Election of Committee Chairperson; Committee Programme

Meeting report

Election of Committee Chairperson
The Committee Secretary, Mr Andre Hermans, temporarily chaired the meeting and welcomed members to the first meeting of the Committee. The purpose of the meeting was to elect a Committee Chairperson in terms of Rule 158 of the National Assembly (NA) Rules. Mr Hermans called upon members to nominate candidates for the position of Committee Chairperson.

Ms J Hermans (ANC) nominated Mr D Nkosi (ANC) as a candidate for the position of Committee Chairperson.

Mr S Mbuyane (ANC) seconded Mr Nkosi’s nomination.

Mr Hermans asked Mr Nkosi whether he accepted the nomination.

Mr Nkosi accepted the nomination.

Mr Hermans asked if there were any other nominations.

There were no other nominations made by members.

In the absence of any other nominations Mr Hermans declared Mr Nkosi as the Committee Chairperson.

Mr Nkosi took his position as Chairperson of the Committee and said that the Committee had its work cut out for it. The Committee was one of the busiest Committee’s in Parliament. The Committee would have to consider its programme for the rest of the term. It would shed light on when the Committee would be having meetings. The Committee would be working closely with its counterpart in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) ie the Select Committee on Trade and Industry, Economic Development, Small Business, Tourism, Employment & Labour. He urged members to be mindful of this.

Committee Programme
Mr Hermans said that Committee Staff had been asked to prepare a Draft Programme for the Committee which had been done. The Budget Vote for the Committee was scheduled for Thursday, 11 July 2019 at 6.30pm. The Committee Programme had been scheduled in such a way for members to consider the Budget. That being said, he noted that the Committee needed to adopt its Budget Vote Report by 11 July 2019 and in all likelihood would adopt the Report in the meeting scheduled for Wednesday, 10 July 2019. The Committee would be briefed on the Budget Vote and on the Annual Performance Plan (APP) by the Minister of Trade and Industry, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Economic Development Department.

Mr Hermans continued speaking to the Committee’s Draft Programme which included meetings on 16, 17 and 24 July 2019 whereby introductions would be made to the DTI and its entities. This was in a sense some form of induction for the members of the Committee. He added that a more detailed Programme would be provided to members shortly.

Mr Nkosi asked members how they felt about the Draft Programme that had been spoken to by Mr Hermans.

Ms Hermans congratulated Mr Nkosi on his appointment as Committee Chairperson and said that she was in support of the Draft Programme as presented to the Committee.

Mr D Macpherson (DA) too congratulated Mr Nkosi on his appointment. He pointed out that he had enjoyed working with the former Chairperson in the fifth parliament, Ms J Fubbs (ANC). She had set some noteworthy goals for the Committee and the Committee had been one of the most hardworking in Parliament. Members knew exactly what they were signing up for. He assured the Committee that the DA would do everything to support the Committee and to hold the Executive to account. He said that members would in all likelihood most probably wish to make proposals. He noted that Ms Fubbs had allowed parties and individuals to have their say. He asked Mr Nkosi to keep up the tradition that Ms Fubbs had put in place. He pointed out that there were a number of bills, legislation and policies that were outstanding from the previous parliament and that current members needed to be briefed on these. The DTI needed to brief the Committee on what was outstanding. In this way members could prepare themselves. Members had to be kept appraised.

Ms P Mantashe (ANC) was concerned about the sugar industry shedding 4000 jobs. These jobs needed to be preserved.

Mr Mbuyane was pleased with the Draft Programme as presented.

Mr W Thring (ACDP) and Mr J Mulder (FF+) both congratulated Mr Nkosi on his appointment.

Mr Nkosi stated that all relevant information and necessary reports should be circulated to members and then the Committee could properly deal with its Draft Programme. The Committee’s next meeting was scheduled for Thursday, 4 July 2019 at 2pm. The current Draft Programme was a starting point and would be subject to change. 

The meeting was adjourned.