Mr H B Groenewald (DA-NW) to ask the President of the Republic:
(1)(a) What are the total costs of running his property in Nkandla in each (i) month and (ii) year thus far, (b) what are the future estimated costs of running the property and (c) how much has been (i) budgeted for and (ii) spent thus far on running the property
(2) whether the Presidency is responsible for paying the costs of running the property; if not, which (a) department and/or (b) person is responsible for the costs of running the property; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
The Presidency is not responsible for running the President’s property in Nkandla and is thus not privy to the related costs. The Department of Public Works is responsible for maintaining the structures that government has erected on the property.
Mr D J Maynier (DA) to ask the President of the Republic:
(1) (a) When did he receive copies of (i) draft annual reports and/or (ii) annual reports from the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence in the (a) 2009-10, (bb) 2010-11, (cc) 2011-12 and (dd) 2012-13 financial years and (b) where such reports were not received, what were the reasons provided for not submitting them
(2) (a) how many special reports has he received since 1 April 2009 and (b) on what date was each special report received?
Reply:
1) The copies of the annual reports of the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence were received as follows:
- 2009-10: 21 September 2011
- 2010-11: 22 October 2013
- 2011-12: 13 November 2013
- 2012-13: Not submitted yet.
2) The Special Reports that the President received from the JSCI are as follows:
- Two reports were submitted to former President Kgalema Motlanthe and were also handed over to myself.
- Prestige Project A: Security Measures at the Nkandla residence of the President on 13 November 2013.
Mr T Botha (Cope) to ask the President of the Republic:
(1) Whether he was informed that (a) in 2012 Interpol had named South Africa as the world’s rape capital and (b) a certain study (details furnished) had found that one in four South African men had admitted to raping a woman
(2) whether, as a consequence of these reports from different agencies, academics and media on rape in South Africa, he has (a) taken a leading role in addressing the accelerating rape crisis in the country, (b) instructed the Cabinet to implement forceful measures to bring this shameful crisis under control, (c) recommended a dynamic interaction of government with civil society groups and faith leaders and (d) requested a report on the efficacy of the National Register for Sexual Offenders in relation to rape; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
(1) (a) The suggestion that South Africa is the rape capital of the world is incorrect. The Interpol Secretariat General in France has indicated to the Interpol Desk in South Africa that they have no record of the phrase “Rape capital of the world’’ in their publications.
(b) In the past few years, there have been many studies undertaken on rape, each with different results and findings. Notwithstanding this, each study is considered important as it assists Government in dealing with the scourge of rape, and it further enhances initiatives already put in place in dealing with the challenge.
(2)(a) Initiatives taken in response to addressing the accelerating rape crisis in the country include the following:
The Minister of the Police, during his Budget Vote Speech on the 6th of May 2010 announced that the re-establishment of the Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units. The Units there were increased from 66 units to 176 Units and from 1100 personnel to 2528 personnel in total.
These 176 FCS Units have been well resourced to enhance the effectiveness of the fight against women and children. Since the re-establishment of the FCS Units in the past three (3) years, FCS investigations has managed to secure more than 1 100 life sentences for rape cases.
Additionally, a focused recruitment drive was undertaken to attract appropriately skilled personnel and specialized training was enhanced. The FCS Units conduct awareness campaigns countrywide to sensitize and educate communities about the importance of reporting of crimes against women and children to the police.
Schools, churches, old age homes, care centres, Izimbizo and community gatherings which include traditional leaders are some of the places wherein these awareness campaigns take place. Since the re-establishment of the FCS Units, about 2 000 awareness campaigns have been conducted.
The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, acting under the leadership of the President of South Africa, established a Task Team to investigate the viability of re-establishing Sexual Offences Courts. In August 2013, the Minister officially received the investigation report from the Task Team, and publicly announced his decision to re-establish Sexual Offences Courts in South Africa, in support of the recommendations made by the Task Team.
Since then, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development commenced with the execution of Phase 1 of the project, which requires the upgrading of the identified 57 regional courts into Sexual Offences Courts. Twenty two of these courts have been earmarked as priority courts, and their upgrading process is in progress.
In ensuring that the Sexual Offences Courts are established by law, the Judicial Matters Second Amendment Bill that empowers the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development to designate these courts into Sexual Offences Courts was developed.
This Amendment Bill also requires the development of Regulations to guide the establishment, intersectoral resourcing and management of these courts. On the 19 November 2013, it was approved by the Select Committee on Security and Constitutional Development, and is now scheduled for the consideration by the National Council of Provinces on 21 November 2013.
The department is in a process of developing the Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy for the effective management of the Sexual Offences Courts. The aim is to ensure that these courts (i) provide specialized victim-support services to reduce secondary traumatization often suffered by victims when they engage with the court system; (ii) improve the effectiveness of witnesses in the execution of their role in court; (iii) reduce the turnaround time in the finalization of sexual offences matters; and also (iv) improve the conviction rate in these cases.
