Committee Report on Acid Mine Drainage Oversight Visit to Gauteng, North West Province & Mpumalanga

Meeting report

The Committee adopted its Report on Acid Mine Drainage Oversight to Gauteng, North West Province and Mpumalanga. A report on the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Public Symposium was handed out to members for information purposes. The committee minutes from March, May, July and August were considered and most of them adopted. A complaint that the Department tend to provide general responses to specific questions was noted. The Committee agreed that minutes should adopted more frequently such as on a quarterly basis.

Minutes
In the absence of Ms Bhengu the Committee elected Mr Skosana as Acting Chairperson.

The Chairperson said that members would be allocated time to read documents during the meeting given that documents were not made available well before the meeting.

Committee Report on Acid Mine Drainage Oversight Visit to Gauteng, North West Province and Mpumalanga
The Chairperson placed the Report before the Committee for consideration.

Ms P Bhengu (ANC) wished to bring it to the Committee’s attention that she had not even been aware of the Committee’s oversight visit.

Ms C Zikalala (IFP) said that the Report only reflected members that were present on the oversight visit.

Members effected spelling and grammatical changes to the Report.

The Report was adopted as amended.

Report of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Public Symposium
The Chairperson said that the symposium had been held in response to the global crisis. The Chairperson, Ms Bhengu, had attended the Symposium but was unfortunately not present to elaborate on the workshop she had attended.

The Committee agreed that members would read the Report on their own as it was for information purposes only.

Committee Minutes: adoption
The Committee considered its Committee Minutes of 3, 10, 16 and 17 March, 11 May, 21 July 2010, 11, 17 and 24 August 2010.

Ms H Ndude (COPE) complained about the format of the minutes. The style of the minutes should not be as long as it was. The minutes should be concise.

Ms M Mabuza (ANC) added that there were too many sets of minutes to be considered in a single meeting. She suggested that minutes of meetings be considered more frequently such as on a quarterly basis.

Mr G Morgan (DA) felt that the Committee should adopt the minutes.

The Acting Chairperson said that the Committee needed to proof read the minutes to check if there were omissions or if corrections needed to be made.

Members felt that the minutes were more or less acceptable. Going through the minutes would be laborious.

Mr Morgan stated that perhaps there was the odd spelling or grammatical mistake. It was a futile exercise to spend so much time on the minutes. He suggested that perhaps the Committee Secretary could proof read the minutes. The Committee was doing outstanding work and the minutes should reflect it.

Ms Ndude agreed that the Committee Secretary should proof read the minutes. She felt that the Committee should adopt the sets of minutes.

The Committee adopted the minutes dated 9, 10, 16 and 17 March 2010.

The adoption of the minutes of 11 May were deferred as some of the provisions needed to be contextualised.
 
It was agreed to insert into the minutes of 21 July 2010 a provision highlighting the concern the Committee had at that time about the lack of urgency on the part of the Department on Acid Mine Drainage. This concern had not been captured in the minutes. The minutes were adopted as amended. 

Ms A Lovemore (DA) had to leave the meeting as she had another pressing engagement. She used the opportunity to say her goodbyes to the Committee as it was the last time that she would be a permanent member of the Committee. She would remain an alternate member but was becoming a full time member of the Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs. 

Members said their goodbyes and expressed their gratitude for the inputs that Ms Lovemore had made whilst a member of the Committee. The Committee had learnt a great deal on waste water and water licensing from Ms Lovemore an area that she was well acquainted with.

The Acting Chairperson also thanked Ms Lovemore for the contributions that she had made to the Committee and said that she had left a legacy. He wished her all the best.

The adoption of the minutes of 4 August 2010 was deferred as Members stated that clarification was needed on certain issues pertaining to the quality of pipes or the inferior quality thereof. It was also questioned whether pipes had been damaged or not. These issues needed to be clearly set out in the minutes.

Ms Mabuza said that the minutes of 11 August 2010 would make better sense if an answer was coupled with the question that had been asked. It made matters difficult when questions were bunched together as was the case with the present minutes.

The minutes were adopted as amended.

Ms Mabuza wished it to be noted that the Department tend to provide general responses to specific questions.

The Acting Chairperson said that the concern was noted.

Due to time constraints the minutes of the 17 and 24 August 2010 were deferred until the next meeting of 15 September 2010.

The meeting was adjourned.