Committee Programme 2004: discussion

PUBLIC WORKS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
12 November 2003
COMMITTEE PROGRAMME 2004: DISCUSSION

Chairperson: Inkosi M Hlengwa (IFP)

Documents handed out:
Draft Committee Programme 2004 (Awaited)
Committee Annual Report 2003 (Awaited)
Joint Budget Committee report (Awaited)

SUMMARY
Both the Draft Committee Programme 2004 and the Committee's Annual Report 2003 were referred back to the Committee Clerk for corrections. The Committee felt it was still important that visits to nodal points be undertaken during the Committee members' current term of office. The Co-Chairperson of the Joint Budget Committee (JBC) extended an invitation for the Committee to attend hearings and discussions on the themes under which the Department of Works had been categorised.

MINUTES
The Draft Committee Programme 2004 was read out and its content was found to be largely inaccurate content. Names of Members were reflected at events that they had not been delegated to attend, and did not appear in alongside events they had attended. The duration of trips was also inaccurately represented. Activities that had taken place in 2001 were not reflected. The programme also lacked clarity in terms of its dates and to which financial year was being referred. The Committee Secretary was requested to rectify both documents. The Chairperson invited discussions as to whether the Committee would still be able to visit the nodal points and whether a workshop was necessary.

Discussion
Mr M Chikane (ANC) said that although the nodal point visits were critical, the Portfolio Committee would be deskbound for the next fortnight.

Mr J Blanch (Federal Alliance) raised the issue of petitions that had been circulated in April 2003, saying that since George and Durban were nodal points, the visits could encompass concerns contained in the petitions.

Inkosi M Hlengwa (IFP) did not respond to Mr Blanch's suggestion, but did propose that the visits could start in December 2003 and finish at the beginning of January 2004.

Mr M Chikane, in his motivation for workshops, said that the general impact of their policy work and its shortcomings needed to be checked for quality and standards. The evaluation of the policy shift would assess whether it was appropriate or needed to be extended. With the reduction of the Public Works budget, the Committee needed to know how this was being spread and what difficulties were being experienced. He asked whether there was now proper human resource management within the Department. Orientation was necessary as it was unfortunate to have members serving on the Portfolio Committee without gradual orientation. Policy adjustments were necessary. For instance, in KwaZulu-Natal, Durban had world class roads and Mahlabathini had no roads; thus South Africa continued to consist of two nations, one rich and one poor. They also needed to evaluation how the Acts they had passed were being implemented. Policy was being 'short-circuited' in areas such as engineering.

The Chairperson commented that the Committee did not get feedback from the ground for input into their programmes.

Mr S Opperman (DP) said the Committee needed to ensure that the workshop focused on specific things, followed up by field trips where they could speak to people and then move onto workshopping another issue.

With reference to the Department of Public Works report's on proposed Committee meeting dates in 2004, the Chairperson said that although nothing was final, the main debates would occur between 17-31 March 2004.

Ms T Nwamitwa-Shilubana (ANC) suggested that as a tentative programme, this could be left as it was.

The Chairperson requested the Secretary to do a costing for the visits to nodal points and the evaluation workshops. Members could make suggestions about of the workshop to the Secretary.

Mr J Blanche (FA) wanted to know what was going to happen about the petitions they had received from Durban and George as far back as February 2003. The public had brought these to the Committee's attention, hence they deserved a response.

The Chairperson said the Committee had decided to convey these to the Director General, and that the Committee would wait for a response. They would send the Director-General an urgent reminder.

The meeting was adjourned.