Interception & Monitoring Bill, Judicial Officers Amd Bill; Umtata Progress Report: briefing ; North West Study Tour

SECURITY AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE
20 March 2002
INTERCEPTION & MONITORING BILL, JUDICIAL OFFICERS AMENDMENT BILL; UMTATA PROGRESS REPORT: BRIEFING BY DEPARTMENT; NORTH WEST STUDY TOUR

Chairperson: Chief M Mokoena (ANC)

SUMMARY
The Department of Justice requested that the briefings be postponed. The Committee expressed their disapproval at the cancellation of the briefing and felt that the Director General should appear before the Committee to answer questions on why the Committee was not being taken seriously. The Committee finalised details of their forthcoming tour to the North West and discussed the feasibility of joining the Justice Portfolio Committee on their tour to four provinces.

MINUTES
Cancellation of Briefing by Department
The Chair welcomed the members and thanked them for their dedication. He said that according to the Order Paper the Committee was to have heard briefings from the Department of Justice on two Bills as well as the Umtata issue. However, the Committee had received a message from the Justice Department requesting that the briefing not take place as the department was not yet ready due to some changes being made to the Bills. It would be useless and taxing for members to engage with a Bill that would change later. As a result the briefing would have to take place after the Easter recess. Regarding the Umtata briefings, the Department again requested that they be given time to do more research on the issue in order to bring a more concrete report to the Committee. He invited Mr E Allers, a representative from the Department of Justice, to comment.

Mr Allers sincerely apologised to the Committee and explained that the briefings had been cancelled due to a misunderstanding between the two directors who had been due to make an appearance that morning. He felt that the situation was unacceptable and would communicate this to the Director General.

The Chair added that the Department's attitude was unacceptable and was concerned that the Committee, as representatives of the public, was not being taken seriously. He invited the members to make comments.

Mr Maloyi (ANC) enquired as to when the Department had been informed of the briefing.

Mr Allers responded that they had been informed the previous Thursday afternoon [14/03/02].

Mr Maloyi (ANC) responded that he agreed with the Chair's sentiments and that the department had had ample time to prepare themselves.

A member voiced the criticism that it appeared as though the parliamentary committees were having their decisions made for them by the Department. He felt that even if the Department had been aware of the need to make changes to the Bill, they should nonetheless have appeared before the Committee and indicated those changes so that the Committee could apply its mind to them.

Ms J Kgoali (ANC) was concerned that when the Bills did finally come before the Committee, they would have to be rushed and would in effect be forced to be "rubber stamped" by the Committee.

Mr P Matthee (NNP Kwa-Zulu Natal) was of the opinion that the Committee was not being treated seriously or with respect. He felt that it was necessary for the Director General to appear before the Committee to explain the situation.

Mr Maloyi (ANC) enquired as to what recourse the Committee would take in this regard.

The Chair responded that he understood the members' anger but also felt that the Department would appear before the Committee at some time in the future. He asked Mr Allers to convey the sentiments of the Committee to the Director General. He requested that a concrete proposal be drafted to ensure that the Director General appear before the Committee at the first meeting of the next parliamentary session.

Mr Allers apologised again and was excused.

North West / Gauteng Tour
The details of the trip were finalised.

The Chair mentioned that the Justice and Constitutional Development Portfolio Committee would also be going on a tour of four provinces from the 14-19 April and had invited the members of the Select Committee to join them. Funding for the tour would be an issue, as the Select Committee would have to see if its planned programme for the next session and their allocated budget could accommodate this. It was decided that the Committee would consider various options and communicate with each other later in the day as to the feasibility of the different proposals.

Meeting adjourned.