Committee Programme & Committee Business

Meeting report

Chairperson’s opening remarks

The Chairperson indicated that the Committee would have to request extension of the deadline for the whole process of filling of vacancies in the Commission for Gender Equality as Parliament is about to go to recess until January. The Committee would advertise the posts from 11 December until 13 January and Human Resource would also have to assist the Committee in terms of verification and vetting of qualifications of the candidates                            
Adoption of the Committee Programme

Ms H Hlophe (EFF) asked about the total number of vacancies that would be filled in the Commission for Gender Equality. In additon, she sought clarity on how much the Committee spent on food during the meeting.

The Chairperson responded that four vacancies would be filled. She added that the budget for food was usually for one meal during the meeting. It would at the discretion of Members to decide on whether all the meetings should be held in Parliament or book a place outside.

Ms D Robinson (DA) suggested that all the meetings should be held in Parliament in order to avoid incurring extra cost.  

Ms Hlope wanted to know why there were four vacancies that needed to be filled in the Commission for Gender Equality.

Ms Kashifa Abrahams, Committee Content Adviser, replied that the term of office for the Chairperson of the Commission was ending on 31 January 2017 and the term of the Deputy Chairperson ended on 31 May 2016. On 31 May, the term of office for commissioner Ms Janine Hicks came to an end but the part-time commissioner Mr Mbuyiselo Botha applied for the full-time position but his part-time position became vacant. In 2012, the President only nominated for the appointment of nine commissioners even though the Act says you can only have 11+1 commissioners. Parliament decided to have one Ad Hoc Committee that would fill all these vacant posts instead of two so as to save money.                                         

Ms N Marchesi (DA) asked if there was funding available to fill all these vacant posts as the funding for the Commission for Gender Equality did not reflect any available funding for additional commissioners.

Ms Abrahams replied that there would be funding available to fill the vacant posts as these were appointments that would need to be made. The term of office for commissioners was five years and this was limited to two terms.

The Committee Programme was adopted with amendments.

Adoption of the Questionnaires

Ms Abrahams mentioned that the Curriculum Vitaes (CVs) of all candidates would be posted on the parliamentary website to allow members of the public to comment on the suitability of candidates.

Ms C Dudley (ACDP) indicated that the advertisement for the posts should be social media friendly as this would allow the easy sharing of information.

Ms Hlope wanted to know if the Committee would be advertising in newspapers only and if the answer was yes then what were the names of those newspapers. It would be important for the advertisements to be able to reach rural women as well and not just those in urban areas. The advertisements of the posts should be done in all eleven official languages so as to reach out to even those in far-flung areas.  

Ms M Chueu (ANC) asked about the budget that had been set aside for advertisement as this would give a direction on how the advertisements for the vacant posts would be spread across the spectrum.

Ms Robinson proposed that the Committee should also use radios for the advertisements for the filling of the vacant posts.

The questionnaires were adopted with amendments.

Adoption of Minutes

The Committee adopted the minutes of 23 November 2016 without amendments.

The meeting was adjourned.