Committee Legacy Report; Committee 2023 Annual Report

Meeting report

The Chairperson encouraged the Committee Members to participate as this was the last Committee meeting of the sixth administration. She said it had been a difficult journey from 2019 to 2024. The Committee Members had been a good team -- there were challenges, but they had been able to guide and provide leadership.

She asked the Members to reflect positively on the Committee's annual report, and handed over to Mr Julius Ngoepe, Committee Content Advisor, and Mr Mlungisi Biyela, Committee Researcher.

Draft Committee Legacy Report

Mr Ngoepe said he would present the Legacy Report, and asked the Committee Members to note any corrections or additions as he went through it.

He said the main purpose of the Legacy Report was to provide an account of the key achievements and challenges in implementing the Committee's five-year strategic plan for 2020-25. The report documented any significant Committee initiatives that remained incomplete at the end of the Sixth democratic Parliament. This would serve as the basis for consideration of such matters and would inform decisions on how the successor Committee would address the Seventh Parliament. The sixth administration had given the Portfolio Committee the responsibility of overseeing the Department of Public Service and Administration (DPSA) and the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME). Towards the end of the sixth Parliament, the National Assembly decided to split the Committee by separating the planning, monitoring and evaluation sector to be a fully-fledged Committee from August 2023. Therefore, the Legacy Report would not cover aspects of the DPME.

Ms M Ntuli (ANC) said because they had done a lot of work in the separation of the two departments, it would be nice to mention in the report that the sixth administration Portfolio Committee had been responsible for separating the DPSA and the DPME into two portfolio committees.

Mr Ngoepe said he would include it under background in the sixth administration Legacy Report.
In the sixth Parliament, the Portfolio Committee had two Chairpersons -- Mr Tyotyo James, and the current Chairperson, Ms Teliswa Mgweba. Members who used to be in the Committee were Ms M Lesoma (ANC) and Dr M Gondwe (DA), who had been redeployed, and Ms B Maluleke (ANC), who had passed away.  

Ms Ntuli referred to the composition of the Committee, and said Mr Ngoepe had forgotten to include Ms C Motsepe (EFF), Ms Clark (DA) , Mr McGluwa (DA), and the passing of Mr C Sibisi (NFP).

Mr Ngoepe said he would edit the document accordingly.

Ms Ntuli asked Mr Ngoepe to rewrite the statement regarding the Public Service Commission (PSC) Bill, as it had been presented but the Committee could not finalise the processes for it.

Mr Ngoepe said he would make the changes.

Ms Ntuli noted that Mr Ngoepe had not included the oversight visit to the Thusong centres. She asked him to add the centres as one of the issues the next Committee should follow up on.

The Chairperson said she had been about to raise the same issue. When the Committee visited the centres in Gauteng, the Northern Cape, and the Free State, they were ineffective.

Mr Ngoepe said the last time the Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration had undertaken a study tour was in 2012. It was not like the Committee was not applying for study tours -- they had applied, but were unsuccessful. He hoped the next Parliament would have a fair approach to portfolio committees undertaking study tours in the first two years of their term.
 
Ms Ntuli suggested that Mr Ngoepe should add that the DPSA was regarded as the overseer of the Department, similar to the Portfolio Committee, and she felt strongly that the Committee should be empowered to do its work. She felt the Portfolio Committee was not being taken as seriously as it should be.  

The Chairperson asked the Members if they had any additions or comments regarding the report.

Ms M Kibi (ANC) said she thought the report had covered everything the Committee had done during the Sixth Parliament. She recommended acceptance of the report, with all the corrections suggested by Ms Ntuli and the Chairperson.

Ms Ntuli seconded the adoption of the report, with the corrections.

Inkosi R Cebekhulu (IFP) said he supported the adoption of the Legacy Report.

The Chairperson said the report was no longer a draft legacy report -- it was the Legacy Report of the Committee.

Adoption of Committee annual report

The Chairperson moved to the next item on the agenda, which was the consideration and adoption of the annual report.

The Committee secretary said the next item was the adoption of minutes.

