ANSWER 1
As part of the work being undertaken to transform our economy and our society, we have put in place a range of policies and actions to undo the historical marginalisation of women and youth,
We have placed the advancement of black South Africans, women, youth and people with disabilities at the centre of Government’s broader policy frameworks,
These include the National Development Plan, the New Growth Path, and the industrial and agricultural action plans,
This commitment to fundamental transformation runs through government’s affirmative action legislation, in our broad-based black economic empowerment policies and through various sectoral charters,
Government’s preferential procurement policies continue to provide economic opportunities to historically disadvantaged groups,
We are using our infrastructure build programme to also advance these objectives,
The Infrastructure Development Act makes specific reference to youth employment and the economic empowerment of women,
Government has allocated, and continues to allocate, resources to advance the economic participation of women and youth,
During the 2014/15 financial year, for example, the Industrial Development Corporation approved funding worth R759 million for business with 25% or more women ownership and R159 million for businesses with 25% or more youth ownership,
Through the Youth Employment Accord signed in 2013, government and its social partners agreed on a number of measures to promote youth employment and entrepreneurship,
These included steps to address the gap between school-leaving and first employment, work exposure for young people and youth target set-asides in infrastructure and other projects,
The Employment Tax Incentive has been introduced to encourage the private sector to do more to draw young people into employment,
Some progress is being made,
Across the economy, in the past 12 months, 375,000 additional young people were employed and 335,000 additional jobs were created for women,
However, we need to make far more progress and work with greater urgency to bring the high levels of unemployment among women and youth down further,
The advancement of women in the workplace is one of the objectives of the Employment Equity Act,
It aims to promote equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination and the implementation of affirmative action measures,
We will continue to scale up those actions that contribute most effectively in ensuring that women and youth can take their rightful place in the economic mainstream,
I thank you,
ANSWER 2
Honourable Members,
The national Government is engaged in a number of actions to support a range of local initiatives in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality to improve the performance of the local economy and to create jobs, reduce inequality and fight poverty,
The actions government is taking include support for industrial investment in Nelson Mandela Bay through the Industrial Development Corporation,
Over time, the IDC has invested more than R4 billion in the area, covering projects that produce, among other things, renewable energy components, steel products, dairy products, clothing and textiles, bags, pharmaceuticals, electronic products and motor vehicle components,
Government also provides support through industrial incentives to the auto sector, which continues to be important to the economy of the Metro and surrounding areas,
These include incentives provided through government’s Automotive Production Development Plan and Automotive Investment Scheme,
Other measures include infrastructure projects in areas of housing, electricity, schools and the installation of solar water geysers,
We are also focused on expanding economic infrastructure projects over the next few years,
These include the export of manganese from the Port of Ngqura and the manufacture of train wagons at the Uitenhage factory of Transnet Rail Engineering,
Government will continue to provide industrial financing to boost economic activity at the Coega Industrial Development Zone and other economic nodes in the Nelson Mandela Bay Metro, focusing on empowerment and the development of black industrialists,
Because of their size and strategic location, metros like Nelson Mandela Bay are expected to lead in job creation,
They can achieve economies of scale, increased productivity and greater market opportunities,
A metro like this is therefore critical to implementation of the National Development Plan and the achievement of our goal to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality and unemployment by 2030,
I thank you,
ANSWER 3
Honourable Members,
The issue of university fees was discussed at length at the 2nd Higher Education Transformation Summit held in Durban in October,
Among other things, the Summit resolved that:
• The higher education sector should support current initiatives to address student funding and debt problems,
• Universities must be more transparent about fee structures and increments and engage more effectively on these with relevant constituencies,
• The National Student Financial Aid Scheme must be strengthened to increase student funding for the poor and improve recovery and repayment rates,
• All stakeholders in higher education, including government and the private sector, must work together to increase the funding allocated to universities,
• The work to establish expanded student funding models must be accelerated to enable the progressive introduction of free quality education for the poor,
Members would be aware that President Jacob Zuma convened a meeting with representatives of the higher education sector on 23 October to address the issue of university fee increases,
Government is currently working with universities to explore various options to meet the commitment from that meeting of a zero percent increase in university fees in 2016,
The reality is that higher education subsidies have not kept pace with the significant and necessary increase in student numbers over the last 20 years,
At the same time, government has massively expanded support through NSFAS,
Funding for university students through NSFAS has grown from R578 million in 2004/05 to R9,5 billion in the 2015/16 budget,
The Scheme has enabled 1,5 million financially needy students to access higher education and TVET college programmes since 1991,
Government is in the process of engaging the private sector to develop interventions to expand student financial aid,
The banking sector has been approached to identify specific strategies to assist with funding students who do not currently qualify for NSFAS, but whose families are not able to support them in higher education studies,
NSFAS has also developed a fund raising strategy, which has been submitted to the Minister of Higher Education and Training for approval,
It should be noted that the Minister of Higher Education and Training established a task team in 2012 to investigate the feasibility of free education for the poor in South Africa,
I will address the work of that task team in my reply to the next question,
We will continue to work with all social partners to ensure that no-one is denied access to higher education because of an inability to pay,
I thank you,
ANSWER 4
Honourable Members,
