020:
“Section 92(2) of the Constitution is clear that the Members of the Cabinet are accountable collectively and individually to Parliament for ...
Whether, with reference to the posting of a picture of the late President of Zimbabwe, Mr Robert Mugabe, on the official Twitter account of The Presidency on Africa Day on 25 May 2020 and a quote attributed to him reading Africa is for Africans under the banner headline that reads The Africa We Want, he (a) associates himself with the controversial Presidency of Mr Robert Mugabe and (b) agrees with the position of the statement of the late Mr Mugabe as it was quoted in the official tweet; if not, what did he mean by offering his tacit endorsement of the slogan; if so, what are the relevant details?
On the occasion of Africa Day 2020, the Presidency Twitter account posted several banners from the African Union (AU) paying tribute to African leaders who had been instrumental in the struggle for independence and continental unity.
In addition to the late President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, the Presidency joined the African Union in paying tribute to Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, ...
Whether, with reference to section 3 of the Disaster Management Act, Act 57 of 2002, which provides that certain powers under the specified Act will be exercised by a Minister designated by the President, he designated any Minister in terms of section 3; if so, (a) on what date was the decision made, (b) what is the name of each Minister he designated and (c) for what purpose did he designate the Minister(s) in each case;
(2) whether the designation was formally promulgated in the Government Gazette and/or any other formal manner; if not, why not; if so, will he furnish Mr C Brink with a copy of the promulgation or proclamation?
The Cabinet member responsible for administering the Disaster Management Act was designated by President Thabo Mbeki on 25 March 2004 as the Minister for Provincial and Local Government.
The administration of the Act was transferred to the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs by President Jacob Zuma on 22 June 2009.
The respective proclamations are attached.
Whether (a) he and/or (b) any Cabinet member instructed any government policy adviser or senior government official to compile a document, or any draft of the document, or any other document making substantially similar proposals about the District Development Model or any other government mechanism for centralised decision-making, policy-making and project planning; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what is the status of such document;
(2) whether he has found that the document and/or any aspects of the document as it relates to the District Development Model or any other government mechanism for centralised decision-making, policy-making and project planning accord with the policy intentions of the Government; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) whether he has found that there is a need for a fully functional nation-wide institutional mechanism for centralised decision-making, policy-making and project planning; if so, what are the details that he had envisaged for such an institutional mechanism;
(4) whether any proposal for the review of constitutional competencies of the different spheres of government has been discussed in the Cabinet, any of its sub-committees and/or any other forum in national government Ministries or departments since his assumption of office; if so, what are the details of the discussions;
(5) whether he deployed Ministers and Deputy Ministers as District Champions or District Political Champions to local and provincial government; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are their exact terms of reference?
South Africa has a system of cooperative governance that informs a joint approach to planning. The Constitution and the Intergovernmental Relations FrameworkAct provides for cooperative governance. It provides for a framework for a coordinated and integrated alignment of developmental priorities and objectives between the three spheres of government. The District Development Model (DDM) approach is a practical realisation of this constitutional obligation.
The DDM ...
Whether, with reference to his undertaking on 11 April 2019 while visiting Alexandra in the City of Johannesburg, he instructed his Cabinet members to address the community’s concerns relating to land and housing opportunities; if not, why not; if so,
(2) whether his Cabinet members engaged with the community of Alexandra to address the concerns of the community and reported back to him about the progress made in addressing the community’s concerns; if not, in each case, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) what are the relevant details in each case and (b) will he furnish Prof B Bozzoli with copies of all the reports;
(3) (a) what number of hectares of land identified by his Cabinet members following his instruction in April 2019 (i) are currently available for permanent housing purposes in Alexandra and (ii) have not been made available yet, (b) what are the exact Global Positioning System coordinates of each of the identified permanent housing pieces of land, (c) what number of permanent housing opportunities have been provided on each of the identified pieces of land, (d) what are the details of each permanent housing opportunity and (e) by what date will the identified land for permanent housing opportunities that has not yet been released be made available to the community in Alexandra?
I have been informed that to ensure the improvement of the socio-economic conditions of residents and the provision of housing in Alexandra, several steps have been undertaken to unlock the obstacles that have hampered progress in the development of the area in the past.
The Minister of Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation, working with the Provincial MEC for Human Settlements and the Executive ...
Which 10 of his (a) Ministers and (b) Deputy Ministers undertook the highest number of flights to international destinations (i) in the (aa) 2018-19 and (bb) 2019-20 financial years and (ii) since 1 April 2020?
South Africa is a signatory of hundreds of multilateral and bilateral agreements. South Africa is active in the international community, as evidenced by its membership of the UN Security Council, BRICS, IBSA, G20, G77 + China, the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), SADC, and various other multilateral bodies.
In this regard Ministers and Deputy Ministers travel to other countries to fulfil these international obligations. ...
