Home Affairs Portfolio Committee Five Year Programme

Meeting report

Committee’s five year plan
Mr Malose Dolo, Project Office Manager, Parliament,  explained that his job was to familiarise new Members, and to remind former Members of the progress that Parliament had made in putting together a strategic document. In terms of Section 14 of the Financial Management of Parliament Act 2009, a new strategic plan for Parliament must be tabled within six months after the elections. He noted that at this stage the planning for all committees was still based on the third strategic document for Parliament, as the fourth one was currently still being drafted. Committees had five core objectives, which he then expanded upon.

The first core objective, the passing of legislation, meant that the Committee must align its activities to the passing of legislation, including conducting public hearings, Committee deliberations and formal considerations in terms of the vote. The second core objective, to oversee and scrutinise Executive action, was about conducting oversight. The third core objective, ensuring public participation and the building of a People’s parliament, required the Committee to ensure that the public participated in the legislation process. The fourth core objective, overseeing co-operative government, dealt with the extent to which the Committee performed specific functions in relation to oversight. The final core objective was about tracking issues that related to oversight and participation in international relations and international agreements.

Mr Dolo then outlined the three Strategic Objectives. The first related to oversight, and entailed building a quality process of scrutinising and overseeing government's action. The second was to build a people's Parliament that would see to the needs of all the people of South Africa. The third was to build an effective and efficient institution.

Mr Dolo said that the main task for the Committee was broken up further in terms of what the activities concerned, what the expected output was and what the key performance indicators were regarding the specific components. These were all outlined in the document that he tabled.

He noted that the Committee now had to draw a term plan, and collectively agree on realistic time frames. The Committee also needed to look at what was ahead of them. During the next two quarters, the Committee would have to deal with legacy activities passed over from the previous Committee in the Third Parliament. If it should happen that the new vision of Parliament changed in the process leading up to 20 October, the Committee would then have to go back and revise its plans. The mission, however, was unlikely to change as it was constitutionally driven.

Discussion
Mr M Mnqasele (DA) asked what the role of Parliament would be in relation to some of the international treaty commitments that South Africa might have made during the apartheid regime. He had a particular interest in the 1951 Convention of Refugees. One of the most contentious Articles in this treaty was Article 23, which would then also affect Articles 18 and 20.

Mr Mnqasele said that he was also interested in hearing about the seven Bills that would be tabled before Parliament in this and the last quarter. The approach of the Committee would be to engage fully on each Bill, and study in depth the intentions behind the amendments, as it was not desirable to have the different political parties taking a different policy approach.

Mr Adam Salmon, Researcher, Parliamentary Research Unit, said that he had begun to draw an outline of the proposed legislation; however even the Department of Home Affairs (DHA or the Department) were unsure of what all the issues were. His own document should be completed by the end of the week. He would also include an overview of the related international agreements, such as the 1951 Conventions and the proposals on Facilitation of Movements of Persons .

Mr Salmon referred to the document setting out the five key focus areas. Two major legislative issues had been mentioned during meetings with the Department. The first was the investigation into the Electoral Commission Act, specifically relating to persons voting out of their own province. The second related to the Film and Publication Amendment Bill, which was taking a very long time to finalise, and which the Committee had already indicated that it would complete.

Mr Salmon said that any Member was quite entitled to suggest amendments to any other legislation. Other legislation proposed for amendment so far included the Recognition of Customary Marriages Act, Immigration Amendment Bill, the Bill relating to South African citizenship, the Refugee Amendment Bill, the Advance Passenger Processing Bill and the Marriage Amendment Bill. The Department had around three to six months to bring these forward.

Mr Mnqasela referred to the Electoral Commission Act amendment. He said that this related to people who voted outside their electoral district, not necessarily outside their province. He agreed on the need for reform, and said that the Committee must engage with the Independent Electoral Commission.

The Chairperson noted that the Independent Electoral Commission had outlined what the problems were, indicated that the publicity that was generated around the so-called shortage of the ballot papers resulted from the situation where people could vote in any province, resulting in some lack of certainty.

