MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS COMMITTEE ON PRIVATE MEMBERS' LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS

Date: 07 November 2006

Time : 11: 00

Venue: E540

AGENDA: Discussing Constitution Sixteenth Amendment Bill by Mr S N Swart(ACDP)

African National Congress:

Ms M P Mentor
Mr A R Ainslie
Ms P S Sekgobela
Mr S A Mshudulu

DA:

Mr CM Lowe

IFP:

Mrs I Mars

MF:

Mr S Rajbally

ACDP:

Mr S N Swart

Apologies:

1. Ms N C Kondlo (ANC)
2. Mrs P Mokoto (ANC)
3. Mr H J Bekker (IFP)


PROCEEDINGS:

The Chairperson welcomed everyone at the meeting

Matters arising:

1. The Chairperson reminded members that in the previous meeting Mr Ainslie was requested to get some information that could be used when deliberating the Constitution Sixteenth Amendment Bill.

2. The Committee received supporting documents from Mr Swart, and were given time to read and prepare for the following meeting.

3. The Chairperson was expected to communicate with the Speaker regarding amendments of rules on holding public hearings.

4. Research on floor-crossing in other countries.

Mr Ainslie briefed the Committee about the task that was given to him in the previous meeting. He informed members that he got the relevant documents from the Parliamentary Monitoring Group's (PMG) website. The Chairperson thanked Mr Ainslie for the effort.

The chairperson informed the Committee that she got more documents from Mr Swart, but it was not necessary to circulate them since she did not want to create a wrong impression of being already convinced by the presenter.

The Chairperson reminded Mr Swart that he was allowed to attend meetings but not to engage further on discussions. Mr Swart accepted the decision.

Discussions with the Speaker on public hearing:

The chairperson informed members that she wrote a letter to the office of the Speaker regarding the above matter, and had received the acknowledgement of receipt. She said she might get response next year.

Research on floor-crossing matter:

The Committee would invite Dr Gabrille, the Manager for Information Services Section, to assist on further research on the above matter. She said the main objective would be to clarify whether members should cross the floor with their seats or not. The Chairperson suggested that the Committee need to look at the reasons that led to floor crossing and the research should look at the context because currently the floor crossing is constitutional.

Timeframe given for research was until 15 January 2007...at the first Committee meeting.

The Committee was informed that Ms Mentor, Mr Mshudulu and Mr Ainslie would not be available next week due to their academic commitments.

The Chairperson informed members that they needed to finalize the Constitution Sixteenth Amendment Bill, and the next meeting would be the final meeting of the year. She emphasized the need of quorum because the Committee would be taking a decision about the Bill.

Meeting adjourned: 11 :51

Ms M P Mentor (Chairperson) Date