In 2012, the Minister of Higher Education and Training established a Working Group to investigate and advise on the feasibility of making university education fee-free for the poor,
The Working Group was asked to:
• determine the actual cost of introducing fee-free university education for poor people in South Africa;
• suggest a working definition of poor people in South Africa;
• examine various models for providing fee-free higher education for poor people used elsewhere in the world; and
• contemplate all possible implications and consequences,
A copy of the report is available on website of the Department of Higher Education and Training,
The Working Group agreed that a well-considered system of free university education for the poor would both increase access to higher education and improve its quality,
The Working Group concluded that free university education for the poor is feasible, but will require significant additional funding of both NSFAS and the university system,
The report recommended that NSFAS be strengthened to implement the scheme and that a policy dialogue should be put in place to discuss the parameters and develop regulations for implementation,
This policy dialogue, comprising representatives of government, academic institutions, students and NSFAS, is identifying current and projected funding challenges,
It is expected to propose policy and legislative amendments to give effect to the recommendations of the Working Group and the recommendation in the National Development Plan that “all students who qualify for NSFAS must be provided access to full funding through loans and bursaries to cover costs of tuition, books, accommodation and living expenses”,
Free higher education for undergraduate students is socially and economically desirable,
It can be financially feasible,
Already, much work has been done to lay the foundation for the achievement of this objective,
Much work still needs to be done and critical choices still need to be made if we are to develop a sustainable funding model that ensures access and achieves quality outcomes,
I thank you,
ANSWER 5
Honourable Members,
Since my appointment as Special Envoy to Sri Lanka, various stakeholders have requested that South Africa assist in sharing our experience of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission,
In September 2015, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe asked South Africa to share its experiences and for technical assistance with the setting up of a truth and reconciliation mechanism in Sri Lanka,
It is expected that a number of engagements will take place between Sri Lanka and South Africa over the next few months,
These are intended to support and capacitate the Government of Sri Lanka, religious leaders and civil society to fulfil the commitments they have made to setting up a credible domestic accountability mechanism,
The Government of Sri Lanka has to date not requested assistance from South Africa with respect to constitution making,
South Africa’s involvement in conflict resolution on the continent is undertaken in line with the African Peace and Security Architecture established by the African Union to address the challenges of peace and security on the continent and ultimately work towards post conflict reconstruction and development,
Our participation includes diplomatic intervention through mediation, fact finding missions by eminent South Africans and promoting dialogue and negotiations,
We have been involved in such initiatives in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, South Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire and more recently in Lesotho,
South Africa is involved in capacity building in the area of mediation and hosts Post Conflict Reconstruction and Development courses for participants from elsewhere on the continent,
We are convinced that after peace talks, reconstructing and developing affected countries is the only way to ensure they do not relapse into conflict,
In support of post-conflict reconstruction and development, South Africa has deployed troops in various United Nations peace missions on the continent, including in Darfur, South Sudan and the DRC,
Institutions like the SADC Parliamentary Forum and the Pan African Parliament have a critical role to play in advancing these efforts, and it is important that our representatives in those structures deliberately work to pursue these objectives,
The challenges we face in these endeavours and the resources we use in fulfilling these mandates are worth the effort if they contribute to the restoration and maintenance of peace and stability throughout the continent,
I thank you,
ANSWER 6
Honourable Members,
As the Minister of Finance and I have previously answered, the South African Revenue Service, the Reserve Bank, the Financial Intelligence Centre and criminal prosecution authorities act against any instances of tax evasion or illicit financial flows as part of their routine activities, as and when such criminal actions are identified,
In particular, SARS and the Reserve Bank continually assess taxpayers and significant financial transactions where they believe that such activities are not declared or are not legitimate,
Tax evasion is illegal and entails acts of fraud such as non-disclosure, under-declaration, overstating deductions, and fictitious entities committing VAT fraud,
These acts are criminal acts and should lead to criminal prosecution,
South Africa continues to act against tax evasion, and has also strengthened its ability to counter tax avoidance practices, which are in most cases not illegal,
Some of these include practices like base erosion and profit shifting,
This is one of the issues taken up by the Tax Review Committee chaired by Judge Dennis Davis, which was established to evaluate South Africa’s tax system against internationally accepted tax trends, principles and practices and to improve tax compliance,
It has produced an initial report on base erosion and profit shifting,
South Africa will continue to play a leading role in international efforts – through structures like the OECD and the G20 – to tackle the various forms of tax avoidance,
On the matter of financial flows, these are necessary for economic growth, to facilitate investment and support trade and our export sectors,
The Reserve Bank monitors outflows and inflows through the administration of exchange controls in terms of a delegation by the Minister of Finance,
To the extent that the Reserve Bank and Financial Intelligence Centre identifies any criminal violations, they report such activities to the prosecuting authorities over and above any administrative action they may take,
The Reserve Bank and SARS work closely together to monitor capital flow movements,
Applications for cross-border transactions often require tax clearance by the SARS to ensure that tax risks are being reduced,
Ongoing interaction between the two means that attempts to move capital offshore for tax reasons are reduced,
South Africa has firm and effective measures in place to counter tax evasion, tax avoidance and illicit financial outflows, and it is continually working to strengthen them,
I thank you,
Date:
Wednesday, November 4, 2015 - 00:00
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