Committee report on MTBPS: adoption

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Meeting report

JOINT BUDGET COMMITTEE

JOINT BUDGET COMMITTEE
11 November 2002
COMMITTEE REPORT ON MEDIUM TERM BUDGET POLICY STATEMENT: ADOPTION


Chairperson: Mr N M Nene (ANC), Mr T Ralane (NCOP, ANC)

Documents handed out:
Final Committee Report on the MTBPS

SUMMARY
The Committee adopted its committee report on the MTBPS. Before adoption, they discussed the report, page-by-page, making mostly technical amendments.

MINUTES
Here follows the committee deliberations on the draft version of the report (draft not available):

Page 1:
Ms Taljaard (DP) pointed out that the terms of reference can't be "gazetted". She suggested that it should be replaced with "published"- 2nd paragraph
Ms Mahlangu (ANC)(NCOP) agreed that "gazetted" was incorrect, but "published" would be incorrect too.

Mr Kgwele (ANC) suggested that "hampered" in the 3rd sentence, 2nd paragraph should be replaced with "limited", all agreed.

Ms Taljaard also suggested that the opening paragraph under sub 2 should be removed and that the presentations should be listed at the end.

Page2: no changes

Page3:
Ms Taljaard was of the opinion that the 2nd bullet under 3.2.1, Priorities, was a clumsy sentence and she wanted it redrafted. A redrafted sentence was agreed to.
The 3rd bullet was also problematic for Ms Taljaard because it reflected something other than what was agreed to. The words "child support grant" were too narrow and pre-emptive on a decision that had not been taken yet and the sentence did not reflect the fact that Cabinet is still considering the outcome of the Taylor Commission. All agreed.

Page4:
Chairperson Nene (ANC) asked for clarity on the 1st bullet. He wanted to know whether it should be 2002 or 2003. It was agreed that it should be 2003.

Page5:
no changes

Page6:
Mr Koornhof (UDM) pointed out that in the 3rd bullet under 4.1.1, Implementation Priorities, "additional" appeared too many times. All agreed that at least one "additional" should be removed.

Page7:
Ms Taljaard felt that paragraph 4.2.1, Priorities, should also reflect the committee's concern about the delays in resolving the deposit account issue.
Mr Hanekom (ANC) said that they should not reflect the concern Ms Taljaard raised because the aim of the report is to reflect what was discussed in meetings. This aim should be adhered to consistently. All agreed.

Page8: no changes

Page9:
Ms Taljaard said that the 2nd bullet under 5.1.1, SMME Support Strategy, was a clumsy sentence and suggested that it changed to, " The DTI is already evaluating this."
Dr Rabie (NNP) agreed. All agreed.

Page10:
Mr Kgwele (ANC) said that the 1st sentence under 5.4.1, The Human Resources Development Strategy, should be changed because both the Ministers of Labour and Education are heading up this strategy. All agreed.

Mr Mohlala (ANC) then asked whether they could return to Page9, he said that he was not happy with "metros" because there is no such thing. The full word, "metropolitans" should be inserted instead. All agreed.

Back to Page 10 Mr Zita (ANC) said that the last bullet under 5.3.1, Employment Creation and BEE, gives the impression that SA is in the business of employing child labour on mines. He suggested that "children's" should be changed to "youth's". All agreed.

Ms Taljaard said that "affirmable" in the 3rd paragraph near the top of the page should be replaced. She understood that the idea of Affirmative Action had to get across, but she was not sure that "affirmable" was even a word.
Mr Hanekom said that they used "affirmable" because that is how the wording came to the committee.
Ms Mahlangu said that she agreed with Ms Taljaard and that the committee should not use incorrect wording just because that is how the report was submitted to the committee.

Page11: no changes

Page12: no changes

Page13:
Ms Taljaard said that the 2nd bullet's last sentence reads, "… illegal immigration officers need vehicles", "illegal" has to be deleted. All agreed.
With regard to the HANIS project, Ms Taljaard said that the report does not reflect what happened in the meeting. There were only 2 phases to the HANIS project. Her suggestion was to replace the whole paragraph with,
" The committee expressed concern that the original contract price for the first stage of the HANIS project (AFIS) had increased from R930 million to approximately R1.5 Billion. The committee raised the point that the initial contract was based on an exchange rate of R6 to the $ and was therefore out of date. The projected cost for the second stage of the HANIS contract amounts to R2 billion. The committee noted that the discussions between the national treasury and the department to explore the restructuring of the next phase of HANIS as a PPP"
This wording comes out of the minutes of that meeting itself.

Ms Mahlangu agreed with this re-wording.
Mr Mohlala said that he did not disagree, but was weary to accept this re-wording without a proper investigation of the minutes.
Ms Mahlangu said that the figures were accurate and that they should be accepted because it is urgent that the report is finished for the ATC. All agreed.

Page14:
Ms Mahlangu proposed that the 1st bullet under 7.1.1 (b), FFC's Proposals with regard to Provincial Government, should be deleted. All agreed.

Page15:
Ms Mahlangu said that the last bullet under 7.1.2 (b), Analysis of Provincial Budgets, does not include the proper name of the grant, which is the "Integrated Nutrition Program". She wanted the name mentioned in the report.
Mr Hanekom said that if that grant was the only one then it should be named, but if there were other grants then as it stands, everything would be covered.
She said that the Integrated Nutrition Program was the main grant from which other grants would stem. Ms Mahlangu's proposal was accepted by all.

Page16: no changes

Page17:
Ms Mahlangu suggested that "life" be deleted from the 6th bullet under 8.2, People's Budget Submission. All agreed.

Page18:
Ms Taljaard asked what was meant by, "They endorse the some successes…" in the 2nd last paragraph. It was agreed that "some" should be deleted.

She then raised a further concern asking whether the terms of reference should not reflect the committee's broader mandate of meeting in February to discuss the national budget.

Ms Mahlangu said that the terms of reference should not change because Ms Taljaard, Dr Rabie and herself were involved in the drafting of them and they had agreed that the terms of reference should be minimalistic and should only facilitate the MTBPS. Furthermore, they had agreed that the report would only reflect matters, which were discussed in the committee meetings.

Mr Zita said that he agreed with Ms Mahlangu. However, that they should have something in the report that captures what she had said that makes it clear that the committee has the right to comment on the national budget at a later stage.

Committee report adopted.

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