PC Coop: Third Term Committee Programme & Other Matters

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Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

16 September 2014
Chairperson: Mr M Mdakane (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Committee considered and adopted its Third Term Programme. The Committee’s planned activities included a workshop with the Office of the Auditor-General on its role as well as engagement with the Budgetary Review and Recommendations process. Other notable agenda items included discussions on the linkage between service delivery and protest; the “Back to basics” initiative; the role and functions of the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent and the role and functions of traditional leaders. Though approved, it was agreed that the programme could be subjected to further changes.

Meeting report

The Chaiperson noted that the Committee was supposed to be briefed on the progress made on the Urban Development Plan. He indicated that this would be deferred until after the Local Government Summit taking place the following day. The Committee would proceed with other housekeeping matters.

Adoption of Committee minutes

The Chairperson remarked that it was good to deal with minutes while it was still fresh in the memory. The minutes had to be clear as they provided a record of the functioning of Parliament for future generations.

Committee Minutes dated 19 August 2014

Minutes of 19 August was read through by the Committee. There was a call from several Members for shorter paragraphs and sentences, to make the minutes more readable.

The minutes were approved with no changes.

Committee Minutes dated 2 September 2014
The Chairperson tabled the document and asked Members to give their input.

Mr M Mapulane (ANC) referred to the third line of the third paragraph on page two. He asked for a reformulation of the phrasing: “compliance was questioned, and the salience of leadership was stressed”. He thought the term “salience” to be unclear.

The Chairperson suggested that the term “importance” be used, or that part of the sentence be deleted.

Mr Mapulane referred to the phrasing in paragraph three that the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) was a “hub of research”. He questioned the relevance of the statement to the core business of SALGA.

The minutes were approved with minor amendments.

Committee Minutes dated 9 September 2014
The Chairperson tabled the document and asked Members to give their input.
Mr Mapulane referred to the paragraph that mentioned the Municipal Infrastructure Grant (MIG). He said that it had to be added that funding had to be set aside for maintenance, as it came up in the discussion. The Committee’s resolution to have a seminar discussion workshop also had to be included.

The Chairperson said that it had also been resolved to have a meeting with the Statistician-General.

Mr A Mudau (ANC) noted that lack of supervision of infrastructure was not the only point raised. It was not certain what really caused protests but it was generally considered to be as a result of poor service delivery.

Mr N Masondo (ANC) commended the Committee section for good work done on the minutes. He also advised that paragraphs and sentences had to be kept shorter.

The Chairperson again stressed the value of accurate minutes. If Members were to be called in some months into the future to explain, and it was not properly minuted, it would seem that Members had adopted the minutes and distanced themselves. Members had to assume responsibility for what had been adopted.

The minutes were adopted with minor amendments..

Third Term Committee programme
The Chairperson took the Committee through the draft programme.

●The constituency period would be from 29 September to 13 October 2014.
●In the week 13 – 17 October, a workshop with the Auditor-General (AG) was proposed on 14 October. The workshop would deal with the role and mandate of the AG, and the BRRR process.

Ms Shireen Cassiem, Committee Secretary, added that there would be a briefing on municipal demarcation by the Department of Traditional Affairs.

The Chairperson remarked that the briefing by SALGA scheduled for 15 October, would not take place. The briefing was to have been on the SALGA annual report. It was a critical issue, but members would be notified when it would be attended to.

●In the week 20 – 24 October, there would be a meeting with the Departments of Cooperative Government and Traditional Affairs, on 21 October. A workshop was proposed for 22 October with the Statistician-General and the Community Law Centre, on the linkage between service delivery and protest.

●In the week 27 – 31 October, there would be a briefing on the role and function of traditional leaders, with a report on initiation.

●In the week 3 – 7 October, a discussion and adoption of the BRRR report was proposed, on 4 November.

●In the week 10 -14 November, a briefing on the “Back to basics” initiative was proposed, on 11 November.

●In the week 17 – 21 November, a briefing on the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) was proposed, on 18 November.

●In the week 24 – 28 November, a strategic planning workshop was proposed, on 25 November. Areas covered were to be the legacy report; a list of areas to be visited which were assisted by MISA, and bucket eradication. A workshop was considered with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR); the South African Institute for Civil Engineers (SAICE); and the South African Planning Institute (SAPI), on improving service delivery to local government.

The constituency period was to be from 1 -12 December, with the leave period form 15 December to January 2015.

The Chairperson asked Members to comment on other areas they would like to have included. He indicated that the “Back to basics” initiative could be moved to a different date. A comprehensive report on that was needed. The briefings by MISA and the Statistician-General were of great importance. The linkage between service delivery and protest was another significant area. There had been comments in an earlier meeting that there was not necessarily any linkage. Service delivery was improving, and yet protests persisted. There could be further changes to the programme after the local government summit.

The Chairperson said that areas would be visited in 2015 for oversight of the buildup to the 2016 local government elections.

The Chairperson proposed adoption of the Committee programme. It was moved for adoption. The motion was seconded and the programme was adopted with a minor change.

The Chairperson adjourned the meeting.
 

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