Impact of SONA and Budget Speech as they relate to Department; with Minister and Deputy Minister

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Employment and Labour

05 March 2021
Chairperson: Ms M Dunjwa (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

Video: Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour,[NA]
Minister of Finance Budget Speech 2021
President Cyril Ramaphosa: 2021 State of the Nation Address (SONA)

The Department of Employment and Labour presented on the State of the Nation Address (SONA) and budget speech announcement and its impact on the sector. The presentation covered reports on the impact of the budget cut and its effect on the economy. Reports were also presented on departmental activities affected by the budget cut, such as recruitment and selection, trimming down on expenditure items under Information and Technology Communication (ICT), reduced inspections conducted, and the various adaptations made in response to the current realities.

The Committee raised concerns about the 500 additional inspectors appointed, as indications showed inspectors were recruited before the Covid19 pandemic. The Committee also wanted to know why the decisions and recommendations of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) were never implemented in Parliament. Questions were posed about the reason for the recently employed high paid employee within the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation, and Arbitration (CCMA).

The Committee noted government opposition to the employment of foreign nationals in certain high skill jobs, and wanted to know if the migration policy will provide quotas for low skill jobs.

The Committee wanted to know about the financial sustainability of the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) in view of the extension of benefits until 15 March 2021, and how much the UIF had in reserve.

The Committee expressed concern about the reduced budget of the CCMA, and its ability to function in the face of the high demand for its services due to the effects of Covid19, and the occurrences within the labour market. Members asked how the online services introduced for CCMA affect vulnerable workers who have no access to internet services and who are illiterate. The Committee also raised concerns over the low number of persons with disabilities in employment.

The Committee wanted to know if an evaluation was carried out on the effect of staff working from home, on service delivery. The Committee observed there were only nine specialist inspectors in employment equity in the whole country, and wanted to know if there were any plans to increase this number.

Meeting report

The Chairperson welcomed the Minister of Employment and Labour, Mr Thulas Nxesi, Deputy Minister Boitumelo Moloi, the Director-General (DG), Mr Thobile Lamati, and the officials from the Department of Employment and Labour (DEL).

The Chairperson said the meeting was rescheduled due to the volume of reports lined up for presentation. The meeting is also very significant, because it comes after two important activities in Parliament; the State of the Nation address (SONA), and the presentation of the budget by the Minister of Finance. The Committee needs to review the impact of the address and the presentation by the Minister of Finance, and prepare its budget votes.

The Chairperson called on the DG to introduce his team.

Minister’s Overview
Minister Nxesi said the year 2020/21 was a very difficult year because of the deadly effect of the Covid19 pandemic. The lockdown measures required to combat the spread of the virus led to a large-scale reduction in economic activities and employment. The Department was directly affected by the pandemic and the lockdown measures.

The Department provided wage support of about R57bn for 4.5m laid off workers and their families through the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF), and the Covid19 Benefit Extension Provision. According to the President’s announcement, this will run until 15 March 2021.

Secondly, the Inspection and Enforcement Services had an increased role in developing and enforcing lockdown, in line with COVID 19 health and safety regulations. The Department appointed an additional 500 labour inspectors. Slide 25 of the presentation shows an almost 400% increase planned under the category Health and Safety Inspector. The Minister noted, he recently visited a farm in Mpumalanga and the farmers refused to grant the delegates access.

The Department’s strategic priorities and directions are the same. It was extended to include employment, expanding its mandate beyond monitoring the labour market regulatory framework. It includes employment creation and protection, as well as coordinating employment effort across government and its agencies. This requires a reconfiguration of the Department, to address the new mandate. The process of reconfiguration is underway, and the task to address the unemployment resulting from the pandemic is now more urgent.

The Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan announced by the President towards the end of 2020 significantly expanded the role of government. It stimulated and supported improvement and the Department’s coordinating role. This role includes greater engagement between social partners, labour employers, and government, through the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC). The Department endeavours to pull together all players and hold regular meetings to deal with this implementation.

The Minister said the 2021 SONA reiterated the central role of the presidential Youth Empowerment initiative. It includes support and opportunities for training, support, and work experience to the youth. This process would be coordinated by the Department, in partnership with the presidency. It will run across government departments and agencies, and reliance will be on the labour activation programme, and reviewing the quality of those training programmes in line with job requirements.

