Question NW2523 to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation

Reply:

(a) South Africa, like all African Union (AU) member states, desires to see the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) operating in a more effective way in order to better serve the people of Africa. South Africa’s position is that while the dismissal of the Clerk is an internal matter of the PAP, the decision of the Executive Council of the AU should be implemented, namely that the AU Commission should “initiate an urgent independent audit of PAP to be concluded by October 2018 and that “the President of PAP shall refrain from adopting decisions with regard to staff disciplinary measures without prior approval from the Chairperson of the AU Commission until the audit is completed”.

(b) In terms of this decision, the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC) will “consider the Audit Report and conclude its consideration no later than 15 November 2018, and based on the findings take appropriate action and report back to the Executive Council at the January 2019 Summit”.

• The Secretariat had indicated that the Bureau of the PAP has not yet made a decision on the question of reinstating the Clerk It is expected that the PRC, when considering the envisaged Audit Report, will decide on the future of the Clerk of the PAP.

• Paragraph 5 (c) of the Investigation Report on Pan African Parliaments Recruitment states that the “President, APROB and Clerk of Parliament should ensure that the injustices perpetrated during the recruitment process concerning certain staff is corrected forthwith”.

• Following the Executive Council Decision, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation sent a Note Verbale to the Secretariat of the PAP requesting the re-instatement of Tebogo Mhlongo, a South African national whose employment was terminated in June 2016.

• Through a Note Verbale, dated 10 August 2018, the Secretariat of the PAP responded as follows:

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“After consideration by the Bureau of the Pan-African Parliament, direction has been provided by the Bureau of the Pan-African Parliament and the Secretariat is in the process of processing it. The institution will ensure that it finalizes its reflection of the way forward of implementing the said Executive Council decision as soon as possible. Once the institutional position and options are determined, the Pan-African Parliament will be expected to consult with the African Union Commission, as indicated in the said decision and give a hearing to the concerned staff members to get their perspectives. Upon doing so implementation will commence upon receipt of funds to finance the implementation.

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