The Chairperson asked if the Legacy Report and the annual report were the same thing.

The secretary explained that the Legacy Report and the annual report were the same, the difference being that the Annual Report was a mini report detailing the operations of the Committee [over the past year], whereas the Legacy Report was more detailed [for the sixth term].

The Chairperson said this meant that all the reports for the Sixth Administration had been adopted, and moved to the adoption of minutes. 

Adoption of Minutes

The minutes of the meeting on 13 March were reviewed. Ms Ntuli moved to adopt them, and Ms Kibi seconded.

The minutes of the meeting on 20 March were reviewed. Ms Kibi moved their adoption, as they were a true reflection of the meeting, and Ms Ntuli seconded.

The Chairperson gave Members an opportunity to say a few words, since it was the last Committee meeting.

Ms S Maneli (ANC) expressed her gratitude and appreciation for being a Committee Member. She had been in the Committee since mid-term 2021. She had learnt a lot and was proud to have been a servant of the people through the Committee. She wished everyone a good life and good luck to those who were coming back.

Ms Kibi thanked the support staff, as they had been a wonderful team and had played a good role in advising and guiding the Members. She thanked the Members for tolerating and respecting each other. She said the Chairperson had persevered despite network issues, and always made sure to attend the meetings on time. She advised the returning Members to work closely with the support staff, and wished the opposition successful elections. She thanked Members of the opposition for not shouting or causing a disturbance when they differed in opinions.

Ms Ntuli expressed profound gratitude for serving on the Committee, and thanked each Member and the support staff. She emphasised what Ms Kibi had said about being from different parties and how it did not make them enemies. The Committee Members were a family. It had been a long journey, as she had been in the Committee since 2019, along with Mr Cebekhulu and Ms Kibi. It was sad that along the journey they had lost the Minister, Mr Jackson Mthembu, Ms Joyce Maluleke (ANC) and Mr Christopher Sibisi (NFP). She wished every Member the best, as she was not returning to Parliament. When the virtual meetings started, it had been new, but now they were used to them. She thanked Members Schreiber, Cebekhulu, and Komane, particularly Dr Schreiber, since they had been together since the beginning of the term and had learnt a lot from one another. She hoped that all the lessons learnt would be useful wherever they were deployed.

Mr Cebekhulu said the Chairperson had been a good captain throughout the term, and had done the job according to the book. She had controlled the Members, so there were no unnecessary arguments or debates. He thanked the Members, support staff and researchers, and said they were lucky enough to have come thus far after having gone through a difficult time like COVID. He said that when the Members were out campaigning, he wished they would all stand for what their parties believed in, to convince the voters to vote for parties that would change South Africa and leaders that would stand for the nation. He had been quiet since he joined the Committee because he was a rural man from the rural areas and struggled with technology, but the Members had empowered him.

Mr G Nkgweng (ANC) said he was fairly new in the Committee, but it had been a good experience. As the term of the sixth administration had come to an end, he asked the Members to pause and reflect on what the Committee had achieved and consider the gains, opportunities, and achievements over the years. He believed that all the Members would use what they had learned to do much better in their respective opportunities. He thanked the Chairperson, as she had been understanding so he did not have any difficulties catching up, as he had joined the Committee late.

Ms R Komane (EFF) thanked the Chairperson for the way she led the Committee, for her patience and leadership, for the support staff who made their work simple and assisted them through difficult times, and the political parties who participated in the Committee during the difficult times of appointing commissioners. She conveyed condolences to political parties who had lost Members during this time. She said the Chairperson had been very good to all the Members, treating them equally, irrespective of coming from different political parties. They had become a family because of the leadership of the Chairperson. 

The Chairperson expressed appreciation for the work of the Members and support staff, for ensuring that the work of the Committee was rendered effectively and efficiently till the end of the Sixth Parliament. She wished the Committee good luck in all their endeavours.
 
Mr Ngoepe, on behalf of the support staff, thanked the Members for the time spent, for believing in them and for guiding them. He wished all the best for both Members returning and not returning. He appreciated the Committee for supporting them.

The meeting was adjourned.