The Minister said the traditional mandate of the Department was in no way diminished by the extension to include employment. The mandate still includes the labour market regulation, collective bargaining, social security through the UIF, the compensation fund, health and safety, employment equity, the Supported Employment Enterprises (SEE), and inspections and enforcement.

He noted the new legislation and policy development in the Employment Equity Act Amendment Bill. The Bill allows the Department to set certain targets and exclude non-compliant businesses from doing business with the State. There are also legislative amendments to the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA) which includes extension of the scope of the Act to cover domestic workers, strengthening of the Health and Safety Committees, and the right of workers to refuse work in conditions perceived to be unhealthy and dangerous. Policies are also being put in place to eradicate all forms of harassment in the work place, and end gender-based violence.

In line with the employment mandate, the Department will finalise the development of the National Employment Policy this year, and address the problems of the labour migration policy, dealing with issues of recruitment from outside the country, especially for low skill jobs which do not need special skills.
He said the policies and programs are all urgent in the face of the fast-changing environment of climate change, energy challenges, Covid19, and the increase of unemployment. It was heightened by migration and the onset of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The Minister however stressed the need to achieve a balance between the Constitution, specifically the Bill of Rights, the rights of refugees and foreigners as contained in the various International Conventions ratified by South Africa, and the rights of the mass unemployed South Africans at the lower levels.

The Minister said the Department will continue to implement the strategic plan of reconfiguration to include the employment mandate, which is in line with the SONA vision of employment. It will deliver on the traditional labour market regulatory functions, despite the budget cut, which is largely effected in the strategic plans.

On matters of the budget, the Minister said cuts were effected in all the departments, and focus should be on the best approach with the resources available.

The Chairperson thanked the Minister for his overview and the important issues raised.

Presentation by DEL on State of the Nation Address (SONA) and budget Implications
The Director-General (DG), Mr Thobile Lamati, said SONA and the budget speech fundamentally raised five issues for the Department’s consideration: Economic Recovery Plan, mass employment stimulus, extension of COVID test benefits, increase in the Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) contribution ceiling announced by the Minister of Finance, and implication of the budget speech as far as the budget allocation is concerned. The budget cut was also reported to have a major impact on some sectors, while some other areas will not have a major impact. The massive impact is as far as the budget cut is concerned.

Programme One – Administration
The operating environment of the Department was largely affected by the COVID 19 lockdown, and halted recruitment and selection.

Reduction of budget led to trimming down on other expenditure items under Information and Communications Technology (ICT). The Department adapted to working remotely and rotating staff to curb the spread of COVID 19. Work from home was adopted within a controlled arrangement, with regular monitoring and extensive use of technology.

Gender responsive Initiatives are in place, and reviewing sexual harassment policy in the fight against Gender Based Violence.

Programme Two – Inspection and Enforcement Services (IES)
The Department ensured everyone was protected in the face of COVID 19 pandemic. 3961 inspections were conducted in the public sector, and 20 291 inspections in the private sector. Overall compliance rate was about 56%. Wholesale and retail sector had the highest percentage of inspections.

Implications of the budget cuts on the programme:
-Future reduction of targets quite likely. Currently, the target has been reduced by 15%, by implication, fewer workplaces would be reached.
-Enforcing compliance with all the employment laws will be scaled down, exposing vulnerable workers to unscrupulous employers.
-Inspectors may not travel as much as they could due to future financial restrictions. Field work is an inherent part of the inspectorate.
-Advocacy and outreach campaigns may need to be scaled down. This will negatively affect the initiatives by the DEL to try and reach out to the stakeholders in terms of education and promotion of self regulation, amongst others.
-Further capacitating of areas of weakness, such as the enforcement of EEA will be severely hampered. This will have a negative effect on the transformation agenda of the country. There are only nine specialist EE inspectors for the whole country.
-Specialisation of the inspectorate will not be fully realised. This includes the inability to procure uniform for the inspectors, etc.


Programme Three – Public Empowerment Services
Work of the Department evolved based on expanded mandate, through the Office of the DG.
The Department is also playing a key role in the Economic and Recovery plan by supporting the coordination of government departments’ work in NEDLAC with respect to the plan.

