Consideration of Committee report on Oversight visit to Northern Cape and North West provinces

Meeting report

LABOUR PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
16 November 2004
Oversight visits to Northern Cape and North West Provinces: Report CONSIDERATION

Chairperson: Mrs O Kasienyane (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Committee report on oversight visits to the Northern Cape and North West Provinces

SUMMARY
The Committee reviewed their report on oversight visits to the Northern Cape and North West Provinces from 4 - 8 October 2004. The Chairperson said the report on provincial visits would be adopted in the first meeting of the next session, but she urged Members to make comments at this time. As very few Members had read the report, the majority of the suggested amendments were of a cosmetic nature.

Discussion
The Chairperson was frustrated that the majority of the Committee were reading the report for the first time, as Members had received the document during the previous week.

Mr N Zulu (IFP) did not think the terms of reference of the report had been adequately discussed before the visits.

Mr Zulu said there was a need for a closer interrogation of certain employer and worker responses in the report. For example, the statement on page 22 that ‘Workers resist the advice given by employers’ under the heading ‘Responses and concerns from the employers (of Leliefontein Farm), was not helpful. All superficial or vague detail should be removed from the report.

Mr G Oliphant (ANC) said many of the misunderstandings between workers and employers would be rectified by greater advocacy of labour rights by the Department. In many cases, farmers had been relied upon to report labour rights to their own workforce.

Mr N Godi (PAC) said the itinerary had been too demanding. There had been instances when the delegation had arrived late for meetings due to the great distances between appointments.

Mr L Maduna (ANC) said future delegations should be supplied with resources, such as audio recorders, which would ensure the clarity of Committee reports.

The meeting was adjourned.