PC Agriculture: Consideration of Committee Minutes

Meeting report

Opening Statement by the Chairperson
The Chairperson welcomed Members of the Portfolio Committee and informed them that the purpose of the meeting was to consider and adopt outstanding Committee Minutes.

Outstanding Committee Minutes
Committee Minutes dated 8 October 2013 (morning session)
The Chairperson said that the agenda of that meeting was the briefing by the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) on key issues in the 2012/13 Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF or the Department).

Mr S Abram (ANC) said that there were 13 DAFF officials at that meeting, and less than three had participated in the discussions. The rest being there was a waste of taxpayer’s money.

The Chairperson replied that Mr Abram’s concern was a separate discussion that the Committee still had to raise with the Department. This should be a separate issue, after which a solution should be identified. Mr Abram made a valid observation, which would be discussed and resolved going forward.
 
The Chairperson corrected the words “on conclusion” for “in conclusion” on page 3 of the minutes.

Ms A Steyn (DA) corrected the initial of Mr Abram where “A” was written instead of “S” on the first page of the minutes.

Mr P van Dalen (DA) moved for the adoption of minutes.

Mr R Cebekhulu (IFP) seconded the move.

The Committee adopted the minutes with amendments.

Committee Minutes dated 8 October 2013 (afternoon session)
The Chairperson said that the agenda of that meeting was the briefing by the DAFF on the Marine Living Resources Amendment Bill.

Ms Steyn corrected the initial of Mr Abram where “A” was written instead of “S” on page 1 of minutes.

Mr Cebekhulu corrected the word “programme” with the word “programmes” on page 2 of minutes under point 3 for deliberations and resolutions taken by the Committee.

Mr van Dalen moved for the adoption of minutes.

Mr Cebekhulu seconded the move.

The Committee adopted the minutes with amendments.

Committee Minutes dated 10 October 2013
The Chairperson said that the agenda of that meeting was the consideration of the 2012/13 Annual Reports of the Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) and the South African Veterinary Council (SAVC).

The Chairperson noted a correction once again to Mr Abram’s initial.

Ms Steyn asked what the “CS” stood for in the list of the delegation from OBP on page 1 of minutes.

The Chairperson said that “CS” might stand for Company Secretary.

Mr van Dalen noted in the first paragraph on the second page of the minutes, the Chairperson talked about the incident that occurred when he left the Committee and the media had reported that he had said something about the Minister, which he had corrected. Both he and Mr Abram had said something, which was not reflected in those minutes. It should be reflected and indicated in the minutes that what was said in the media was not said by him.

The Chairperson said that should be incorporated in the minutes.

Mr van Dalen insisted that it should be indicated in the minutes that he never used any derogatory language against the Minister.

Mr Abram asked whether it was correct to say “unfortunate incidence” or “unfortunate incident” because in his view it was an incident.

The Chairperson said that they should be consistent with the word “incident”.

Mr Abram said that he had said the Minister had lied and did not mind how that sentence should be constructed because what he had said was what caused the incident. He was telling the truth, and he did not mind how they phrased it in the minutes.

Mr van Dalen moved for the adoption of the minutes.

Mr Cebekhulu seconded the move.

The Committee adopted the minutes with amendments.

Committee Minutes dated 11 October 2013
The Chairperson said that the agenda of that meeting was the consideration of 2012/13 Annual Report of the Perishable Products Export Control Board (PPECB) and the National Agriculture Marketing Council (NAMC).

Ms Steyn asked what kind of a director Dr Boitshoko Ntshabele was, since he was on the list of the delegation from DAFF.

The Chairperson responded that Dr Ntshabele was Director for Animal Health, but that had to be double-checked. He said that Dr Mono Mashaba was the Chairperson of the PPECB Board, and Angelo Petersen and Eurica Scholtz were directors within the PPECB structure. Dharmarai Naicker was the General Manager for Laboratory and Sinovuyo Matai for the North Region. This was for the purposes of presenting a very clear and comprehensive minute.

Mr M Cele (ANC) asked what the difference was between a board member and a board of director.

The Chairperson responded that a board member was a non-executive and a board director was an executive.

The Chairperson said that they should delete the second word “to” in the last sentence of the first paragraph on page 3 of the minutes.

Ms Nokuzola Mgxashe, Content Adviser, said that Ms Ntombi Msimang, the Chairperson of the NAMC Board, introduced the presentation but she was not on the list of attendees.

The Chairperson said that the name of Ms Msimang should be included on the list of attendees on page 2 of the minutes.

Mr van Dalen moved for the adoption of minutes.

Ms N Twala (ANC) seconded the move.

The Committee adopted the minutes with amendments. 
 
Committee Minutes dated 22 October 2013 (morning session)
The Chairperson said the agenda of that meeting was to look at the responses by the DAFF on issues raised during the public hearings on the Marine Living Resources Amendment Bill.

The Chairperson noted that a correction had to be made to Mr Abram’s initial.

Ms Steyn said that officials from DAFF should clearly write their titles and capacities.

The Chairperson asked what the Office Assistant was.

Ms Mgxashe responded that it was a general assistant, working at the office of the Director-General of the Department.

The Chairperson said that those were the details that Members were referring to so that it was clear it was an Office Assistant in the DG’s office.

Mr Cele moved for the adoption of minutes.

Mr van Dalen seconded the move.

The Committee adopted the minutes with amendments.