Programme Four – Labour Policy and Industrial Relations (LP&IR)
Implications of the SONA: The DEL has already commenced with the ratification of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Violence and Harassment Convention C190. C190 has been submitted to Cabinet and must find its passage to parliament for ratification
SONA and budget implications on the CCMA: The biggest impact would be on the case load. Vulnerable workers whose only recourse would be through the CCMA may not be serviced. Dispute prevention initiatives will severely be impacted. The budget cuts will have a serious impact on resource mobilisation e.g. the number of part time Commissioners may be reduced drastically and the manner in which services are provided will have to be adapted, more online dispute resolution processes
Budget implications for NEDLAC: The consultation on the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Strategy with the social partners is located within NEDLAC and on specific deliverables for which task teams are established, NEDLAC will provide a monitoring mechanism. The new way of work has necessitated that the organisation look at new forms of delivering the services it provides, more online discussions as opposed to residency based meetings. This implies less travelling and reduced ancillary costs.
[please see presentation attached for further details]
Presentation on the Progress of the SONA and budget speech announcements
-Extension of COVITTERS benefits from 16 October 2020 to 15 March 2021.
-Need to provide relief to affected employees, not covered under TERS extension, but balance the liquidity of UIF
-Since 27 March 2020, COVITTERS contributed R58.3bn to the economy: 13 696 539 payments made to workers and 1 194 626 employers applied for relief. It is estimated the extension will add an additional R15.8bn to the economy

-budget speech: increase in contributions ceiling from R14 872 to R17 711,56.

[please see presentation attached for further details]
Presentation on 2021/2022 Budget Reductions
[see presentation attached for details]

Discussion
Mr M Bagraim (DA) thanked the Minister for the overview, and thanked the DG for the report. He asked for clarification from the Minister on the 500 additional inspectors referred to in the report. He said these inspectors were appointed before the Covid pandemic, and the Minister’s report about the farm does not give the Committee access. He hoped action will be taken and the Committee will receive reports on this.

He said the Minister spoke of the Department’s mandate including employment creation, but little was seen in this respect. More evident are the effects of the harsh regulations which do not actually promote employment. If the Department really wants to create jobs, it must look at its regulatory authority first, and then the Minister can report to the Committee about it.

Following the Ministers’ report saying NEDLAC meets twice a week, Mr Bagraim wanted to know why NEDLAC’s decisions and recommendations are never actually implemented in Parliament. He noted for example, the job summit which looked at Youths and Employment for the last five years. Regardless of the billions promised to train youths and regardless of what the job summits says, there was not any improvement in this area.

Also, according to the Ministers report, agriculture is an area where there needs to be lots of growth and where specialised labour is not required. Contrary to speculation, this sector witnessed much retrenchment as a result of the massive minimum wage increase. The percentage of employment of persons with disabilities is still very low.

Mr Bagraim noted concern over the problems with finance, and the Department’s inability to engage more inspectors. He said this poses more problems, when there is legislation with no enforcement.

He asked why the CCMA recently employed a very high-paid employee.

On the National Employment Policy for Special Skills, he said the procedure for getting a permit for Special Skills into South Africa, is getting very difficult.

Dr M Cardo (DA) asked the Minister about the labour migration policy which will soon be brought before Cabinet. He said there is an indication government is opposed to foreign nationals being employed in certain high skill jobs, such as in the restaurant industry, and in transport. He wanted to know if the migration policy will introduce quotas for financials in low skill jobs.

Secondly, on the financial sustainability of the UIF, he said R58.3bn was already paid out in TERS, and it is expected the extension of benefits until March would cost up to R58bn. The amount will then be almost R75bn, which is almost double the amount initially anticipated. Dr Cardo wanted to know if this would affect UIF’s ability to pay out the usual non TERS benefits. This is in relation to previous questions asked on UIF’s long term sustainability. He also wanted to know how much money the UIF has in reserve.

Mr N Hinana (DA) wanted to know the tangible recovery plans in place for both economic and employment creation. He said there are a lot of people migrating from around the world, especially from the African continent. These people are working within the sectors where South Africans work. He observed for example, 90% of those serving in restaurants are not South Africans. He wanted to know if such employment contributes negatively to the unemployment rate of South Africans, which is on the increase, and he asked how this problem can be resolved. He also wanted to know what the Ministry is doing regarding facilitating and ensuring Parliament sets up health centred committees.

