Nursing Bill: deliberations

Meeting report

The Chairperson read through each clause of the Bill:

Clause 1 Definitions
The Chairperson went through each of the definitions. All definitions were agreed to by the Committee except for "unprofessional conduct".

"unprofessional conduct"
It was suggested that there was repetition of "improper, disgraceful, and unworthy conduct" in the definition. The Committee accepted that the second repetition of the phrase "improper, disgraceful, and unworthy conduct" should be deleted.

Clause 2 South African Nursing Council

The Committee found this clause acceptable.

Clause 3 Objects of the Council
The Committee agreed to all sub-clauses except for the following suggestions:

Ms B Ngcobo (ANC) suggested the insertion of ", conditions" after "standards" in sub-clause (d).

Ms Mashigo (ANC) suggested adding the words suggested by the DENOSA submission in (j). Ms Dudley (ACDP) agreed.

The Chair cautioned Members not make amendments that would change the objectives of the Council. The amendments might end up protecting the Council rather than the interest of the public.

Ms Ngcobo said that the Committee should focus on protecting the public. She then asked "how can the Nursing council protect itself from the Public"

The Committee did not include the DENOSA suggested amendment.

Clause 4 Functions of the Council
Members agreed to this clause except for the following suggestions:

Ms Ngcobo suggested that the last of sub-clause (f) should "disciplinary action is taken against persons who fail to do so" should be fitted under the clause on disciplinary action, members agreed.

Sub-clause (g)(h) were agreed upon by the Committee On sub-clause (I) the Chairperson reminded members that the University of Cape Town Submission had suggested. He cited an example of "stalkers" as suggested by the UCT.

Mr Motsapi, Department Of Health State Legal services suggested an amendment to say persons registered in terms of this Act is available to the public "as prescribed" would mean that there were regulations. That will deal with registration of practitioners, those regulations would determine places where this register would be accessed and how it would be accessed. The information that will be provided in the register. On Sub-clause (I) the word "places" was deleted.

(j) Mashigo felt that the Committee should insert "providing "before education.

Ms Sangoni, State Law Adviser, Department of Justice, asked whether the addition would be taking the further or not.

Ms C Dudley (ACDP) said that the addition would be a extra safeguard in case an institution would call themselves something else but in reality providing nursing education.

Members agreed not to change sub-clause (j).

All sub-clauses (k) to (r) were agreed to by Members.

Su-clause 4 (2)
All sub-clauses were agreed to
Ms Dudley said there were questions about the vagueness of a " prescribed fee".

Clause 5 Composition and dissolution of the Council
Ms Manana (ANC) said that DENOSA wanted the number of members of the council increased to 16.

Ms Ngcobo (ANC) seconded Mrs Manana's suggestion.

The Chairperson then referred to the DENOSA submission which stipulated that the number should be increased to 16, DENOSA also included health education, primary health care, community nursing, occupational health, health service management, mental and midwifery. Clinical.

Dr Rabinowitz (IFP) suggested the inclusion of a person who was qualified and competent in midwifery

Mr Motsapi said that they had discussed the issue as State Law Advisers and decided to exclude midwives would be excluded from the 14 because section 5.1 (a) only referred to 31 (1) (a) and (b) which meant professional nurses and it does not refer to midwives.

Ms Barnard said DENOSA, UCT, HOSPERSA, and health practitioners had all stated that they were opposed to idea of the Minister appointing members of the Council

The Chairperson said that Clause 5.(2) (a) would take of the interests of the Community.

Ms Rabinowitz said that members of the Nursing Council must be appointed by the minister on the basis of persons nominated and elected by interested parties, once it was gazzetted by the Minister.

Members agreed not to amend the sub-clause 5 (2) (a).

Ms Barnard said the Committee should not disregard the submissions the unions which represented the majority of the nurses in the country. She said that if the Minister would appoint the majority of members of the Nursing council. Then Nursing profession would not be "striped" of democracy. She felt that it was fine for the minister to chose but it was anathema to all those organisations. The Committee would have to consider alternatives.

Ms Ngcobo said the Minister had executive authority and nominations came in large numbers from the constituencies. Therefore the Minister would start by looking at the expertise of the people and then appoint members of the council.

Ms Madumise alerted the Committee about the high costs of elections.

