Postponed: DMV: Human Resources plan, backlog payments to NSFAS, financial challenges; Military Veterans Advisory Council and the Military Veterans Appeals Board mandate, achievements and challenges

Meeting report

The Chairperson opened the meeting and welcomed all those in attendance. He expressed that it was disappointing that the Committee did not get the presentations on time. The policy was that the Committees get the presentations at least a week before the meeting. This was a scheduled meeting, and the Department of Military Veterans was well informed. The presentations were received only the night before and circulated only a few hours before the meeting. Membs had not had adequate time to look at the documents. He asked Members for their suggestions since the policy was to send the Department away.

Mr S Marais (DA) agreed with the Chairperson. He said that the Committee’s protocols were well known, and he felt that the Department was not taking the Committee seriously. He cited the instance where the Committee was due to leave for Pretoria but had still not received a programme for its visit the day before leaving. He suggested that the Committee meet with the Minister and the Director-General to explain why the Department appeared disorganised. How was the Committee expected to prepare when it just got the presentations that morning? It was unacceptable behaviour and despite the numerous directives, the Department appeared not to want to do things accordingly.

Mr T Legwase (ANC) agreed and said that it was unfair - how was the Committee expected to engage with the Department without studying the presentations? Precedence had been set that if the documents were not given to the Committee on time, the Department had to be sent away. The meeting had to be rescheduled. The Committee was playing its role and it was unfair that the Department was undermining it.

Ms Cwayita Ntoyake, Director-General, Department of Military Veterans, said that the Department had heard the comments from the Members. She apologised on behalf of the Department for the inconvenience; however, she did not want to get into the details as to why things had happened this way. She highlighted that, as a Department, they would continue to commit to doing the work and ensuring the documents are submitted on time.

The Chairperson said that the Committee was unhappy with the situation, and it was a show of serious incompetence.

Mr T Mmutle (ANC) said that what needed to accompany the apology was the assurance and confirmation that such a situation would not occur again. Receiving the presentation on time enabled the Members to interact with the Department. It was a serious matter because it impacted the work that the Committee was to be doing. The failure to table the matters timeously meant that the time set aside was wasted and the Committee would need to reconvene. The Department was to be condemned so that the situation did not happen again.

The Chairperson said that it was clear that the meeting would be postponed in view of the situation because the Members had not prepared for it. The Chairperson condemned the situation and asked that the message be conveyed to the Minister that the Committee was forced to call off the meeting. The Committee was going to reschedule because the issues on the agenda were very critical; these were issues of service delivery, and performance in the Department. The Chairperson asked if there were any objections regarding postponing the meeting.

Mr Marais said that though it was not ideal, the situation was unacceptable. The Committee would schedule another meeting where the Department would properly account for such actions.

Mr M Shelembe (DA) supported that the meeting be postponed.

The Chairperson apologised for what had happened, but the Committee postponed the meeting.

The meeting was adjourned.