South African Council of Educators Bill: voting

Meeting report

EDUCATION PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
12 June 2000
SOUTH AFRICAN COUNCIL FOR EDUCATORS BILL: VOTING

Relevant document:
South African Council for Educators Bill [B26B - 2000]
NNP's proposed amendments
Advocate Boshoff's technical amendments

Chairperson: Professor Mayatula

SUMMARY
The parties voted on the Bill with the NNP suggesting a number of changes. The Bill was passed with two technical amendments suggested by the Department of Education, but with the remainder of the clauses intact after the New National Party was outvoted in all the amendments it suggested. The entire Bill was passed unanimously with the NNP voting in favour.

MINUTES
The Chairperson indicated that voting on the Bill should take place.

The Long Title of the Bill was agreed to by all the parties.
Clauses 1, 2, 3, and 4 were agreed to.

Clause 5
Advocate Gaum pointed out that in the previous meeting the parties had agreed to a technical amendment in clause 5(d)(iii)(bb) to tally with 5 (c)(iii)(cc): to insert after "remove from the register" the words "for a specified period or indefinitely".

Advocate Boshoff said he had looked at the wording over the weekend and he suggested:
for a specified period or indefinitely, or subject to specific conditions.

The Chairperson asked that voting on the amendment should take place. All voted in favour.

Clause 6
Advocate Gaum suggested the following amendment in clause 6(1)(c):
"five persons nominated by the Department of Education, two of whom must represent the non-organised profession"

The Chairperson called for voting on the proposed amendment.
Only the NNP voted for the amendment, 11 voted against.

Advocate Gaum proposed an insertion of a new subclause under clause 6(1)to read:
"two persons nominated by parent organisations"

The Chairperson called for voting on the propose amendment.
Only the NNP voted for the amendment, 11 voted against.

Advocate Gaum proposed an insertion of the subclause that reads:
"Nominees referred to in subsection (1) may not be officials or legal representatives of the organised profession"

The Chairperson called for voting on the proposed amendment.
Only the NNP voted for the amendment, 11 voted against.

Clause 7
Advocate Gaum proposed that clause 7(1)(a) be amended to read:
"At the first meeting in a new term of office of members, the members must nominate five persons for consideration by the Minister for appointment as chairperson. The Minister must consult broadly with education stakeholders and specialists before making an appointment."

The Chairperson called for voting on the proposed amendment.
Only the NNP voted for the amendment, 16 members voted in favour. (More members had arrived for the meeting).

Clauses 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14 were agreed to.

Clause 15
Mr Boshoff said the reference in clause 15(5) to "14(2)(b) should be omitted and substituted with "14(2)(c) to correct a wrong reference.
The amendment was agreed to by all the parties.

Clauses 16, 17 and 18 were agreed to by all the parties.

Clause 19
Advocate Gaum proposed that a new clause 19(1)(c) be inserted with the existing subclause (1)(c) becoming subclause (1)(d), to read as follows:
"contributions by the Department of Education"

The Chairperson called for voting on the proposed amendment. Two voted for the amendment (DP - Mr Ntuli, and NNP - Adv Gaum); 15 voted against.

Clauses 20, 21, 22, and 23 were agreed to.

Clause 24
Advocate Gaum proposed that a new clause 24(2), with the existing subclause (2) becoming subclause (3), be inserted to read:
"The original certificate must be issued in preferred language of the educator, as has been indicated in his or her application for registration"

The Chairperson called for voting on the proposed amendment. Only the DP voted for the amendment; 16 voted against.

Clauses 25, 26, 27, 28, 29 were agreed on.

The Chairperson called for voting on the whole Bill. All voted in favour.

The meeting was adjourned.