Mr Madela (ANC) said the nursing council made it very clear that the history of the nursing profession had clearly demonstrated that there was huge apathy towards the elections of elections of the nursing council. The last two elections demonstrated that participation was about 7% and it therefore left to the intervention of the Minister to make sure that the Council was representative of geographic areas. The costs involved did not justify the outcome of the nursing council election results. About R5 million was used for the election process, DENOSA would elect their representatives and nominate them for the council. He then proposed that the sub-clause should remain as it was. The Act could not prescribe to interested parties how they should come up with their nominees.

Ms Dudley cited an example of a method used by UNISA, nomination forms would be posted to all members without wasting much money. She then asked why at least one learner be represented in the Council. She warned the Committee about "throwing Democracy out of the window".

Ms Rabinowitz said that it would be wrong to cut out Democracy on the election of the council otherwise members would be sorry in the future about the step they had taken. She suggested the limitation of the number of nominations.

The Chairperson said that maybe the democratic process was exercised the election of the Chairperson and deputy Chairperson, after the appointments by the Minister.

The issue was flagged for a later discussion.

All sub-clauses were agreed on except for sub-clause 5 (5) which was flagged.

(5),Mr Motsape said the intention of the sub-clause was not to bar people from serving the Council again. When people serve in the Council for 10 years, they tend to make it their "homeland". When people who had been serving in the council had a break in between then they can be re-appointed after a cooling down period.

Ms Sangoni suggested that the Committee flag the sub-clause (5)and the Committee agreed.

Sub-clause 6 Disqualification from membership
Sub-clause (a) and (b) were agreed on by the Committee.

Ms Dudley said the that sub-clause 6 (c) was an unnecessary exclusion because it would limit the country's access to expertise.

Dr Rabinowitz said South Africa should not exclude foreign nurses without a reason.

Mr Motsapi said the qualification which stated that a person had to be an ordinary resident of the Republic of South Africa is very critical. If a person was a member of the council and decided to immigrate to Australia, the Nursing Council would be obliged to pay for his or her travelling to meetings.

Members agreed to retain the sub-clause 6(c) as it was.

Mr Motsapi said the state law advisors had proposed to use the same wording which was used at Section 53 (c) (III) of the National Health Act. He or She becomes mentally ill to such a degree that it is necessary that he or she be detained, supervised or controlled.

Ms Rabinowitz agreed with Mr Motsapi's proposal.

The Chairperson said that they Committee would delete the sub-clause (d) and replace it with the Section 53 (c) (III) of the National Health Act and Members agreed.

On sub-clause (e) Ms Barnard felt that the use of the word utter was inappropriate in that context.
Ms Sangoni replied that the word "utter" was adopted from English Law.

On sub-clause (g) Ms Barnard suggested the deletion of the word "cumulatively and replace it with "consecutively"

Committee agreed not to amend clause 6 (h) and (I).(1).

On (11) Ms Manana asked who was supposed to be in the Council in terms of the political power or influence, she felt that people who were serving at provincial and national level were not supposed to be in the Council.

The suggested that the Committee could add " at provincial and national level at the end of the sentence of sub-clause 6 (I) (11)

Ms Barnard said the Aids Law Project submission felt that the Communities would not be represented because people like trade union representatives and civil society leaders would be excluded.

The Chairperson replied that a Trade Union was not political organisation.

Ms Sangoni suggested the deletion of "office bearer" and the Committee agreed in sub-clause (h).Ms Barnard suggested the restructuring of the sub-clause and start it with words "Has had" was, and members agreed.

Clause 7 Vacation of Office
Sub-clause (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) were all agreed upon by the Committee.

Clause 8 Termination of Membership
All sub-clauses were accepted after the following discussion

Ms Rabinowitz said that clause 8 did not specify anywhere the process whereby the Minister specify that the person has failed to perform his or her duties.

The Chairperson invited members to comment on Ms Barnard's comment.

Ms Manana said that the issue should be discussed under regulations. Ms Dudley said that the UCT's submission stipulated that the issue should fall under regulations.

Clause 9 Filling of vacancies
Members agreed with clause 9.

Clause 10 Chairperson and vice-Chairperson of the Council.
Ms Manana said that there was a recommendation that the Chairperson of the Council had to be a nurse. The Minister had to consultation with the Board and then appoint the Chairperson.

Ms Dudley said that if nurses wanted a nurse to be the Chairperson then it was their choice, there was no need to prescribe to professionals who they would choose.

Ms Rabinowitz said that since nurses were the majority in the Council then they should make their own reasonable decisions.

The Chairperson said the DENOSA's submission wanted the Act to state that a Chairperson should be a proffessional nurse.

