Whether (a) he, (b) the Deputy Minister and (c) any other official in his 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 his 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 his department as a result of the trip(s)?
a) No
b) No
c) No
Thank You.
Considering that several poor and unemployed women in the rural areas have been contributing towards group funeral schemes with the SA Post Office (SAPO), and noting that in the past three weeks their funeral claims could not be paid, with SAPO claiming that it has run out of funds, (a) what is the exact reason behind the nonpayment of the SAPO funeral claims, (b) what total number of (i) claims has SAPO received from 1 October 2023 to date and (ii) the specified claims were not paid, (c) what is the total monetary value of the claims, (d) which provinces are most affected, (e) by what date is it envisaged that the claims will be honoured and (f) how does SAPO intend to ensure that all the investors do not lose their funeral benefits?
(a)(b)(c)(d)(e)(f) The SAPO does not have a product on funeral schemes. It only collects monthly premiums for Assupol, Lifewise etc. and no claims for these clients are processed via SAPO. The only claims for funeral cover that are claimed through the Post Office are for the Government Employees Pension Fund (GEPF) which is funded by them, and there is no backlog with these (GEPF) ...
(1)(a) Which branches of the SA Post Office (SAPO) are closed on a temporary basis in the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality, (b) what are the reasons that the specified post offices are closed and (c) on what date will they re-open;
(2)(a) Which branches of the SAPO are permanently closed in the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality and (b) what number of employees (i) have had their jobs terminated in the specified municipality and (ii) are still employed, but not working? NW4458E
1.
|
(a) Temporary Closed
|
(b) Reasons for closure
|
(c) Date it will be re-opened
|
|
Graaf Reinet Post Office
|
Non payment of rent from July 2023. The office was locked by the landlord.
|
Submission for urgent payment in process for consideration by the Business Resue Practitioners (BRPs)
|
|
Willmore Post Office
|
Non payment of rent. The office was locked on 21 July 2023 by the landlord. ... |
Noting that the Auditor General’s Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report cited lack of effective monitoring and evaluation in the SA Post Office’s annual performance and with SAPO set to receive a R3.8 billion bailout, what actions will he take to ensure that taxpayer funds are effectively managed?
The Business Rescue Practitioners are in the process of finalising the SAPO business rescue plan, which will be submitted for approval by the creditors, by the end of November 2023.
The matters raised herein form part of what will be entailed within the plan. The BRPs request an opportunity to conclude their plan – and will respond to the questions thereafter.
Thank You.
How will the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) Bill of 2023 resolve the Public Broadcaster’s financial shortfalls, considering that the (a) Bill retains the SABC’s 1999 funding model, (b) Bill’s Commercial Board is not tasked with a new funding model and (c) Bill tasks the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies and the Minister of Finance with a new funding model, but not the Board of Directors?
a) The SABC Bill aims to address the challenges faced by the SABC and ensure its sustainability in an evolving media landscape. One key aspect of the Bill is to provide the SABC with greater flexibility in TV content procurement that will enable it to compete more effectively and offer a wider range of entertainment options. Through the Commercial subsidiary with exclusive commercial license ...
Considering the Auditor General’s Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report referring to the Postbank’s Information Technology vulnerabilities and the instruction by the SA Reserve Bank in 2021 to resolve its IT issues, why do these concerns continue to exist?
The Postbank which was previously a division of SAPO used SAPO’s outdated and ageing IT infrastructure which was not fit for banking purposes. As a result, the bank embarked on an IT infrastructure modernisation project which intended to address its legacy IT issues including those identified by the SA Reserve Bank. Progress has been made in this regard and the project is 70% complete. ...
(1)What (a) number of the SA Social Security Agency (SASSA) beneficiaries were adversely affected by the payment glitch in the period 5 to 8 September 2023 in each (i) province and (ii) grant category, (b) what were the root causes of the payment glitch and (c) what measures has the Postbank put in place to ensure that payment glitches do not occur again;
(2) whether the payment glitch was due to a lack of funds within the SASSA account; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details;
(3) whether any fraudulent activity was detected during the specified period; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details;
(4) what training is provided to retailer staff to better equip them to respond to SASSA beneficiaries;
(5) whether the Postbank has access to bulk SMS to communicate with beneficiaries when payment glitches arise; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
(1)(a) Only 10% of 5.3 million beneficiaries that are paid by Postbank were impacted.
(i) The glitch impacted beneficiaries across all provinces nationally (10% of 5.3 million beneficiaries that are paid via Postbank).
(ii) The glitch impacted elderly beneficiaries that were supposed to receive their grant payments during that period.
(1)(b) The IT challenges were due to post migration issues relating to different factors. ...
What are the details of the steps that his department has taken to ensure that more black youth makes a breakthrough into the technology industry?
There are a number of initiatives that the DCDT, working with its State-Owned Companies and the private sector, are rolling out to ensure more black youth enter the technology industry.
The following projects are being implemented to aggressively provide opportunities for Black youth in the ICT subsectors:
- The SA Connect programme, whose primary aim is to expand digital infrastructure through broadband network deployment, intends ...
Whether, with reference to his reply to question 2263 on 30 June 2023, he will furnish Ms
A M Siwisa with the list of (a) schools mentioned and (b) the municipality in which each
school is situated; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Whether his department incurred any costs in relation to the hosting of the (a) BRICS Summit from 22 to 24 August 2023 and (b) BRICS Parliamentary Forum from 27 to 28 September 2023; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what was the total cost incurred by his department?
(a) No
(b) No.
The Department did not incur any costs from the country hosting the 15th BRICS Heads of State and Government Summit or the BRICS Parliamentary Summit.
Thank You.
