Election of NA Chairperson

Meeting report

Opening Remarks by the Chairperson
The Chairperson welcomed Members and urged them to prioritise the work of the Committee this year.
In addition, he noted that there was a need to have a workshop for Members concerning the disclosure form. Finally, he lamented the fact that last year many senior and experienced parliamentarians had been guilty of non-disclosure.

Election of National Assembly (NA) Chairperson
The Chairperson noted that the former Co-Chairperson, Mr L Landers (ANC), had been redeployed to lead the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development. As a result, that opened a space for a new co- chairperson to be elected from the NA. He called for nominations.

Mr A Mlangeni (ANC) nominated Prof B Turok (ANC).

He was seconded by Dr G Koornhof (ANC).

Prof Turok was duly elected was co-chairperson.

The Chairperson thanked the Committee for completing the process of nomination and asked the nominee to reflect on his appointment.

Prof Turok thanked Members for showing confidence in him and assured them of his commitment to the task ahead. In addition, he mentioned that the image of Parliament both nationally and internationally was very important and promised to uphold good public image of Parliament. Lastly, he reminded Members that the Committee had a serious job to do and cited the example in the UK where some MPs had been imprisoned as a result of misconduct.

The Chairperson indicated that Dr Koornhof had been deployed to the Committee and would act as Committee Whip. He would assist the Registrar in ensuring that Members attended meetings. A letter had been written to the authorities to reconsider the size of the Committee on the basis that the Committee struggled to reach a quorum. Up to now the Committee had been scheduled to meet on Fridays; however this was always a problem as Members seldom attended these meetings. The letter proposed that meetings take place during the week instead of Fridays. Members would be informed about the developments on this matter.

The Chairperson proposed that a workshop be held after the Municipal elections so as to avoid members having problems when they completed their disclosure forms.

Ms B Ngcobo (ANC) suggested that a workshop be held twice a term- once in mid term and then at the end of the term. She added that there were Members who were in Parliament since 1994 but still committed the same mistakes when completing their Disclosure Form.

The meeting was adjourned