Ms Barnard said DENOSA had stated that the Chairperson should not be appointed by the Minister without consulting the Council. It was clear that DENOSA wanted to elect their own Chairperson.

Ms Rabinowitz said that the election of the Chairperson by the Nurses would be "a token exercise" because all the council members were elected by the Minister. If the Council was democratic the Minister would not appoint Council Members. There was no need for sham elections. She said the "the IFP would not support this process".

Ms Mashigo said that DENOSA did not necessarily the Chairperson should be elected by the Council, but it said the Minister should appoint the Chairperson after consultation with the Council.

Ms Rabinowitz reiterated her position which stated that the Council was supposed to elect the Chairperson.

Ms Ngcobo the endorsement was with the Minister even if the Council members elected their chairperson.

Ms Dudley said she supported the election of the Council Chairperson by the Council Members.

Ms Rabinowitz said the process of the Election of Chairperson was flawed because the Minister appointed the members and the Chairperson of the Council. She said she could not understand why the Committee wanted to take away the Democratic right of the nurses to elect their own Chairperson.

The Chairperson replied that the Committee was trying to find the middle road between DENOSA's proposals and Ms Rabinowitz's proposals and those of the Nursing Council. He suggested that the Committee should flag the issue.

On sub-clause 10 (1) (b) the Chairperson suggested that members should add "or the vice- Chairperson".

Ms Barnard suggested that the Council elect two people and the Minister could choose who would be the Chairperson and the vice-Chairperson.

The Chairperson suggested that the vice- Chairperson shall be elected among members of the Council, so that the council and the Minister had equal power.

Sub-clause (2) was flagged for later deliberation.

All sub-clause were accepted by the Committee except for sub-clause (7).

The Chairperson pointed out that subsection (7) stated that the Vice Chairperson was elected by members of the Council.

The meeting was adjourned
 

CHAPTER 1

SOUTH AFRICAN NURSING COUNCIL

Definitions

1. In this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise—

‘‘accredited nursing education institution’’ means a nursing education institution

accredited by the Council in terms of this Act;

‘‘accoucheur’’ means a male person registered as such in terms of section 31;

‘‘auxiliary midwife’’ means a person registered as such in terms of section 31;

‘‘auxiliary nurse’’ means a person registered as such in terms of section 31;

‘‘code’’ means the code of conduct, good practice and any other code made under

this Act;

‘‘Council’’ means the South African Nursing Council contemplated in section 2;

‘‘database’’ means an integrated system of particulars of persons registered under

this Act, nursing education institutions and nursing agencies kept by the Council to

meet its information processing and retrieval requirements in terms of this Act;

‘‘Director-General’’ means the head of the national Department of Health;

‘‘fruitless and wasteful expenditure’’ has the meaning assigned to it in section 1

of the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999);

‘‘health care user’’ has the meaning assigned to it in section 1 of the National

Health Act, 2003 (Act No. 61 of 2003);

‘‘health establishment’’ has the meaning assigned to it in section 1 of the National

Health Act, 2003 (Act No. 61 of 2003);

‘‘health services’’ has the meaning assigned to it in section 1 of the National

Health Act, 2003 (Act No. 61 of 2003);

‘‘irregular expenditure’’ means expenditure, other than unauthorised expenditure

—

(a) incurred in contravention of or that is not in accordance with a requirement of

any applicable legislation; or

(b) that falls outside of the scope of the functions of the Council contemplated in

this Act;

‘‘learner midwife’’ means a person registered as such in terms of section 32;

‘‘learner nurse’’ means a person registered as such in terms of section 32;

‘‘midwife’’ means a female person registered as such in terms of section 31;

‘‘midwifery’’ refers to a caring profession practised by persons registered under

this Act, which supports and assists the patient and in particular the mother and

baby, to achieve and maintain optimum health during pregnancy, all stages of

labour and the puerperium;

‘‘Minister’’ means the Minister of Health;

‘‘national department’’ means the national Department of Health;

‘‘nurse’’ means a person registered in a category under section 31(1) in order to

practise nursing or midwifery;

‘‘nursing’’ means a caring profession practised by a person registered under

section 31, which supports, cares for and treats a health care user to achieve or

maintain health and where this is not possible, cares for a health care user so that

he or she lives in comfort and with dignity until death;

‘‘nursing agency’’ means any person other than a health establishment whose

business involves the supply of professional nurses, midwives, staff nurses,

auxiliary nurses or auxiliary midwives to health establishments or health users for

the purposes of rendering nursing services;

‘‘nursing education institution’’ means any nursing education institution

accredited by the Council in terms of this Act;