The DG talked about the Department prioritising the bill allocation of jobs, but said only critical posts are going to be funded, while those which are not critical posts will be rendered redundant. He wanted to know which posts will be termed redundant and which will be considered critical, and the reasons for the prioritisation.

Ms C Mkhonto (EFF) noted the Minister’s experience at one of the farms, is similar to the experience of labour inspectors on a daily basis. She said within the agricultural sector, government needs to deal with these agricultural unions because it encourages farmers to undermine government intervention in the Union’s illegal activities. The labour migration policy is long overdue, and it is time for the government to take responsibility.

Ms Mkhonto asked about the reduced budget of the CCMA. She said Covid19 activities and the occurrence within the labour market, prompted many people to seek the CCMA more than before. She therefore did not think it was a wise step to reduce the budget of the CCMA. She said according to the DG’s presentation, labour inspectors performance was satisfactory, and asked for focus to be moved to other sectors such as the mining sector.

She wanted more clarification on the R11bn reported by the Minster on broader employment work and youth employment initiative. She said reducing Commissioners in the CCMA should be carefully reconsidered.

Mr S Mdabe (ANC) said the Labour Migration Policy is most welcomed and highly appreciated, and he hoped the relevant Committee’s will be given an opportunity to review it. He wanted to know if there was an evaluation carried out on the effect on service delivery with workers working from home, and what strategy was put in place to deal with any negative effect. He also wanted to know if is there a reconciled report between the inspectorate and CCMA on the impact of non-compliance, in view of the reduction of inspection due to lock down.  He asked if there was a report on the impact on vulnerable workers exposed to unscrupulous employers, and non-compliance level due to the reduction in inspection. He said there are only nine specialist inspectors on employment equity in the whole country, and he wanted to know if there is any plan to increase the number.

On slide 49, under the Budget of the Supported Employment Services, there is a target of five % increase on the turnover, so as to make sure at least 25 people with disabilities are employed. He said the challenge might be on the reduction of the budget, especially for marketing, and wondered if this reduction will not affect the target. He asked how the online services introduced for CCMA affects vulnerable workers who have no accessto internet services, and are illiterate.

Mr S Ngcobo (IFP) thanked the Chairperson for the warm welcome. He said, though it was his first time at the committee meeting, he noted South Africans are affected by the pandemic. The pandemic came at a time when there were already problems in the country, where people had no work. On the other hand, there are foreigners who are getting work without skills, in cases where South Africans have skills for the job. Urgent attention must be paid to this issue, because there will be more violent reaction from people who feel disenfranchised.

Responses
In response to the question on the Health and Safety Committee, the Minister said, during the Departments’ inspections, some people were not taking the issue of health and safety seriously. He said, because the Committee has an oversight role and can conduct visits, he believes parliamentary duties can complement departmental duties.

The Minister referred the Committee to the Economic Recovery document, for the tangible recovery plans for the economy. He said the economic recovery plan was developed through detailed consultation between all social partners, and sets out both collective and individual commitments which were made in respect of a number of areas. It is meant to build investor, customer, and public, confidence in the short term. The immediate and short-term measures are set out and focus on how to kickstart the economy, and how to continue to provide relief to mitigate the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic.

At a second stage, the social partners will be discuss and implement the long-term structural reforms and other programmes needed. The recovery action plan has three focus areas: first, aggressive infrastructure investment which includes job creation; second, re-industrialisation and export promotion; and third, enabling conditions and supportive environment.

On the recommendations of NEDLAC, there are areas where the Department agrees with businesses. There are areas where the Department agrees with labour, and there are areas where the Department disagrees. Regardless of the position of the Department, it endeavours to sustain discussions.

On the issue of the permits, the Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) deals with this labour migration policy. It is engaging with the Minister of Home Affairs. The Department is facilitating, together with this particular IMC, some of the issues under consideration. It concerns home affairs, and there are plans to review the permit systems of the various categories.

Regarding if quotas will be introduced to labour migration, the different options are being considered, including quotas. However, every sector will be considered individually, and room will not be given for foreigners to be considered on low level skills where there are South Africans to occupy these positions.

