Merchant Shipping Amendment Bill [B12- 2015]: adoption; Third Term Committee Programme

Meeting report

Chairperson’s opening remarks

The Chairperson said the majority of the Members were absent because they were still performing oversight visits for other committees. She indicated that the previous engagements on the Bill had not resulted in any amendments and it would now be an opportunity of Members to add some of the inputs to be taken forward. 

Deliberations

Clause 1-10

Mr L Ramatlakane (ANC) mentioned that the agreement that had been reached by the Committee, together with the Department of Transport (DoT), was that clause 1-10 constituted technical amendments, especially the substitution of “seaman” to “seafarer,” and therefore the Committee should adopt those amendments that had been factored in.

The Committee agreed that clause 1-10 was the correct version of what the Committee had previously discussed and agreed upon.

The Chairperson indicated that the Committee should now consider clause 11-18.

Clause 11-18   

Mr Ramatlakane said that clause 11-18 was also the continuation of the previous engagement, especially the focus on technical amendments, and the Committee had already reached a consensus on those clauses.

The Committee agreed that clause 11-18 was the correct version of what the Committee had previously discussed and agreed upon.

Clause 19-31

Mr M Sibande (ANC) said that clause 19-31 also contained technical amendments and therefore should be adopted by the Committee.

The Committee agreed that clause 19-31 was the correction reflection of what had been discussed and agreed upon in the previous engagement.

The Chairperson asked Members to formally adopt the Merchant Shipping Amendment Bill (B12-2015) in its entirety.

Mr Sibande moved the adoption of the Bill and was seconded by Mr Radebe.

The Merchant Shipping Amendment Bill (B12-2015) was adopted without any amendments.

Third term Committee Programme

The Chairperson requested Members to deal with the third term Committee programme.

Mr Sibande hoped that Members would support the programme as it had been drawn up before Parliament went into recess and emanated from important discussions that had transpired earlier this year. 

Mr Radebe proposed that the Committee should invite the Railway Safety Regulator (RSR) to participate in the oversight visit to the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) on 22 and 23 July 2015. This would assist the Committee to get an update on the investigation into the recent train collisions at the Denver and Booysens train stations, the monitoring of signalling and the completion of the signalling station that had been visited by the Committee. It would be important for the Committee also to get more details on the recent crisis at PRASA and ways to solve it, as it affected service delivery.  

The Chairperson appreciated the proposal, but expressed concern that it might be difficult for the RSR to be available for the oversight visit at such short notice.

Mr T Mulaudzi (EFF) insisted that it would be important to get someone from RSR to be available for the oversight visit to PRASA, as there had been many train collisions in the country and there should be an assurance that such occurrences would be prevented in the near future. There was an indication that there was an infrastructure problem at PRASA at the moment and it would be important for the Committee to be informed about strategies in place to deal with this challenge.

Mr Ramatlakane said that the Committee should consider the issue of inviting the RSR to the oversight visit with PRASA, but added that it was not clear at the moment as to how the Committee could manage such an arrangement, since this proposal had come very late. There should be discussions around the remedial actions to be taken to prevent further train collisions.

Mr Sibande said that it was concerning that there had been an increase in the number of train collisions or derailments in the country as there had also been cases reported in Port Elizabeth, where people had had to be transported by buses. The issue of on-going shootings between taxi rivals in Alexandra and some areas of Durban also needed to be addressed, as it fell under transport. He suggested that the Committee should not deviate from the main programme by focusing on media reports. 

The Chairperson welcomed all the suggestions. but wanted to emphasise that the Committee should perhaps make a visit to various hospitals to which those that had been injured had been transferred in order to show consideration and humanity to the victims, and to give assistance where possible.

Mr Sipho Dibakwane, Policy Analyst, DoT, proposed that the Committee should get a briefing from the RSR on 22 July 2015, followed by a site visit to Dunnottar, north of Nigel (Gauteng) -- where PRASA intended to establish a manufacturing plant for new rolling stock -- and then to Mamelodi, to assess bus commuter movements. He supported the proposal of the Committee to invite the RSR, as there were number of issues that needed to be addressed together with PRASA.

The Chairperson directed the Secretary to make all the necessary arrangements to meet with the RSR the following day, including a visit to the site of the accident at Booysens train station.

Mr Ramatlakane proposed that the Committee should invite the South African National Taxi Council (SANTACO) to the meeting on 25 August 2015, since there would be a presentation by the South African Commuters Organisation (SACO) dealing with issues of taxi recapitalisation and the taxi feeder system. It would also be an opportunity for the Committee to get to know what the taxi owners were doing with the money from the taxi recapitalisation programme. 

The Chairperson supported the proposals, and suggested that the Committee should also invite other taxi organisations in the meeting.

Mr Radebe proposed that the Committee should also invite the South African National Road Agency Limited (SANRAL) to the meeting on the update by the Department on the Moloto Corridor Development on 15 September 2015. He expressed dismay that there had been no developments on the Moloto Corridor, considering the amount of money that had been budgeted for the project.

Mr Ramatlakane suggested that the Committee should approach the Member of Executive Council (MEC) of Transport in Gauteng in order to speak on the progress on the Moloto Corridor Development and to explain why this project had been stalled.

The Chairperson added that the Committee would also be interested to know what the impact of pulling out Putco buses on the Moloto Corridor Development had been.  . 

The Committee adopted the third term Committee programme with amendments.

The Chairperson suggested that the Committee should adopt the outstanding minutes during the oversight visit in Mamelodi.

The meeting was adjourned.