Mr Mnqasela  also asked whether overseas voters were covered, and whether there was a need to amend any legislation in that regard. He asked what was the current situation.

The Chairperson said that the fact that South Africans abroad were able to vote in the last elections was the result of a Court decision. That legal precedent would be incorporated in the law.

Mr Mnqasela  then turned to oversight. Although the Committee had good intentions to visit all problematic areas, he noted that Members must not forget the highly problematic area of the Nyanga Institute, as well as the responsibility in terms of people entering South Africa from Zimbabwe. He noted that the numbers were growing and the matter must be taken quite seriously.

Ms J Terblanche (DA) asked if the Committee could include, when monitoring of the 2010 World Cup, the issue of child trafficking and child pornography. She noted that this fell under Child Protection and Advocacy, but thought that the Committee should have a programme specifically to address that issue. In addition, the Committee had discussed holding a meeting with the Portfolio Committees on Sport and Recreation, Police, and Social Development, and this would be an urgent issue.

Ms Terblanche noted that some Members might conduct oversight visits in their own time, for example, during constituency periods. She asked what Members should do to share the information with the rest of the Committee, and how the Committee would handle the information. For instance, although certain problems must be addressed by Parliament, such as issues that the Committee had seen in Nyanga, some other problems clearly needed the intervention of the Minister or the Director General.

The Chairperson said that his feeling was that when Members reached out to their own constituents during the constituency periods, they were in fact conducting work that related to their particular Portfolio Committees. Any issues arising from their interactions which should be shared with the Committee should be communicated to the Chairperson, who would arrange a date for discussion.

Mr Salmon said that these visits would fall under the third strategic objective of facilitating public participation and involvement.

Mr Salmon said that engagement with the Executive and Cabinet would be of importance, and would fall under the issues raised in the State of the Nation Address. One of the activities here would involve addressing questions to the Cabinet and to the Executive. Members could then raise key issues which would then be recorded in the document.

Mr Salmon then noted that the facilitation of public participation and involvement was a general issue. In the past, the Committee had conducted workshops, where members of the public could come into Parliament, and this was a good way of interacting with the public. The workshops would deal with a broad strategic issue; for instance, child protection, or the 2010 World Cup preparation, or provision of electoral documents.

The Chairperson said that he would like to emphasise facilitating public participation and involvement, and the fact that the Committee’s main focus should be a pro-active stance.

Ms Terblanche said, with specific reference to Nyanga, that she would like a Director of that centre, as well as other senior officials of the Department, to meet with the Committee so that Members could report to them what they had seen in relation to security and security personnel. The Centre had been forced to move out of its previous premises, did not appear to have found a new space yet, and no interim temporary arrangement had been made. It was going to create utter chaos.

The Chairperson said that a report had been received from the Department, confirming that there was a need to move out, and obtain permit accommodation. No follow up status report had been received as yet, so the Committee was unable at this stage to assist further.

A Member of the Committee raised a question around the benchmark on Human Resource constraints. He wanted to know whether this included the National Office of DHA He mentioned that it took three to six months to fill a vacancy position.

The Chairperson said that this was an issue that needed to be tracked at all levels. Departments would often, during their presentations, raise the vacancy profile. If there were too many vacancies, then the Committee should express its displeasure and concern. In order to achieve better results, expertise was needed to fill the vacancies in the key areas.

Mr Salmon concurred with the Chairperson. It was a difficult issue in government in general, as the vacancy rate across the public service was generally high, not limited to the DHA. This was critical for that Department, and it was also critical to understand the kind of issues government was encountering in that regard.

The Chairperson said that DHA, like any other department, was aware of its responsibilities to fill the vacant posts. However, in doing so, it must ensure that it was able to conduct basic tests in regard to the people that it intended employing. All Members were concerned about the major problem arising where corrupt individuals were employed, which further entrenched a negative image of the Department. Certain appointments necessitated a thorough check to ensure that responsible and credible people were put in place.

The meeting was adjourned.