On employment, the Department is focusing on labour migration and is taking a constructive and a balanced approach. The focus is on the African market. There is a Bill of Rights which protects everyone who lives in South Africa, not only South African citizens. The Constitution serves as a guide, the international conventions which South Africa are party to are also binding, and the South African labour legislation is also binding on the department. All this legislation will be taken into consideration when dealing with foreign nationals however, priority will be given to South Africans when faced with cases of massive employment, especially at the low skills level.

On the sustainability of UIF with the extension of TERS, several compromises were made. Some sectors narrowed, while some others did not open until last week, being closed since the time when the President announced the lockdown last year. There are some sectors which were not able to operate, but these are not too many. The DG will report on the particular sectors.

Ms Aggy Moiloa, Deputy Director-General (DDG): Inspection and Enforcement Services, DEL, replied to the question on the appointment of 500 inspectors. She said the positions were advertised in 2019 with the closing date on 4 December 2019. The beginning of 2020 was used for recruitment and selection, and the last date of recruitment was done around October 2020. Currently the Department has 100% of inspectors recruited. It is not common for inspectors who are newly recruited to be commissioned immediately. Usually, a training programme is organised for a period of about three to six months, where inspectors are coached and mentored. It therefore takes some time before inspectors are commissioned.

Inspectors do not have jurisdiction in the mining sector and do not cover this sector at all. The Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has inspectors to cover mining.  On the impact of non-compliance with the CCMA, she said, because there was a reduced number of inspectors who went out during the Covid period, compliance was affected, because lesser inspections were conducted and the target was also reduced.

The Department currently has only nine specialist inspectors in the Employment Equity space. Increasing this number will require additional money. However, in the meantime, the Department converted 42 Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) inspectors to Employment Equity, and it consists of inspectors who are doing both BCEA and Employment Equity. This is because there were no specialist posts which necessitated employment equity. Currently, there are 51 inspectors in the Employment Equity space and only nine of those are specialists in this regard.

Mr Sam Morotoba, DDG: Employment Service, DEL, said as soon as the Department is ready, and with Cabinet approval, the Portfolio Committee will be presented with the labour migration policy and the amendment to the current Employment Services Act. The Department would also seek the Portfolio Committee on Labour to assist in enforcing the policy. He said where there is no legislative arm to enforce a policy, the policy will remain meaningless. Upon Cabinet approval, approval of NEDLAC will also be sought. He stressed the importance of involving the Portfolio Committee of Home Affairs, because these matters relate to the two departments. In the current amendment, there must be cross referencing to identify those aspects which are labour market related in the Immigration Act, and which need to be reviewed.

He confirmed the R11bn was not included in the budget presented by the DG. Discussions are still ongoing with Treasury, the Job Fund, the Presidency, and so on. Once all those processes are finalised and an allocation is received, a report will be given to the Portfolio Committee on Labour.

On the increase in the number of people with disability, contributions made to increase the pool of people with disabilities in the labour market include the Employment Equity, the Intervention of the Supported Employment Enterprises, the Designated Groups/Subsidies, together with other interventions made broadly by government and the private sector.

On the Supported Employment Enterprises (SEE), a budget cut of R6m was received and the marketing budget was also reduced. However, the Department strives to reach the five percent of turnover, which will be an uphill battle.

Mr Morotoba said SEE operates on the basis of half the allocation cut, and depends on generating massive sales. This is why the budget is almost double. However, the Department is going to negotiate with other government departments, and will see to the amendment of the current programming bill. It will engage with other relevant departments to procure for SEE.

Mr Virgil Seafield, DDG: Labour Policy and Industrial Relations, DEL, said the budget cut was made across government. Resources need to be applied in an effective manner, so all the functions in the Department are conducted in line with its legislative mandate. It must also be in relation to the functioning of the organisation. The underlining principle is the department functions should be resourced within the limited resources available.

The effect of the budget cut on the CCMA will be systemic. All functions of the CCMA will be affected, such as the number of cases, and the dispute prevention processes. It will also affect the resource application with respect to human resources. He said however, unfortunately no precautionary measures could be put in place to address the effect the budget cut.

On the appointment of a senior manager by CCMA, instead of redirecting the money to appoint more part time commissioners, Mr Seafield said, to stabilise the CCMA and bring some degree of stability, there are some trade-offs being made. One such trade-off is the area of core managerial functions aimed at bringing stability to the organisation.

