What formal qualifications does each of his department’s (a) (i) Chief Financial Officers and /or (ii) acting Chief Financial Officers and (b) (i) Directors-General and/or (ii) acting Directors-General possess

(1) Whether each Head of Department (HOD) of his department signed a performance agreement since their appointment; if not, (a) what is the total number of HODs who have not signed performance agreements, (b) what is the reason in each case, (c) what action has he taken to rectify the situation and (d) what consequences will the specified HOD face for failing to sign the performance agreements; if so, (i) when was the last performance assessment of each HOD conducted and (ii) what were the results in each case; (2) Whether any of the HODs who failed to sign a performance agreement received a performance bonus since their appointment; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, (a) at what rate and (b) what criteria were used to determine the specified rate; (3) Whether any of the HODs who signed a performance agreement received a performance bonus since their appointment; if so, (a) at what rate and (b) what criteria were used to determine the rate?

Can he provide full details with regard to which department the welfare of captive bred animals such as lions lies?

Does his department monitor canned hunts to ensure that the specified hunts do not contravene the Animals Protection Act, Act 71 of 1962; if not, why not; if so, what (a) is the total number of contraventions that have occurred as at the latest specified date for which information is available and (b) are the further relevant details?

In light of recent media attention highlighting various instances of abuse, poor accommodation and safety concerns at lion breeding farms in and around the country, does the Department of Agriculture have a plan in place to monitor the welfare of the estimated 9 000 captive lions in South Africa; if not, why not; if so, what are the full relevant details?

Whether (a) his department and (b) all entities reporting to him are running development programmes for (i) small businesses and (ii) cooperatives; if not, why not; if so, in each case, (aa) what are the relevant details, (bb) what amount has been budgeted and (cc) how many jobs will be created through the specified development programmes in the 2016/17 financial year? NW1531E

1. Whether any further requests for drought relief assistance were received from provinces since his reply to question 3982 on 25 November 2015; if so, (a) which provinces requested the specified assistance, (b) on what dates and (c) what amount has been requested by each specified province; 2. whether any additional drought relief assistance funding has been made available to (a) (i) the North West, (ii) the Free State, (iii) Mpumalanga, (iv) Limpopo and/or (v) KwaZulu-Natal and/or (b) any additional provinces since his reply to the specified question; if not, why not; if so, (aa) what amounts of additional drought relief assistance funding was made available in each case and (bb) on what dates; 3. what is the detailed breakdown of the expenditure of R226 million that was prioritised by his department to assist small-scale and subsistence farmers; 4. whether any further funding to assist small-scale and subsistence farmers with fodder and livestock water has been made available since his reply to the specified question; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?

1. With reference to his reply to question 4175 on 14 December 2015, (a) what criteria were used to establish which farmers would receive drought relief through the drought relief fund in each province, (b) how many farmers were assisted through the specified fund in each province and (c) what was the average amount of assistance provided to each of the specified farmers 2. Which provinces are still identified as drought disaster areas 3. Whether any additional funding has been requested from the National Treasury to assist his department in providing drought relief; if not, why not; if so, how much additional funding was (a) requested from and (b) granted by the National Treasury? NW1520E

1. Whether his department is continuously monitoring increases in the price of basic foodstuff in the period 1 March 2015 to 31 March 216 and is therefore implementing special measures to keep the price of maize meal, for example, at an affordable level so that people did not starve during the approaching winter; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details; 2. Whether he will make a statement on food security in the country over the next nine months; if not, why not? NW1000E

With reference to the WWF-SA 2015 report on Agricultural Facts and Figures, which indicates that 5 million hectares of South African crop land have already been acidified as a result of indiscriminate use of synthetic fertilizers resulting in the rapid decrease of arable land in South Africa, what is his department doing to (a) strictly regulate the use of synthetic chemicals and (b) promote sustainable and ecologically sound agricultural practices? WRITTEN REPLY QUESTION 644/ NW759E MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES: MR N PAULSEN (EFF) TO ASK THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE, FORESTRY AND FISHERIES QUESTION With reference to the WWF-SA 2015 report on Agricultural Facts and Figures, which indicates that 5 million hectares of South African crop land have already been acidified as a result of indiscriminate use of synthetic fertilizers resulting in the rapid decrease of arable land in South Africa, what is his department doing to (a) strictly regulate the use of synthetic chemicals and (b) promote sustainable and ecologically sound agricultural practices?                                                  NW759E REPLY Fertilizers are registered in terms of Fertilizers, Farm feeds, Agricultural Remedies and Stock Remedies Act No. 36 of 1947. Section 3:2(a) requires that any fertilizer in respect of which registration is applied for is suitable, and sufficiently effective for the purposes for which is intended, and complies with such requirements as may be prescribed and that it is not contrary to the public interest that it be registered. Any registration shall be subject to the prescribed and additional conditions as may be determined by the Registrar through fertilizer regulations and various guidelines. The Department is promoting the land care programme, organic farming and conservation agriculture. These interventions are aimed at contributing towards sustainable utilisation of agricultural resources.