Ms Steyn said that the word “relooks” which was used in terms of the R424m that had been projected for the implementation of the Bill on page 2 of the minutes was not strong enough to be used as a resolution of the Committee. They had to look for a strong word that would compel the Department to implement the Committee’s resolution.

The Chairperson interjected, saying that he was reminded by PMG whether Ms Steyn was being recorded because they (PMG) recorded the proceedings of that meeting, and Parliament received a lot of assistance from them in terms of recording the meetings. Therefore, when the meetings took place in a venue where there were no microphones, it placed them at a disadvantage, as the recording device was or was not picking up what Members were saying.  Yes, PMG was doing it for themselves, but it also benefited Parliament, as Members could go back to the recordings to hear what was said. He requested that the Committee staff ensure that they book a venue with microphones in the future, so PMG could record the meetings.

Ms Steyn said she did not know what the rest of the Members were thinking but the word “relook” was not strong enough to be used in that resolution.

The Chairperson said that Ms Steyn was spot on because the essence of their discussion at that time had more to do with the fact that they would have been very keen as a Committee of Parliament to get to grips with what that R424m entailed.

Mr van Dalen said that there was also an amount of R580m for the implementation of the Bill. The Committee was unsure about how much implementation was going to cost. The Committee had asked for a breakdown of the shortfall. They were working with the Bill and if the Bill had money implications, it became a money Bill as well. That was a discussion the Committee wanted but did not get an answer to, except to say that the National Treasury and all other departments would join and give the money to set up those cooperatives. Members never found out what the cost were for.

Ms Steyn said they should ask for the breakdown of the amount that had been projected for the implementation and from which source the R424m came from, and it should reflect in the minutes.

Committee Minutes dated 22 October 2013 (afternoon session)
The Chairperson said that the agenda of that meeting was for further deliberations on the Marine Living Resources Amendment Bill. He noted a correction that had to be made to Mr Abram’s initials.

Mr van Dalen read the last sentence of the last paragraph on page 2 of the minutes under the resolution of the Committee that “ensures that in an event that the National Treasury does not approve the allocation of funds for the implementation of MLR Amendment Bill, the Department has an alternative plan on how it will implement the Bill”. He said that any Bill that had implications of money became a Money Bill and should be dealt with differently. It was never a question that Treasury would give the money.

The Chairperson said it was an open-ended statement that could be subjected to many misunderstandings and interpretations. It was an incorrect statement in the minute, and people would have difficulty understanding it.

Mr van Dalen said that the Department had to explain where they had taken the money.
The Chairperson explained that a resolution in that regard had already been taken. He did not see why the Committee should take another resolution. All the Committee needed to do was to refer the Department to the resolution in a form of correspondence, and follow up on the resolution, which had been taken on 22 October 2013. He suggested that they delete the bullet point in the minutes that Mr van Dalen referred to above.

Mr van Dalen agreed with the Chairperson that they would look silly if they included that bullet point.

Ms Steyn moved for the adoption of minutes.

Ms N Twala (ANC) seconded the move.

The Committee adopted the minutes with amendments.

Mr Abram said that he was concern that some Members had not yet arrived for the meeting so there may not have quorum to adopt the minutes.

The Chairperson said that Ms Twala had just arrived, which took their number to six Members, which meant that they would be able to form a quorum for the adoption of the minutes. But, they needed to expedite the process of adoption of minutes.

Committee Minutes dated 23 October 2013
The Chairperson said the agenda of that meeting was the clause-by-clause consideration of the Marine Living Resources Amendment Bill. He noted the correction to Mr Abram’s initial.

Ms Twala moved for the adoption.

Ms Steyn seconded the move.

The Committee adopted the minutes.

Committee Minutes dated 24 October 2013
The Chairperson said that agenda of that meeting was a briefing by the Agriculture Research Council (ARC) and Ncera Farms (Pty) Ltd on their 2012/13 Annual Reports.

Ms Twala moved for the adoption of the minutes.

Ms Steyn seconded the move.

The Committee adopted the minutes.

Committee Minutes dated 29 October 2013
The Chairperson said that the agenda of that meeting was the adoption of the Marine Living Resources Bill; Consideration and adoption of the report on the nomination of candidates to serve on the Board of the National Agricultural Marketing Council (NAMC); and consideration and adoption of outstanding Committee Minutes.

Ms Steyn moved for the adoption of minutes.

Mr van Dalen seconded the move.

The Committee adopted the minutes.

Committee Minutes dated 30 October 2013
The Chairperson said that the agenda of that meeting was for the consideration and adoption of the report of the Committee on its oversight visit to Free State Province; consideration of the Draft Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report (BRRR); and a briefing by DAFF on the management and control of diseases that impact the agricultural industry in the country such as citrus black spot, foot and mouth disease, avian influenza, swine influenza and African Horse sickness.

Ms Steyn moved for the adoption of minutes.

Mr Cele seconded the move.

The Committee adopted the minutes.

Committee Minutes dated 31 October 2013
The Chairperson said that the agenda of the meeting was the adoption of Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report (BRRR).

Mr van Dalen moved for the adoption of minutes.

Mr Cebekhulu seconded the move.

The Committee adopted the minutes.

The Chairperson informed the Committee that the Minutes of 15 and 16 October were still outstanding. He thanked Members for their participation in the adoption of minutes.

The meeting was adjourned.