Delayed: briefing by Department of Human Settlements on the unification of standards of construction, house sizes, sanitation and electrification

Meeting report

Opening Statements
At the start of the meeting, the Chairperson requested that members of the media and the PMG reporter excuse themselves from the room for a few minutes as Members had a private matter to discuss.
 
Ten minutes later, the meeting commenced with the report from the Department of Human Settlements. Mr Milile Khaba, the Parliamentary Liaison Officer from the Department read a letter from the Department requesting that the meeting be delayed until after the report on the unification of standards of construction, house sizes, sanitation and electrification has been tabled before the two Houses of Parliament.
Mr Khaba stated that one of the reasons for the delay were because the Department had tabled proposals on the unification of standards of construction and related infrastructure as well as human settlements, which were currently being reviewed by the Minister and MINMEC for consideration.
Secondly, the proposals were still being consolidated and it was too soon for the Committee to have a meeting about it. Additionally, the standardisation of the minimum norms and standards still had to be tabled before both Houses of Parliament. This was important step for the Department to follow in order to comply with the principles of consultation.

Mr Khaba expected that the proposals would be served before the next MINMEC meeting after which it would be presented to Parliament. The Committee was thus requested to represent the Department at the meeting. Additionally, it was requested that it be noted that there had been a postponement of the meeting due to the reasons mentioned above.

The Chairperson informed Members that the meeting was now open for comments.
Discussion
Mr Z Mlenzana (COPE, Eastern Cape) requested that the Committee accept the message from the Department and the appeal for the meeting to be held at a later date. He also asked that the Department liase with the Committee’s secretary in order to set up a date for when they would be ready for their presentation.

Ms M Themba (ANC, Mpumalanga) thanked the Department for their explanation on why the presentation would be delayed. She requested that the Department’s chairperson put the presentation on the forefront of their agenda in order for the Committee to get the required information for them to do their oversights in their different constituencies.

The Chairperson appealed to the Department to deal with the matter as soon as possible. He expressed his hope that there would be word from the Department indicating that they are ready to present to the Committee. He also indicated that he would inform the Director-General of the new meeting date, as he would like the whole Department to be present during the presentation.

Mr Khabo informed the Committee that their concerns had been noted and that they would be relayed to the Department’s Director-General. 

The Chairperson then excused the Department from the rest of the meeting.

Adoption of Minutes
Members were presented with the minutes of the last meeting on 19 February 2013.

Page one, two and three of the meeting were agreed upon by the Committee.

Mr Mlenzana pointed out page four, bullet number 7’s spelling mistake. He stated that it should be Weigh Bridges and not Weight Bridges as written in the minutes and so, the spelling mistake should be amended.

Mr M Jacobs (ANC, Free State) pointed out that the issue he raised on the Department employing temporary law enforcers during peak periods was not included in the minutes and requested that the secretary include it.

The Chairperson acknowledged this.

The Committee approved pages five and six.

Mr H Groenewald (DA, North West) moves to adopt the minutes and Ms Themba seconded the move.
The minute was adopted with amendments.
The meeting was adjourned.