(b) The issue of women and children abuse has always been the priority of Government, particularly crimes against women and children. Cabinet Ministers and their departments, particularly the JCPS Cabinet cluster, are working tirelessly to implement initiatives to deal with the crime of rape.
There are Inter-Ministerial Committees established to reinforce political leadership and accountability in the national prevention and response to the rising figures of sexual violence in our country. To mention, but a few:
The Justice Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) Inter-Ministerial Committee is chaired by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development. It is a political committee that exercises the oversight role in the execution of the JCPS Delivery Agreement of which Outcome 3 titled: ‘All People in South Africa are and feel safe’ also includes government intervention against sexual offences.
It is also tasked with the responsibility to adopt the Annual Progress Reports compiled by all reporting government departments on the implementation of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007 (Act No 32 of 2007) before they are tabled in Parliament by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development. The reporting departments and institutions include the Departments of Justice and Constitutional Development, Social Development, Health, Correctional Services, South African Police Service, and the National Prosecuting Authority.
The National Council Against Gender-Based Violence: On the 25th of December 2011, Cabinet approved the establishment of the National Council Against Gender-Based Violence to provide a high-level multi-sectoral national response to gender-based violence. The significance of the Council is that it strengthens political leadership and accountability in all matters relating to the national monitoring of interventions against gender-based violence.
The Council is an inter-sectoral body that draws representation from government and civil society. Its broad plenary is set to be chaired by the Deputy President, whilst the functionary body is currently headed by the Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities.
The Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Root Causes of Violence Against Women and Children: In May 2012 the cabinet mandated the Minister of Social Development to set up an Inter-Ministerial Committee to investigate the root causes of violence against women and children.
This resulted in the establishment of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the Root Causes on Violence against Women and Children. This Committee is chaired by the Minister of Social Development, and its membership comprises of the Ministers of Justice and Constitutional Development; Women, Children and People with Disabilities; Home Affairs; Police and Basic Education.
The work of this Committee is still in progress, and it will certainly contribute towards the improvement of the country response to and prevention of sexual violence. Its establishment ought to be viewed as the demonstration of the dedicated and firm commitment of the Cabinet to the protection of the constitutional guarantees of women and children against all forms of violence against women, particularly rape.
(c) The Partnership approach has always been the cornerstone of dealing with the crime scourge in the country. Interactions with civil society groups and faith leaders vary across the JCPS cluster departments.
In September 2013 during the Crime Victims’ Rights Week, the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development under the leadership of its Deputy Minister, formed partnership with the religious sector to fight gender-based violence and sexual crimes, in particular. This initiative is intended to empower the religious sector with legislative information so that it becomes an effective stakeholder in the fight against rape and any other form of violence perpetrated against women and children at community level. The project is still in progress.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) initiatives include partnerships with the Commission for Gender Equality, Matla a bana, The South African Professional Society on the Abuse of Children (SAPSAC), the University of North West, University of Pretoria, University of the Western Cape, University of South Africa, the Teddy Bear clinic, and Child Welfare.
The Civilian Secretariat for Police has established a reference group comprising of academia and civil society organizations. The main purpose of the reference group is to strengthen compliance monitoring of the Domestic Violence, Sexual Offences and Child Justice Acts.
The reference group is made up of organizations such as POWA, Gender Health and Justice Research Unit (UCT), Women’s Legal Centre, Legal Resource Centre, NISAA, Western Cape Network, Rape Crisis, GRIP, Eldorado Park Womens Forum, Centre for applied Legal Studies (Wits), ADAPT, IkhayaLethemba, Childline, University of Pretoria, RAPCAN, Teddy Bear Clinic, Rape Crises, Trauma Centre for Survivors of Violence and Torture and Shumkumisa.
In August 2013 during the Women’s month, the Civilian Secretariat in conjunction with the Joint Gender Fund and GIZ, hosted a national dialogue on how to ‘Improve police response towards safe, violent free communities for women and girls’.
The aim of the dialogue was to bring together all the key role-players that work closely with the SAPS in order to strengthen working relations on how to respond to violence against women and girls with the ultimate objective of improving the SAPS’ response to this scourge and improving co-operation between stakeholders in the interest of prevention.
The 2-day dialogue also set out to specifically build onto the national commitment of building safer communities by ensuring that women and girls are protected, as outlined in the National Development Plan and will also be a contribution to improved implementation of Outcome 3 of the government’s priority outcomes, i.e. “All people of South Africa are and feel safe
(d) The report on the efficacy of the National register for Sexual Offenders in relation to rape, and the relevant details include the following:
The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development tables in Parliament the Annual Progress Report on the Inter-sectoral Implementation of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, 2007 (Act No 32 of 2007). This report includes progress in the implementation of the National Register for Sex Offenders.
With all the challenges facing the national operation of this Register, a notable progress has recently been recorded. The number of registered convicted sex offenders has increased from 2 792 names that appeared on the register as at 31 March 2013 to 11 418 names as at 31 October 2013. In the month of October 2013 alone 3 384 sex offenders were successfully registered.
