President Jacob Zuma Replies to Parliamentary Questions of August 2014
26 February 2015
The Presidency has noted a statement by the Chief Whip of the Democratic Alliance, Mr John Steenhuisen, alleging that President Jacob Zuma still has unanswered questions from the disrupted session of 21 August 2014.
The outstanding 21 August 2014 questions were responded to as written replies on 10 February 2015 for the benefit of the Members of Parliament who had asked the questions. The Presidency issued the replies to the media and the public on the same day.
Herewith the replies listed below:
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
Question No: 1020E
Date Published: 21 August 2014
4. Ms H H Malgas (ANC) to ask the President of the Republic:
With reference to his response to the debate of his address at the Annual Opening of the National House of Traditional Leaders in Cape Town on 12 March 2014, what are the latest developments in finalising the formal recognition of Khoi and San leaders as indigenous leaders in the country of their birth? NO1020E
REPLY:
Honourable Speaker,
The Traditional Affairs Bill makes provision for the statutory recognition of the Khoi and San communities and leaders. Cabinet approved the publication of the Traditional Affairs Bill for public comment in early September 2013.
The Bill was subsequently published in the Government Gazette on 20 September 2013. The extended date for comment was 31 December 2013.
It is anticipated that the Bill would be resubmitted to Cabinet for final consideration before the end of the current financial year.
I thank you.
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
Question No: 1031E
Date Published: 21 August 2014
5. Mr M. A. Mncwango (IFP) to ask the President of the Republic:
With reference to his reply to question 923 on 11 November 2013, (a) when does he expect to reach a decision regarding the outstanding, but still pending, applications for presidential pardon in terms of the Special Dispensation Process and (b) what are the full (i) details and (ii) reasons why presidential pardon has been (aa) granted and (bb) not granted in respect of each of the 2109 applications received by the Reference Group, including the 432 applications submitted by members of the IFP? NO1031E
REPLY:
Honourable Speaker,
As the Honourable Members are aware, during 2007, former President Thabo Mbeki, announced a Special Dispensation Process for pardon available to applicants whose offences were committed with a political motive and who did not participate in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) process.
A Reference Group, consisting of members of the political parties represented in Parliament, was established to evaluate the applications and make recommendations to the President as to whether or not a pardon should be granted.
The Reference Group dealt with two thousand one hundred and nine (2109) pardon applications. Four hundred and thirty two (432) applications were submitted by applicants who indicated that they were members of the IFP.
The Reference Group recommended that pardon be granted to one hundred and forty nine (149) applicants out of the total of two thousand one hundred and nine (2109) processed.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development (now Department of Justice and Correctional Services) and The Presidency are in the process of finalising the relevant documents for my final decision. I have therefore not yet granted pardon to any applicants who applied in terms of the Special Dispensation Process, including the IFP members. All applicants will be informed as soon as I have taken a decision on this matter.
Honourable Speaker,
The Reference Group also recommended not to grant pardon to one thousand nine hundred and sixty (1960) applicants. We accepted this recommendation in respect of one thousand and thirty four (1034) applications and the applicants were informed of the decision.
The Reference Group did not recommend pardon in a specific case if the application fell within one or more of the following categories:
a. Applicants who did not apply in terms of the Special Dispensation Process before the due date.
b. Cases where the offence or offences that were committed after 16 June 1999, were sexual offences, acts of domestic violence or offences that involved drugs.
Also not recommended were applicants that had been refused amnesty by the Committee on Amnesty in terms of the TRC Act and also for offences that were not committed with a political objective.
The remaining nine hundred and twenty six (926) applications are still receiving attention and the applicants will be informed as soon as I have taken a decision.
I thank you.
QUESTION FOR WRITTEN REPLY
Question No: 1039E
Date Published: 21 August 2014
6. Prof N M Khubisa (NFP) to ask the President of the Republic:
(1)(a) Who exactly formed his delegation for the recent inaugural US-Africa Leaders' Summit which was held in Washington DC from 4 to 6 August 2014 and (b) which specific areas of focus informed the deliberations;
(2) did the choice of the delegation match these areas of focus; if so,
(3) were any specific agreements entered into; if so, (a) what benefits has he found that Africa can draw from these agreements in the short, medium or long term and (b) what specific lessons did the South African delegation draw from this summit? NO1039E
REPLY:
The US-Africa Leaders' Summit was a huge success and served to reshape the relationship between Africa and the US, in our view. Entitled "Investing in the Next Generation", the Summit reflected on three main areas. These were Investing in Africa's future focusing on trade, investment and development, peace and regional stability as well as Governing for the next generation, dealing with good governance, youth development and service delivery.
We believe that we contributed to ensuring that the Summit delivers on tangible priorities for Africa on the economic front. The Summit helped to position Africa in the US as a continent on the rise and which is ripe with possibilities especially for trade and investment.
This contributed positively to the promotion of Africa's regional integration and development goals. Another significant outcome amongst others is the support of the peace and security measures that Africa wants to institute, for example the African rapid response mechanism and standby force.
We emphasised our guiding principle of African solutions to African problems. This means that any support would need to be African-developed and African-led. At a bilateral level, our formal bilateral discussions with US Vice President Joe Biden and informal discussions with President Barrack Obama and senior members of the US Congress set the tone for further discussions and cooperation in many areas.
The visit was a success as well in terms of promoting US-South Africa trade and investment ties. We had productive sessions of marketing the country with the US-South Africa Chamber of Commerce and a meeting with the Washington National Press Club.
More than 600 US companies invest in the South African economy and we want to further deepen these ties which create much-needed jobs in our country.
In the main Honourable Member, we communicated intensively the importance of the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to our country and to Africa. South Africa has benefitted immensely from AGOA with 95 per cent of our exports having entered the US through preferential treatment under AGOA.
We were pleased to secure a political commitment from the US government for the renewal of AGOA with the inclusion of South Africa. We will continue to engage with the US Administration and the US Congress in this regard.
The President was accompanied by four Cabinet Ministers that formed part of the official South African delegation that participated in the US-African Leaders Summit on 6 August 2014. These were Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister Rob Davies, Minister David Mahlobo and Minister Dipuo Peters.
Other members of the National Executive, Minister Naledi Pandor and Deputy Ministers Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu and Ayanda Dlodlo were invited by the US Government and participated in key side events prior to the actual Summit on 6 August.
All members of the delegation enhanced South Africa's presence and promoted the country's priorities in the various forums that they participated in.
I thank you.
Issued by The Presidency, February 26 2015
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