Legislative proposals to amend the South African Police Service Act and Human Rights Commission Act, No 54 of 1994 and Gender Equality Act No. 39 of 1996

Meeting report

Consideration and Adoption of Committee Minutes dated 20 October 2009
The Chairperson asked Members whether there were any changes that they would like to make to the document.

Ms P Mocumi (ANC) referred to page four of the document and requested that reference be made to the Chairperson only and not to the Chairperson and Mr Thobejane, as it created confusion and inconsistency because it was referring to the same person.

The Chairperson said that reference should not be made to individual speakers in the document but to the Committee as a whole.

The Chairperson then asked whether they could move for adoption.

Members agreed.

It was adopted with the correction.

Consideration of the Report on Legislative Proposals to amend the South African Police Services Act No. 68 of 1995
The Chairperson explained that there were two documents regarding the proposed amendments to the Act. The first document was a longer document and more detailed report, whereas the second report was done to comply with Parliament’s recommended method of drafting reports.

The proposal was to compel the South African Police Service (SAPS) to act on the Independent Complaints Directorate’s (ICD’s) recommendations which were to ensure there was promotion of proper police conduct, to consider the five different classes of complaints that could be conveyed to the ICD, to consider that a number of complaints received in the SAPS had significantly been decreed, to consider the number of cases under investigation and to avoid undermining the effectiveness of the police force (see document).

The Chairperson asked Members whether there were any changes that needed to be made to the document.

Ms J Kilian (COPE) asked whether the Ministry and the Department of Police gave any clarification on when they would be in a position to present the document to Parliament.

The Chairperson said that a date had been arranged but did not specify when this would be.

The Chairperson suggested that it should be mentioned in the report that the sponsor of the proposed legislative amendments also agreed that the Department should be given an opportunity to come forward with their proposal.

Members accepted this proposal.

Both reports were adopted with corrections.

Further deliberations on the Honourable Mentor’s Legislative Proposals: Human Rights Commission Act, No 54 of 1994 and the Gender Equality Act, No. 39 of 1996.
The Chairperson noted that the Committee had received inputs from Honourable Mentor and various stakeholders on this matter.

The objective of the proposal was to empower the Commission on Gender Equality and the Human Rights Commission to be able to actively champion the gender human rights of all South Africans when such rights were violated both in the Republic and outside the Republic of South Africa (see document for proposed amendments).

The Chairperson said that the Committee on Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities had not indicated to the Committee what their stance on the matter was, which would be an important view to consider before making a final decision.

Members agreed.

The Chairperson said the Committee on Women, Youth, Children and People with Disabilities needed to be given the opportunity to present before the Committee made a final decision.

Report on the Committee’s five year Work Plan
Ms Kilian proposed that the document be adopted as Members could always reprioritise the Work Plan in the future if they felt the needed to do so.

Members agreed.

The document was adopted in principle.
 
The meeting was adjourned.