‘‘nursing service’’ means any service within the scope of practice of a practitioner;

‘‘practitioner’’ means any person registered in terms of section 31(1) of this Act;

‘‘prescribed’’ means prescribed by regulation;

‘‘professional nurse’’ means a person registered as such in terms of section 31;

‘‘register’’ means a register containing the names and other particulars of all

persons registered in terms of section 31, 32 or 33 and additional qualifications

registered in terms of section 34;

‘‘Registrar’’ means the person appointed in terms of section 18;

‘‘regulation’’ means any regulation made in terms of section 58;

‘‘rule’’ means any rule made in terms of section 59;

‘‘scope of practice’’ means the scope of practice of a practitioner that corresponds

to the level contemplated in section 30 in respect of that practitioner;

‘‘staff nurse’’ means a person registered as such in terms of section 31;

‘‘this Act’’ includes the regulations;

‘‘unauthorised expenditure’’ means expenditure that is not in accordance with

the budget of the Council or that takes place outside of the systems of financial and

risk management and internal control of the Council contemplated in section 29(2);

‘‘unprofessional conduct’’ means improper, disgraceful, dishonourable or unworthy

conduct or conduct which, with regard to the profession of a practitioner, is

improper, disgraceful, dishonourable or unworthy.

South African Nursing Council

2. (1) The South African Nursing Council established by section 2 of the Nursing Act,

1978 (Act No. 50 of 1978), continues to exist as a juristic person, notwithstanding the

repeal of that Act by this Act.

(2) The head office of the Council is situated in Pretoria.

Objects of Council

3. The objects of the Council are to—

(a) serve and protect the public in matters involving health services generally and

nursing services in particular;

(b) perform its functions in the best interests of the public and in accordance with

national health policy as determined by the Minister;

(c) promote the provision of nursing services to the inhabitants of the Republic

that complies with universal norms and values; and

(d) establish, improve and control standards and quality of nursing education and

training within the ambit of this Act and any other applicable laws;

(e) maintain professional conduct and practice standards for practitioners within

the ambit of any applicable law;

(f) promote and maintain liaison and communication with all stakeholders

regarding nursing standards, and in particular standards of nursing education

and training and professional conduct and practice both in and outside the

Republic;

(g) advise the Minister on the amendment or adaptation of this Act regarding

matters pertaining to nursing;

(h) be transparent and accountable to the public in achieving its objectives and in

performing its functions;

(i) uphold and maintain professional and ethical standards within nursing; and

(j) promote the strategic objectives of the Council.

Functions of Council

4. (1) The Council must—

(a) in all its decisions, take cognisance of national health policies as determined

by the Minister and implement such policies in respect of nursing;

(b) where authorised by this Act, enter, remove from or restore to the register the

name of a person;

(c) conduct examinations, and appoint examiners and moderators and grant

diplomas and certificates in respect of such examinations;

(d) conduct inspections and investigations of nursing education institutions,

nursing education programmes and health establishments, in order to ensure

compliance with this Act and the rules and standards determined by the

Council in terms of this Act;

(e) report to the relevant statutory body any non-compliance established after an

inspection and investigation referred to in paragraph (d);

(f) ensure that persons registered in terms of this Act behave towards users of

health services in a manner that respects their constitutional rights to human

dignity, bodily and psychological integrity and equality, and that disciplinary

action is taken against persons who fail to do so;

(g) investigate complaints against persons registered in terms of this Act and take

appropriate disciplinary action against such persons in accordance with the

provisions of this Act in order to protect the interests of the public;

(h) publish in the Gazette the details of the unprofessional conduct and the names

and qualifications of the persons against whom disciplinary action was taken

in terms of this Act within 30 days of the conclusion of such disciplinary

action;

(i) ensure that a register of persons registered in terms of this Act is available to

the public at prescribed places;

(j) investigate and take action against non-accredited nursing education institutions;

(k) withdraw or suspend accreditation of a nursing education institution or

nursing education programme if the education or training provided does not

comply with the prescribed requirements and inform the relevant licensing

authority;

(l) determine—

(i) the scope of practice of nurses;

(ii) the conditions under which nurses may practise their profession;

(iii) the acts or omissions in respect of which the Council may take steps

against any person registered in terms of this Act; and

(iv) the requirements for any nurse to remain competent in the manner

prescribed;

(m) determine prescribed licence or registration fees, payable under this Act;

