Election of Chairperson

Meeting report

Opening remarks
The Committee Secretary and Acting Chairperson opened the meeting and introduced members of the Committee support team.  He explained that it was his role in terms of Rule 153 of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) to call for nominations for a Chairperson for the Committee. He would call for a seconder and then ask the nominee if he or she was prepared to accept the nomination. If only one person was nominated, he would announce that person duly appointed without an election.

The Committee Secretary asked for a nomination for the position of Chairperson of the Select Committee on COGTA.

Mr A Gxoyiya (ANC; Northern Cape) nominated Mr T Dodovu as Chairperson. Ms M Mmola (ANC; Mpumalanga) seconded the nomination. There were no further nominations.

Mr Dodovu accepted the nomination and was duly declared Chairperson of the Committee.

The Chairperson thanked the Secretary and thanked the Members of Parliament for bestowing such confidence in him to be at the helm, to be Chairperson of the Committee. Undoubtedly, it was a daunting challenge in terms of making sure that they, as Members of Parliament, did what was expected of them and that they ensured that they facilitated the processes of legislation and scrutinised the actions of the Executive, and facilitated community participation.

He added that, as all Members of Parliament knew, at the heart of what they were going to do was to ensure that the system of local government functioned, and that it functioned quite effectively so that it became developmental in nature and that whatever problems pertained at municipal level were addressed. That was quite important given the nature of the problems and challenges facing local government.

The Chairperson noted that equally important was the need to improve human settlement within society so that people lived in good human habitation. That was also important in terms of scrutinising the Executive, facilitating legislation and ensuring community participation, as he had already pointed out, but also to know that what the Members were going to do was to play their oversight role in relation to issues of sanitation and water. Water was life and sanitation was dignity and that was what had to propel them, as Members of Parliament, to ensure that people who did not have water had access to water, and that that those that did not have access to sanitation, had access to sanitary facilities and to ensure that they played an effective role in that particular instance.

From his part, he would work to make sure that the Committee achieved its own objectives. He believed that if Members of Parliament could work together in a way that inspired confidence and enabled them to achieve their objectives, they could make an immense contribution in terms of making sure that they changed the platform. As a Chairperson, he believed that working objectively and cooperating with all Members of Parliament and treating everyone equally and with respect, would go a long way towards making sure that the work of the Committee would be good.

He felt elevated by the honour bestowed on him to facilitate the proceedings of this particular Committee. It was only the first meeting but, based on what he had indicated, he would spell out the work of the Committee going forward and spell out what and how the Committee would take its work forward in the future.

On that note, the Chairperson thanked everybody for the opportunity and declared the meeting closed.


The meeting was adjourned.