Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture: Committee Legacy Report

Arts and Culture

12 March 2014
Chairperson: Ms L Moss (ANC) (Acting)
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Meeting Summary

The Portfolio Committee on Arts and Culture met to adopt outstanding Committee minutes, as well as the report on its activities undertaken during the 4th Parliament – the Legacy Report.   Ms L Moss (ANC) was Acting Chairperson during the meeting.

The minutes for the Committee meetings on 4 February and 19 February 2014 were adopted, with amendments.    The minutes for the meetings on 6 November 2013, 26 February and 5 March 2014, were adopted without amendments.

One of the issues raised by Members as a concern pertained to the new board of PanSALB (Pan South African Languages Board), whose names had still not been announced.  Members argued that this delay was not acceptable, and would be taken up with the Minister of Arts and Culture.  Members also showed frustration regarding the full report on the status of the Mvezo satellite from the Nelson Mandela Museum, which had still not been made available to the Committee. Members contended that the matter of the report did not need any intervention from the traditional leader, Chief Mandela, because the matter was a Parliamentary process. The Mvezo museum was being funded by the state, so an account needed to be given to Parliament on how the funds had been spent. The Committee could not continue to wait on Chief Mandela to oversee the report before it was submitted to Parliament.

The Committee’s Legacy Report (2009 – 2014) was adopted, with all the amendments made in the Committee minutes.
 

Meeting report

Chairperson’s opening remarks
Ms L Moss (ANC) opened the meeting and said the Chairperson was running late but would arrive shortly. The meeting was the last one for the current term of Parliament.   The Committee had performed well, although when she first came to the Committee, she felt it was not up to scratch.
 
Draft minutes of 6 November 2013
Mr N van den Berg (DA) raised the issue that the new board of PanSALB (Pan South African Languages Board) had still not been announced, even though it had been promised that the names would be announced the previous week.
 
Dr H van Schalkwyk (DA) said that according to the Director-General, the list had been signed off.

The Chairperson agreed that the Auditor-General had in fact indicated that the list of Board members had been signed. The Committee secretary was asked to provide Members with information as to whether a letter of request had been sent to the Minister of Arts and Culture.

Ms Ajabulile Mtiya, Committee Secretary, replied that a letter, with nominations for the PanSALB board, was sent to the Minister last year. The answer was still outstanding.  She spoke to Advocate Nonkosi Cetywayo, from the Institutions Supporting Democracy (ISD) office, who would follow up on the issue.

Mr van den Berg responded that this was not good enough.  People would assume that the Committee was not doing enough on the matter, because the names of the Board were not coming forward. He asked the Chairperson how she would deal with the problem, as this was the last Committee meeting.

Mr P Ntshiqela (COPE) said he was disappointed as well. He pointed out that the Committee as a whole was unable to take a position on the matter.

The Chairperson pointed out that a decision by the Minister was long overdue. The Committee needed to write a letter to the Speaker to sort out the problem.

Mr D Mavunda (ANC) said that ‘Resolutions’ in the minutes did not reflect what the Committee had discussed on the matter pertaining to the state theatre.  He wanted to highlight the point, but not put it to discussion, as this was the last meeting and the issue could not be fixed.

The Chairperson suggested that amendments to the recommendations be made if members of the Committee were able to remember.

Dr Van Schalkwyk suggested that the recommendations of the minutes be added to the legacy report.

Ms F Mushwana (ANC) said the work could not be finished during that meeting, and recommended that the new Committee would do better justice to it. She suggested leaving the minutes as they were.

Dr Van Schalkwyk suggested that the ‘Resolutions’ be looked at again.
 
Mr Mavunda argued that Dr Van Schalkwyk’s contribution to the discussion did not help to solve the problem the Committee was facing. The Committee had a pile of minutes that had not been adopted, so their hands were tied and no changes could be made. The legacy report should not be seen as a document for the upcoming committee.

Mr L Khoarai (ANC) agreed.

Ms Mushwana also agreed that they could not fix the shortcomings of the minutes, but they should include ‘Resolutions’ as an addendum for the next Committee to consider.  
The Chairperson agreed. She pointed out that the issues raised by the members were not in their hands. She blamed the support staff and the content adviser of the Committee for these complications. They should not have given the Committee incorrect minutes and recommendations.

Ms Mushwana moved for the adoption of the minutes.

Mr S Ntapane (UDM) seconded.

The minutes were adopted without any amendments.

Draft Minutes of 4 February 2013
The Chairperson asked if there are any matters Members wanted to raise.

Mr Ntshiqela said he had sent an apology for this particular meeting and it had not been recorded.

The Chairperson noted the concern.

The minutes were adopted with amendments.

Draft Minutes of 19 February 2013
The Chairperson said the minutes would deal with the Nelson Mandela Museum, and also with the issue of PanSALB.

Mr Ntshiqela asked whether the Nelson Mandela Museum had submitted a full report on the Mvezo satellite to the Committee.

Ms Mtiya replied that Chief Financial Officer of the Foundation had indicated that a full report would be made available to the Committee, but there were still issues which the Foundation still needed to address.
 
The Chairperson asked whether a timeframe had been allocated to the Foundation for the submission of the report.

Ms Mtiya replied that 26 February 2014 was the deadline initially given to the Foundation. The Chief Executive Officer had indicated that the report still needed to be approved by Chief Mandela.
 
Ms T Sunduza (ANC) said the Mvezo museum was being funded by the state, so accountability needed to be given to Parliament on how the funds had been spent. The Committee could not continue to wait on Chief Mandela to oversee the report before it was submitted to Parliament.   The matter was not a traditional matter, but rather a Parliamentary process. The report needed to be submitted to the Committee before the end of the week.

Mr Khoarai agreed with Ms Sunduza.

Mr Ntapane also agreed, and said the whole Mvezo matter should not have been allowed to go on the way that it had.  He suggested that the matter be included as a resolution in the legacy report.
 
The minutes were adopted with the amendments.

Draft Minutes of 26 February 2014
The Chairperson moved the adoption of the minutes.
 
Mr Muvunda said that the resolutions did not sufficiently reflect what the Committee had discussed.
 
Mr Ntapane remarked that as this was the last meeting, nothing could be fixed and their hands were tied.
 
The Chairperson agreed.

The minutes were adopted without any amendments.

Draft Minutes of 05 March 2014
The minutes were adopted without any amendments.

Consideration and adoption of the Committee's Legacy report (2009 -2014)
 The Chairperson said the amendments mentioned during the discussion of the minutes would be added. The reviewed report was to be sent to the Members before 14h00 on 11 March 2014.

The legacy report was adopted unanimously, with amendments.

The meeting was adjourned.

 

Present

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