Election of Chairperson

Meeting report

Election of Chairperson

The Committee Secretary, Mr L Brown, welcomed everyone present and submitted the agenda for the meeting which was the election of the Committee Chairperson. He proceeded to call for nominations.

Ms N Adoons (ANC) nominated Ms B Mbinqo-Gigaba (ANC) as Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education.

Mr T Malatjie (ANC) seconded the nomination.

Ms Mbinqo-Gigaba accepted the nomination.

There were no further nominations.

Chairperson’s remarks

The Chairperson thanked Members for nominating her. She was of the opinion that this was the beginning of the next five years. She always viewed the Portfolio Committee as the debating platform for different political parties with different mandates tied together by Basic Education. She highlighted that it was important for Members to remember that they were placed in the Basic Education portfolio to hold the Department accountable.

The Chairperson noted there will be limited time to cover all the work set out for this term. The budget process is also very limited due to time constraints. Since the Committee was supposed to meet on Tuesday, 9 July 2019, the Department and its entities should be invited. She hoped that Members would agree with the proposal since time was limited to cover the work set out for this term.

The Chairperson proposed the Committee meet tomorrow to consider the Legacy Report from the previous Committee.

Ms N Shabalala (ANC) seconded the proposal to meet tomorrow for the consideration of the Legacy Report because it would assist the Committee to know where the previous Committee left off, before it kicks off its work for the term.

Ms N Tarabella-Marchesi (DA) agreed.

Ms D Van Der Walt (DA) said that Basic Education is one of the high profile portfolios; therefore, it would behove the Chairperson to be strict on the departments and entities to submit their presentations and documents on time - this was one of the biggest challenges in the previous Parliament resulting in Members not having sufficient time to prepare for engagements as the documents would be sent very late. She suggested that if the Department fails to adhere to this important instruction, the Chairperson should not allow the Department and its entities to present.   

The Chairperson agreed that she would ensure the foundation was laid properly and will be stern on this matter.

The Committee Secretary would inform Members later about tomorrow’s meeting details.

The meeting was adjourned.