(n) monitor the assessment by education and training providers, including the

recognition of prior learning, register constituent assessors and moderators

and grant diplomas and certificates in accordance with the requirements of this

Act and any other law;

(o) be regarded as an education and training quality assurer in terms of section 5

of the South African Qualifications Authority Act, 1995 (Act No. 58 of 1995),

for all nursing qualifications;

(p) submit to the Minister—

(i) a five-year strategic plan within six months of the Council coming into

office which includes details as to how the Council plans to achieve its

objectives under this Act;

(ii) a report every six months on the status of nursing and on matters of

public importance compiled by the Council in the course of the

performance of its functions under this Act; and

(iii) an annual report within six months of the end of the financial year;

(q) ensure that an annual budget is drawn up in terms of sections 23 and 24 and

that the Council operates within the parameters of such budget; and

(r) perform such other functions as may be prescribed.

(2) The Council may—

(a) make extracts from the register;

(b) acquire, hire or dispose of property, borrow money on the security of the

assets of the Council, accept or make any donation and administer any trust;

(c) institute or defend any legal action in its name;

(d) appoint experts and advisers as may be required to assist the Council in the

performance of its functions in terms of this Act;

(e) delegate to any person or organisation any function referred to in this section,

provided that the Council is not divested of any function so delegated;

(f) accredit nursing education institutions and nursing education programmes and

monitor all assessments by education and training providers in accordance

with this Act or any other law;

(g) carry out quality control inspections in accordance with the prescribed

conditions;

(h) investigate complaints against any health establishment in respect of its

nursing service;

(i) subject to prescribed conditions and upon payment of a prescribed fee, issue

a licence for a professional nurse to conduct a private practice;

(j) consider any matter affecting nursing, and make representations to the

Minister and Director-General or take such action in connection therewith as

the Council may find advisable;

(k) require accredited nursing education institutions to submit annual returns of

learner nurses and to submit any information that the Council may require;

(l) require employers to submit annual returns of nurses in their employ and any

other information necessary to enable the Council to perform its functions and

fulfil its objectives;

(m) in consultation with the Minister of Finance, establish, manage and administer

a pension or provident fund for the employees of the Council;

(n) recommend to the Minister regulations relating to any matter under this Act

which may be prescribed; and

(o) generally, do all such things as it may find necessary or expedient to achieve

the objects of this Act.

Composition and dissolution of Council

5. (1) (a) The Council consists of not more than 25 members, of whom 12 must be

registered in terms of section 31(1)(a), appointed by the Minister taking into account

their expertise in nursing education, nursing, community health, primary health care,

occupational health and mental health.

(b) Of the 25 members—

(i) one person must be an officer of the national department;

(ii) one person must have special knowledge of the law;

(iii) one person must have special knowledge of financial matters;

(iv) one person must have special knowledge of pharmacy;

(v) one person must have special knowledge of education;

(vi) one person must have knowledge of consumer affairs;

(vii) five persons must represent communities;

(viii) one person must be registered in terms of section 31(1)(c); and

(ix) one person must be registered in terms of section 31(1)(d).

(2) (a) The members must be appointed by the Minister on the basis of nominations

made by interested parties, after publication of a notice in the Gazette inviting

nominations for new members.

(b) If the Minister receives no nomination or an insufficient number of nominations

within the period specified in the invitation, the Minister may appoint the required

number of persons who qualify to be appointed in terms of subsection (1).

(3) A member holds office for a period not exceeding five years reckoned from the

date of his or her appointment.

(4) The names of the members of the Council, the dates of commencement of their

terms of office and the periods for which they have been appointed must be published by

the Minister by notice in the Gazette as soon as possible after their appointment.

(5) The Minister may reappoint a member whose term of office has expired, for one

further period not exceeding five years.

(6) Each member must, on assumption of office, sign an undertaking to abide by the

provisions of this Act and the codes.

(7) (a) The Minister may dissolve the Council if the Council fails to comply with any

of the provisions of this Act.

(b) All the functions of the Council are vested in the Minister until a new Council is

appointed.

(8) (a) The Minister may at any time request copies of the records, including minutes

of meetings and financial statements, of the Council in order to ascertain the extent of

the Council’s compliance with this Act and any codes.

(b) The Registrar must furnish copies of all such records within 15 days of the date of

the Minister’s written request.

(9) The Minister may appoint one or more persons to investigate the affairs of the

Council and to prepare a report after such investigation if there is a reasonable suspicion

that the Council is failing to comply with this Act or any code.

