Communal Property Associations 2014/15 Report: briefing with Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform

Meeting report

The Chairperson noted that the previous day was National Youth Day. The day highlighted the challenges that the youth face today and she stated that young people must be a part of every policy discussion.

Committee Minutes
The minutes of the Committee’s 3 June meeting was adopted.

Communal Property Associations Annual Report
The Chairperson highlighted that, procedurally, a department’s report is supposed to be tabled before it is presented to a Committee. The powerpoint presentation to the Committee is merely a summary of the report. When she enquired from support staff, she found that the Department had not tabled the Communal Property Associations Annual Report 2014/15 yet. She asked the Committee if it should continue with the presentation, since there was no tabled report.

Mr A Madella (ANC) said it was immobilizing to the Committee to not have the report from the Department. The Committee would not be able to follow the information in full because there was no report. He suggested that the Committee should not discuss the presentation. Having the report is important because it is submitted to Parliament with the Minister's signature on it, whereas the presentation is only a summary of the department’s points.

Mr T Mhlongo (DA) seconded Mr Madella’s proposal that the Committee should not continue. Mr Mhlongo noted that, in a previous meeting, the Department had not brought a list of documents that the Committee had requested

Ms N Magadla (ANC) also supported the proposal that the Committee cannot proceed with the briefing.

Mr M Filtane (UDM) asked why the Committee had not been presented with the report. It is fine to pass the proposal saying that the Committee cannot proceed, but he wanted to know why the report had not been provided.

The Chairperson noted that all members agreed that the Committee could not proceed without the full report. The Chairperson asked Mr Nxasana why there was no report.

Mr Vuyiswa Nxasana, Acting Deputy Deputy General: Land Tenure and Administration,  responded that the report should have been tabled last week. He was informed that the report was ready last week, but it was not submitted in time to be tabled. Scheduling prevented the Minister from tabling the report in time.

The Chairperson stated that the Committee had submitted its agenda to the Department in time and that the Department should have responded in time. The Chairperson agreed that the Committee cannot continue the presentation without the report itself. She asked for a response from Mr Gugile Nkwinti, the Minister of Rural Development and Land Reform.

Minister Nkwinti apologised to the Committee without reservation.

The Chair declared the meeting adjourned.