Establishment and Clustering of NCOP Committees

Meeting report

The Chairperson welcomed everyone and read Rule 133, which describes the composition of the NCOP Rules Committee.

(1) The Rules Committee consists of –

(a) the Chairperson of the Council;

(b) the permanent Deputy Chairperson;

(c) the Chief Whip of the Council;

(d) the House Chairperson Committees and House Chairperson Oversight and Institutional Support;

(e) the Programming Whip; and Provincial Whip

(f)  two representatives from each provincial delegation one of whom must be a permanent delegate.

 (2) A party that does not have a Provincial Whip may be represented by a party representative in the Rules Committee.

(3) A party that is entitled to a Party Whip may be represented by such a Whip in the Rules Committee.

In accordance with Rule 133, the following office bearers will form part of the Rules Committee: the Committee Chairperson; the Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP who must still be elected; the House Chairpersons who must still be elected; Mr Mosimanegare Kenneth Mmoiemang (Chief Whip of the NCOP); the provincial whips:  Adv Mwelo Nonkonyana (Eastern Cape), Ms Mapule Dhlamini (Free State), Mr Mpho Modise (Gauteng Province), Mr Poobalan Govender (KwaZulu-Natal), Ms Regina Molokomme (Limpopo), Ms Sylvia Nxumalo (Mpumalanga), Mr Solomon Mabilo (Northern Cape), Ms Sylvia Sithole (North West), and Frederik Badenhorst (Western Cape); the party whips: Ms Mandisa Makesini (EFF), Ms Tamarin Breedt (FF+), Ms Seeng Mokoena (MKP), Mr Bino Farmer (PA), and Mr Mandla Peter (UDM).

She called for comments and proposals from Members.

There were no comments or proposals made.

The Chairperson declared that the Committee was duly established.

Membership of the Subcommittee on Review of Council Rules
The Chairperson indicated that in accordance with NCOP Rule 137, the Rules Committee has a subcommittee on the review of council rules.

Rule 138 provides for the composition of the subcommittee.

In terms of Rule 138(1), it is proposed that the following persons are appointed as members of the subcommittee: the NCOP Chairperson, the NCOP Chief Whip, Mr Radebe from the African National Congress; Mr Badenhorst from the Democratic Alliance and Ms Makesini from the EFF.

The Chairperson invited Members to make input.

Mr M Mmoiemang (ANC) endorsed the proposal as tabled. He noted that, based on his lived experience and the past administration, certain areas need to be revisited and relooked to account for the incoming Government of National Unity. These include the issues around time allocation and the list of speakers.

The Chairperson welcomed the comment and said that once the day's business is finalised, the Rules will be deferred to the Rules Review Committee to review them and consider the matters that the chief whip would raise. Those matters need to find expression as politics evolve, and these expressions must be incorporated into the Rules to ensure a smooth 7^th Administration.

In the absence of any comments, the Chairperson declared that the Subcommittee was duly established.

Adoption of Membership of the Programming Committee
The Chairperson noted that according to Rules 142 to 144, which provides for the membership and chairpersonship of the Programming Committee. The following members were proposed to be members of the Programming Committee: the NCOP Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson, Chief Whip of the NCOP, and all provincial whips from all provinces and the party representatives: FF+ (Ms Breedt), MK (Mr Mokoena), PA (Mr Farmer), EFF (Ms Makesini) and UDM (Mr Peter).

In the absence of any comments, the Chairperson declared that the Programming Committee was duly established.

Establishment of NCOP Committees
The Chairperson quoted Rule 148 on establishing select committees and other council committees and the number of members for each committee. She called on Mr Mmoiemang to present the clustering of the proposed committees and membership.

Mr Mmoiemang presented the draft proposal for clustering the NCOP's committees into Social, Security, Governance, and Economic clusters.

Firstly, the Select Committee on Education and Technology, Sports, Arts and Culture will oversee the Departments of Basic Education, Higher Education, Science and Technology, Communications and Digital Technologies, and Sports, Arts and Culture.