The Chairperson noted discomfort at the manner in which Mr Seafield responded to the changes faced by CCMA. She said a more sympathetic response was expected in view of the ordinary people affected.

UIF input
Ms Marsha Bronkhorst, Acting Commissioner, UIF, spoke on the matter regarding the sectors targeted by Phase Two. She said there was a comprehensive provision for 24 sectors which will allow the UIF to make a decision as to if it is part of the value chain of the other sectors, when someone or an employer applies for benefits. As at 1 April 2020, the Fund had resources of R150.7bn. It decreased by 31 December 2020 to R90.5b, a decrease of under R60bn in assets, which was as a result of the withdrawals made to fund the Covid tests. The UIF currently has enough assets to pay statutory or ordinary benefits, as well as under the TERS extension, until 15 March 2021.

Ms Nolukholo Sigaba, UIF Acting COO, said working from home is strictly regulated by the Department. There are performance contracts in place to safeguard officials working from home, when the need arises. These contracts are designed to protect targets and ensure officials still meet obligations. Where officials do not do so, there are repercussions, such as discipline and suspension.

The monthly and quarterly report across the Department serve as tools to measure output, as well as organisational performance in the department. These reports point out, post Covid impacted on departmental performance. There were indications departmental performance dropped, but as the South African economy gradually opened towards the end of last year, improvements were seen. The Department still has system challenges, such as down times when services may not be accessible, but work is in progress to ensure there is 98% system availability at all times.

The Inspection and Enforcement Service (IES) recovery plan is in place to improve performance in the provinces. The monthly and quarterly reports show improvement related to performance in IES, and across all the programmes in the department. The Department is still struggling from the after effect of the lockdown, and performance will take time to return to pre-Covid levels.

The Department does not have a 100% work from home policy, but work from home is necessitated when the regulations of 75% work capacity need to be observed. At these times, it has the work from home policy, and some staff work on a rotational basis. Labour centres are manned even during hard lockdown, because the Department does not operate at zero capacity, but at 50% or 75% capacity as the need arises.

The DG replied to the question on the impact of online service introduced by the CCMA, and vulnerable people who do not have access to the technology. He said the services of the Department include striking a balance between the realisation there are those who can afford, and those who cannot afford the technology. Therefore, open offices are available to attend to people. There are plans and much thought about ensuring even the vulnerable ones who cannot afford technology, are catered for.

On the minimum wage crippling the farming sector, a statement was issued in this regard, highlighting the process followed to reach the minimum wage agreement. The equalisation had to happen because there was an agreement at NEDLAC which had to be honoured. The intention was never to cripple the farming sector, because experience shows farm owners can afford minimum wage on average terms.

Deputy Minister Moloi said it is evident a large chunk of the labour force falls under the jurisdiction of the CCMA, and a very few fall within the courts. It is very unfortunate when resources are allocated. The Department can only appeal to the Committee to help lobby the relevant departments to assist and ensure entities are not adversely affected.

The Chairperson said the question on the issue of employing someone at huge cost, instead of using the money to employ two or three people, was not satisfactorily answered. She also raised concern about the unsatisfactory answers provided by some members of the department. She said questions asked are meant for the empowerment of several players, and not only for the Committee. It should be sensitively responded to.

The Chairperson noted the unacceptable behaviour exhibited at the UIF call centres and called on the Department to ensure such complaints are addressed.

The Deputy Minister said detailed responses will be forwarded to the Committee on questions not sufficiently covered. She profusely apologised for the misunderstanding on some of the responses given by the members of the Department, and said the misunderstandings are not intentional.

The Chairperson said the apology was accepted, and comprehensive responses to questions not adequately answered should be forwarded to the Secretariat. It will be forwarded to the relevant members.

Chairperson’s closing remarks
The Chairperson said the report from the equity workshop must be tabled to the Committee for acceptance, together with the oversight recently conducted. She said the Secretariat informed her today was the last day for submissions.

She reminded the Committee there will be a joint Portfolio Committee meeting with Agriculture in respect of the motion tabled by the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), and a counter motion from the African National Congress (ANC), which were tabled and accepted in the House. There was a resolution for the Committees to sit jointly and table to the House by November 2021.

The meeting was adjourned.





 

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