Disqualification from membership

6. A person may not be appointed as a member of the Council if he or she—

(a) is an unrehabilitated insolvent or if his or her creditors have accepted an offer

of a composition made in terms of section 119 of the Insolvency Act, 1936

(Act No. 24 of 1936);

(b) is disqualified from practising his or her profession under this Act;

(c) is not a South African citizen and is not ordinarily resident in the Republic;

(d) has been diagnosed as having a mental illness or is a mental health care user

as defined in section 1 of the Mental Health Care Act, 2002 (Act No. 17 of

2002);

(e) has been removed from an office of trust on account of misconduct;

(f) has been convicted of—

(i) an offence for which he or she was sentenced to imprisonment without

the option of a fine; or

(ii) theft, fraud, forgery or uttering a forged document, perjury, an offence

under the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, 2004

(Act No. 12 of 2004), or any other offence involving dishonesty;

(g) has previously been a member of the Council for a period cumulatively

exceeding 10 years;

(h) was removed from being an officer-bearer in the Council or if his or her

membership was terminated by the Minister in terms this Act; or

(i) is, at the time of his or her appointment, or was, during the preceding 12

months—

(i) a member of a municipal council, a provincial legislature or Parliament;

or

(ii) an office-bearer or employee of any party, organisation or body of a

political nature.

Vacation of office

7. A member must vacate his or her office if—

(a) he or she becomes disqualified in terms of section 6 from being appointed as

a member;

(b) he or she has been absent from more than two consecutive ordinary meetings

of the Council without leave of the Council;

(c) he or she tenders his or her resignation in writing to the Minister and the

Minister accepts his or her resignation;

(d) he or she becomes impaired to the extent that he or she is unable to carry out

his or her duties as a member of the Council; or

(e) he or she ceases to hold any qualification necessary for his or her appointment

to the Council.

Termination of membership

8. The Minister may terminate membership of a member of the Council where—

(a) a member fails to perform the duties of a member in terms of this Act or the

codes;

(b) a member obstructs or impedes the Council in the performance of its functions

in terms of this Act or the codes;

(c) a member fails to declare a conflict of interest between his or her affairs and

those of the Council;

(d) a member acts in a manner that is likely to bring the Council into disrepute;

(e) a member misuses or misappropriates Council funds or resources;

(f) a member approves or engages in unauthorised or irregular expenditure or

fruitless and wasteful expenditure; or

(g) such termination is in the interest of the public.

Filling of vacancies

9. Every vacancy on the Council arising from a circumstance referred to in section 7

or 8 and every vacancy caused by the death of a member must be filled by appointment

by the Minister in terms of section 5(2), and every member so appointed must hold office

for the unexpired portion of the period for which the vacating member was appointed.

Chairperson and vice-chairperson of Council

10. (1) (a) The Minister must appoint one of the members of the Council as

chairperson of the Council.

(b) The Minister may withdraw a member’s appointment as chairperson if it is in the

public interest or if the member is for any reason unable to perform or incapable of

performing his or her functions as chairperson for a period exceeding three months.

(2) The chairperson and vice-chairperson must hold office for the duration of the term

of office for which he or she has been appointed as a member of the Council unless the

chairperson or vice-chairperson resigns or ceases to be a member of the Council prior to

the expiry of his or her term of office as a member or is removed from office by the

Minister in terms of section 8.

(3) In the absence of the chairperson or in the event that the chairperson is for any

reason unable to act as chairperson, the vice-chairperson, subject to the provisions of

subsection (1), has the authority to perform all the functions and exercise all the powers

of the chairperson.

(4) If both the chairperson and the vice-chairperson are absent from any meeting, the

members present must elect one of their number to preside at that meeting and, until the

chairperson or vice-chairperson resumes duty, to perform all the functions and exercise

all the powers of the chairperson.

(5) If the office of the chairperson becomes vacant, the Minister must appoint as

chairperson, at his or her discretion, a person from among the remaining members of the

Council, or any other person in terms of section 5(1) and (2), and the person so appointed

must hold office for the unexpired portion of the period for which his or her predecessor

was appointed.

(6) If the office of the vice-chairperson becomes vacant, the members must, at the first

meeting after such vacancy occurs or as soon thereafter as may be convenient, elect from

among themselves a new vice-chairperson and the member so elected must hold office

for the unexpired portion of the period for which his or her predecessor was appointed.

(7) The chairperson or vice-chairperson may vacate office as such without terminating

his or her membership of the Council and if such vacation occurs, the Minister must

appoint a new chairperson from amongst the members of the Council in terms of

subsection (1).