Meeting report
Apologies
Ms Lindiwe Ntsabo, Committee Secretary, informed the Committee that several Members would be unable to attend the meeting and had sent apologies- Ms P Tshwete (ANC) was booked off sick for two days. Mr V Magagula (ANC) was on an oversight trip with another Committee, Ms N Gcume (COPE) was in a meeting in the Eastern Cape and Mr R Bhoola (MF) had missed his flight from Durban.
Third Term Committee Programme
The Chairperson asked Ms Ntsabo to take the Committee through the document.
Ms Ntsabo went through the programme page by page and briefly explained the Committee’s planned activities for the term.
The Chairperson highlighted that the Committee should not miss the social security training by the South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) to be held in Durban from the 3-7 September 2012.
Members adopted the programme with no amendments.
Outstanding Committee Minutes
Committee Minutes dated 15 May 2012
The Chairperson went through the minutes page by page and then invited comments from Members.
Ms E More (DA) pointed out that she was from the DA rather than the ANC and that this should be corrected in the document.
Mr S Waters (DA said that the sixth bullet point should also include the Department of Arts and Culture in the awareness campaign for things like Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. He also pointed that the Children’s Act should automatically make it unsuitable for convicted rapists to work with children.
The Chairperson indicated that the Act would have to be amended specifically to reflect Mr Waters concerns. Even if a person had been convicted they were not necessarily declared unfit to work with children. He suggested an amendment to the Children’s Act
Mr Waters moved for adoption and Ms Makhuba seconded the motion and the minutes were adopted with minor amendments.
Committee Minutes dated April 2012
The Chairperson went through the minutes page by page and invited comments, corrections and amendments from the floor.
Ms More asked whether the National Development Agency (NDA) and SASSA had forwarded any documents for the Committee's perusal.
Ms Ntsabo replied that after the formulation of its strategic plan, SASSA had sent through documents and these were then forwarded to the Members. However, she was still awaiting the documents from the NDA.
The Committee approved the minutesd with no amendments.
Committee Minutes dated 20 March 2012
The Chairperson went through the minutes page by page. She then pointed out a misunderstanding regarding the view expressed by some NGO's that said 60% of the work was done by the NGO sector rather than the Department of Social Development. The Chairperson felt that this was an incorrect perception, because the Department was not a line function Department. Early Childhood Development (ECD) centers were run by the NGO sector. She then suggested the removal of the last part of the sentence starting from the word “since 60%”.
The Committee agreed to the proposal made by the Chairperson.
Ms Makhuba moved for adoption and Mr Waters seconded the motion, and the minutes were adopted with amendments.
Committee Minutes dated 21 February 2012
The Chairperson went through the set of minutes and invited comments from the floor.
Ms More moved for the adoption and Ms Makhuba seconded the motion and the document was adopted without amendments.
Committee Minutes dated 29 May 2012
The Chairperson read through the set of minutes and invited comments.
Ms Makhuba asked whether the Committee had received any information concerning the breakdown of funds.
Ms Ntsabo said that she was still waiting for more information from the NDA but had captured all the resolutions needed by the Committee.
Ms Xaba moved for the adoption of the minutes, and Mr Waters seconded the motion. The minutes for 29 May 2012 were adopted without amendments.
Any Other Business
The Chairperson read out an invitation that was addressed to the Committee. A group of civil society organizations would be holding a conference on 13, 14 and 15 August in Cape Town. The conference was titled Peoples Power, Peoples Parliament: A Civil Society Conference on South Africa's Legislature.
The Chairperson noted that 4 committee members and 4 from their counterpart in the NCOP would be having interviews for the Central Drug Agency board on those days. The rest of the Members were free to attend in their individual capacity. She stressed the importance of the conference because it impacted directly on Committee’s work. The venue was near Parliament and there was no need to seek permission from the House Chairperson.
The meeting was adjourned.