Communication and digital technologies were added to this committee because the study of science and digital technologies in education resulted in technological integration in learning and various significant learning of management systems and outcomes. Thus, the select committee needs to drive greater integration of science and technology in our education.

Secondly, the Select Committee on Social Services will oversee the Departments of Health, Social Development, Women, Youth Development, Persons with Disabilities, and Statistics South Africa. No additions were made to this committee.

Thirdly, the Governance Cluster underwent some changes, including the removal of public service and administration from the economic cluster. It was moved to the Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Water and Sanitation. It initially included human settlements, which was now removed to the Select Committee on Transport, Public Works and Infrastructure. However, it is still part of the economic cluster.

Fourthly, the security cluster did not change, although there was a proposal to add State Security, but only Members with top security clearance could be part of that Committee.

The Select Committee on Petition and Executive Undertakings was renamed the Select Committee on Public Petition and Executive Undertakings.

The Social Cluster will have two committees: the Select Committee on Education and Technology, Sports, Arts and Culture, overseeing the Departments of Basic Education, Higher Education, Science and Technology, Communications and Digital Technologies, and Sports, Arts and Culture. The Select Committee on Social Services will oversee the Departments of Health, Social Development, Women, Youth Development and Persons with Disabilities, and Statistics South Africa.
 
The Governance Cluster will comprise two committees. They include the Select Committee on Public Infrastructure, overseeing the work of the Departments of Public Works and Infrastructure, Transport, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation and the Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Public Administration, overseeing the Departments of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Public Service and Administration, Human Settlements, and Water and Sanitation.

The Security Cluster has two committees: the Select Committee on Security and Justice, which oversees the Departments of Police, Justice and Correctional Services, Defence and Military Veterans, Home Affairs, State Security, and International Relations and Co-operation, and the Select Committee on Public Petitions and Executive Undertakings.
 
Meanwhile, the Economic Cluster will comprise the Select Committee on Economic Development and Trade, overseeing the Departments of Economic Development, Trade, Industry and Competition, Small Business Development and Tourism, Employment and Labour, and Public Enterprises and the Select Committee on Land and Mineral Resources, overseeing the Departments of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Mineral Resources and Energy, and Electricity.
 
The Finance Cluster has the Select Committee on Finance and the Select Committee on Appropriations.

[See the presentation on the grouping of the new Select Committees in different clusters]

The Select Committee on Land and Mineral Resources amended to add electricity.

The Chairperson thanked Mr Mmoiemang for his briefing and requested Members' comments and input.

Ms S Nxumalo (ANC) supported the presentation, but she was not comfortable about the removal of human settlements from cooperative governance and traditional affairs and asked if this would constitute a challenge in the provinces.

Mr F Badenhorst (DA) lamented that the agenda came in only yesterday afternoon, which made it challenging to peruse the presentation thoroughly. He observed, in the current administration, the NCOP has 10 Select Committees. He wanted to know the rationale behind this.

Mr Mmoiemang replied that water and sanitation are part of the municipalities' powers and functions, whereas human settlement is not. It is more sensible to group it with public works and infrastructure; thus, it made sense to group them as they touch on driving infrastructural projects.

The Chairperson said that the confusion comes from the tagging of the governance cluster with economic enablers like public transport and human settlement. The Select Committee number four becomes relevant in accordance with the governance cluster. It is misallocated, and it must move towards the economic cluster and group all economic enablers.

Mr Mmoiemang noted the comments and agreed with the Chairperson.

Mr Badenhorst asked for clarity on whether the Select Committees will be reduced from 11 to 10. He felt that this would reduce the oversight opportunity.

The Chairperson confirmed that there are now only 10 Select Committees in the NCOP. She felt that the clustering was in order and that the oversight business should be managed smoothly going forward.

The clustering and committee memberships will be ATC’d as per the Rules.

The committees were duly established.

The meeting was adjourned.