Prohibition of Mercenary Activities & Regulation of Certain Activities in Country of Armed Conflict Bill [B42B-2005]: briefing b

NCOP Security and Justice

18 September 2006
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Meeting report

SELECT COMMITTEE ON CONSTITUTIONAL AND SECURITY AFFAIRS: PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE

SECURITY AND CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE
18 September 2006
PROHIBITION OF MERCENARY ACTIVITIES AND REGULATION OF CERTAIN ACTIVITIES IN COUNTRY OF ARMED CONFLICT BILL [B42B-2005]: BRIEFING BY DEFENCE MINISTER

Chairperson
: Kgoshi L M Mokoena

Documents handed out:
Prohibition of Mercenary Activities and Regulation of Certain Activities in Country of Armed Conflict [B42B-2005]

SUMMARY
The Minister of Defence was present to allay concerns about Clause 5 of the Bill which dealt with the requirement that humanitarian organisations be registered first with the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) before being allowed to provide humanitarian assistance in a country of armed conflict. The Ministry felt that these activities had to be regulated so that they were in keeping with the objectives of this Bill.

The Democratic Alliance complained that the NCACC was comprised of ANC members and hence its decisions would be biased. It also complained that the Bill would cause a loss of security-related jobs for South Africans in other countries who had left this country due to affirmative action policies. Clarification was requested on why the NCACC was predominantly ANC and what would happen to a South African enlisted in an foreign army that goes on to engage in war that is not supported by South Africa.

MINUTES
Ministry of Defence presentation
The Minister of Defence, Mr Mosiuoa Lekota, introduced his delegation: Mr Siviwe Njikela, Director: Legal Support: Department of Defence (DOD) and Major General S B Mmono, Chief Legal Services (DOD).

Clause 5: Prohibition and regulation of humanitarian assistance in country of armed conflict
Mr Njikela read out Clause 5 and said the major amendment to the Bill was that humanitarian organisations had to register first with the NCACC before embarking on assistance in a county where there is an armed conflict or a regulated country.

He explained that the requirement to register humanitarian organisations with the NCACC before they render assistance was informed by the government’s need to perform oversight and regulate these organisations as some organisations hid under the ruse of being a humanitarian organisation whilst they ran mercenary activities. Another reason was that under the Geneva Convention, South Africa was under an obligation to render humanitarian assistance in areas of conflict and there was need to make assistance more accessible and expedient. Moreover there were concerns that the licensing system might taint the independent structure of the organisations. He highlighted that registration did not make a difference to the practicalities of the situation as registration did not preclude an organisation from going beyond its authorised mandate.

The Minister added that the amendment had been created in such a way that humanitarian organisations would have easy access to conflict situations but the government should have recourse to rectify the situation if aware of criminal activities. The purpose of registration was to declare that the government knows the organisation and if it were to receive information that the organisation had turned to mercenary assistance then the registration would be revoked by the NCACC according to its powers to grant, refuse or revoke authorisation in Clause 7.

Discussion
Dr F van Heerden (FF+, Free State) stated that he agreed with the registration, regulation and the revoking of authorisation once an organisation went beyond its boundaries. However he suggested that "authorisation" as it appears in the bill should be changed to "registration" since registration meant better control.

Mr J le Roux (DA, Eastern Cape) said that his concern was that the NCACC was a "heavily political" body filled with the ANC and thus its decisions would be biased. The Bill made it difficult for people who had lost their jobs during the post-1994 transformation in South Africa to secure jobs outside the country and pursue their profession.

The Minister replied that it was regrettable that the Democratic Alliance (DA) had taken this view. The main basis for the Bill was to regulate the activities of South African citizens. If they were disallowed from making money through criminal means at home then this should be the same outside the country. The Bill was to prevent situations like Iraq where citizens were enlisted to fight in a war that contravened international law. He was sure that the DA was not suggesting that citizens utilise their skills in wrongful wars just because they were trained and able.

Mr A Moseki (ANC, North West) asked Mr Le Roux if he thought that affirmative action was illegal since the DA was refusing to support the Bill in the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. The DA argued that a lot of people had lost their security-related jobs because of transformation in South Africa and thus had to look for such work in other countries. He also said that accusations about the NCACC should not be made without proof and he asked the Minister whether ANC membership was mandatory for NCACC membership.

The Minister replied that the NCACC was a subcommittee of the Cabinet. The reason it now comprised mostly ANC members was that when the Government of National Unity was phased out, the people left in the NCACC who were competent happened to be ANC members. Nevertheless the NCACC is overseen by both the executive and parliament.

Mr M Mzizi (IFP, Gauteng) asked for clarification of what a humanitarian organisation is as he was of the opinion that security companies were in the same category. He suggested that each company should be registered as this would allow the government to control it more effectively.

Humanitarian organisations offered support in the form of financial aid, food, medical facilities and they offer these services free of charge hence they are not normally taxed. If an organisation has been registered, it does not have to seek authorisation as well. The case is different for security companies whose authorisation is determined on a case by case basis.

The Minister emphasised that registration and authorisation should not be used synonymously. Humanitarian organisations had to be registered in order to be recognised by the government and to ensure that they are not hampered in their activities.

Mr Le Roux thanked the Minister for appearing before the Committee. He re-emphasised that he was pro-transformation but was still worried by the Bill's effect, which was the loss of jobs. He asked the Minister to clarify what would happen to a person who had received authorisation to enlist in a particular army which was then deployed to an area of conflict listed as regulated by South Africa. He cited the example of a SA citizen in the British army who is deployed to Iraq.

The Minister replied that there might be conflicts that might be in the interest of the other country that might not be the same for SA, such as the British in the Iraq case. In such situations the respective government should respect SA's wishes, as it is a sovereign state. More importantly, they would not allow their citizens to be part of the conflict.

Dr van Heerden noted that South Africans based in areas that were devoid of armed conflict had no problem as they could go and work in those particular areas.

Mr Njikela added to this by highlighting that the areas that were being regulated by the Bill were both areas of armed conflict and areas that had been declared by the President as having the potential to erupt into armed conflict.

The Committee agreed to a follow-up meeting in order to discuss the rest of the clauses.

The meeting was adjourned.

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