Mrs B L Abrahams (DA-Gauteng) to ask the President of the Republic:
(1) With reference to the President’s visit to Eldorado Park to address and discuss the escalating drug supply and abuse problem in the area, (a) how sustainable is the (i) Drug Master Plan and (ii) Gauteng Provincial Anti-Substance Abuse Strategy and (b) what is the current (i) status and (ii) progress of these strategies
(2) whether any other (a) programmes or (b) initiatives are being considered; if not, why not; if so, (i) when will these be undertaken or implemented and (ii) what are the further relevant details
(3) how many (a)(i) drug merchants and (ii) juveniles have been arrested and (b) were released on bail since May 2013
(4) whether any rehabilitation centres will be built in Eldorado Park; if not, why not; if so, when?
Reply:
The National Drug Master Plan (NDMP) ensures coordination of efforts to reduce the demand, supply and harm caused by substance abuse and strengthens mechanisms for implementing cost-effective interventions to empower vulnerable groups affected by substance abuse.
The Provincial Integrated Anti-Substance Abuse Strategy gives effect to the implementation of the National Drug Master Plan at a provincial level. A number of activities have taken place since the visit to Eldorado Park. The national Department of Social Development as the lead department in prevention and treatment of substance abuse has coordinated the interventions.
The department, in collaboration with the City of Johannesburg established a Local Drug Action committee in Eldorado Park, which has developed its own local action plan to tackle the problem of substance abuse in the community.
In a joint response by provincial Gauteng Provincial Government Departments, to combat the scourge of substance abuse in Eldorado Park, the following were key achievements:
- The strengthening of institutional mechanisms was done through the establishment of an operations centre within one week.
- At school level, raids and searches at schools and of vendors were done.
- At community level, four additional Social Workers, and auxiliary workers were deployed to schools, murals were done by members of the Eldorado Park. Community and children at risk were removed and placed appropriately.
- Five veteran social workers were appointed to strengthen psychosocial support services and family preservation programmes.
- There was a significant improvement in effecting arrests of those reported and increasing Police visibility through road blocks, raids and searches
The Department of Social Development has also upscaled Substance Abuse Prevention and Awareness Campaigns through:
- Door to door campaigns, anti-drug abuse marches, commemoration of International Day against substance abuse and illicit trafficking.
- Family support groups are continuing. Children who are on substance abuse are identified and referred to treatment centres.
- Youth participated in the anti-nyaope camps coordinated in partnership with the Department of Community Safety during June and September holidays.
- A youth skills development centre was established
To date, 1431 drug lords have been arrested since the beginning of this intervention. Of this total, 1098 are awaiting trial, 1095 received bail, 3 are still in custody and 289 have been convicted on criminal charges. What is of concern, however, is that 63 of the suspects were children, whose ages are between 14 and 17 years old.
A team of experienced detectives was appointed to intervene and deal with the drug related cases. Their mandate included the investigation of some of the cases which were previously withdrawn at court. Such cases are currently being analysed and discussed with the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for re-assessment. These detectives are not only drawn from Eldorado Park police station but some come from different clusters within the Gauteng province.
Mr D Joseph (DA-WC) to ask the President of the Republic:
(a) How many international trips has he undertaken during his first four years in office, (b) what was the total breakdown of the costs for each delegation regarding these trips and (c) what benefits has the country achieved as a direct result of these trips.
Reply:
The President has undertaken numerous international trips in the past four years in the pursuit of South Africa’s national interest. The visits are published in the Presidency annual report each year.
These trips have been for bilateral and multilateral diplomatic purposes and have entailed State visits, African Union summits, the Commonwealth Summits, the annual United Nations General Assembly Debate, Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS), India-Brazil-South Africa (IBSA).
South Africa also participates in key global forums such as the G20 and the World Economic Forum, in which we are able to take forward the agenda of promoting a more just and equitable world economic order and other formations that South Africa belongs to.
Furthermore, the President has been involved in peace-making and peace-building efforts on the continent. These endeavours have also included conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction and development (PCRD) programmes in line with our foreign policy. The President notably played such roles in countries such as the DRC, Ivory Coast and the Central African Republic.
The President’s global engagements yielded a number of tangible results, including, South Africa becoming a member of the BRICS formation (2011), the election of South Africa to serve once more on the UN Security Council (2011- 2012), the election of the first SADC candidate and South African to Chair the African Union Commission, and leading peace efforts on the continent.
The visits produced economic and trade dividends that helped to cushion South Africa from the global economic recession and which have cemented the vision of our government to expand trade and economic relations with the continent.
Through these diplomatic endeavours South Africa was able to enter into trade agreements with countries in the non-traditional markets, in particular, emerging markets which helped in absorbing the adverse effects of the global economic meltdown.
On each visit the President is usually accompanied by Ministers whose departments have been designated to engage counterparts to take forward certain areas of cooperation. The President and Ministers are accompanied by staff to perform strategic or technical support as well as personal support services.
Enquiries:
Mac Maharaj
Cell: 079 879 3203
Email: macmaharaj@icloud.com
