Committee Legacy Report

Meeting report

The Chairperson opened the meeting. The quorum was confirmed. The Committee would be considering its legacy report which Members had already received.

No apologies were received.

The Chairperson suggested Members focus on the challenges and recommendations as Members had received the report beforehand and she hoped Members had gone through it.

Committee Legacy Report
Mr Xolani Simelane, Committee Content Advisor, took Members through the report. He said a presentation was also prepared, which was basically a summary of the report itself. And the last few slides actually do talk to the challenges and recommendations, but it is a short presentation.

Challenges and recommendations
Mr Simelane said the legacy report is basically a summary of the Committee’s five years of work starting from 2019 until 2024. The five year period did not start very well, because of, in particular, the COVID challenges. As the Committee was not a priority in terms of COVID matters, the Committee did not have much to do in that period. The Committee did not work well in the first few years of its term. There was then a bit of a backlog regarding the petitions and the Executive undertakings fed to the Committee. Some of them were inherited, but some of them built up during that period. That is one challenge that came up.

Secondly, there was a challenge of an absence of rules or guidelines that should actually guide the Committee’s work. So as much as the Committee was able to proceed, Members will see in the recommendations that we actually suggest that this method should be finalised.

There was also an issue in terms of the non-attendance by stakeholders in particular. In some situations, some of the stakeholders would actually suggest that the matter is not exactly related to their department. For example, there was an issue around the race petition, the use of the term coloured, in terms of race classification. The matter included a whole lot of other departments but when they were called to appear before the Committee, they would say no, other departments are responsible. It is challenging for the support staff and coordinators to decide on the relevant stakeholders to call when dealing with petitions. Sometimes stakeholders just do not pitch up when they are called to appear. This has affected the Committee’s work and the decisions that are made.

There were also problems with the NCOP programming which disrupted the Committee’s work.

The Committee should be clear on its mandate and exactly which issues it would consider. Sometimes the matter involves the actual petitioners themselves needing better guidance.

There was also an issue of limited interaction with petition committees at provincial and local governments. So basically there is that disconnect between the Committee and the provinces. An example is the petition dealing with the Emfuleni local municipality, which was actually a local government issue. So in one way or another, the Committee will have to find ways of harmonising how it works, collaborates or coordinates the petitions it deals with and the other structures at provincial and local levels as well.

There was also the issue of capacity building as well, for staff and Members. There have been suggestions of workshops and seminars. There were also issues related to oversight visits and study tours.

There is also sometimes the problem of non-compliance by Executive members who are meant to appear before the Committee. The Committee does not have subpoena powers to subpoena those who refuse to appear before it.

Mr Simelane said those are some of the key challenges.

The recommendations are basically a response to the challenges picked up. There is the long standing matter of the draft national petition policy that the Committee inherited. Parliament has announced some changes to how petitions will be submitted but it only relates to public members now being able to petition directly instead of petitioning indirectly through Members. It is recommended that the Seventh Parliament look into this outstanding matter and finalise it promptly to help streamline the process of petitioning. It will also serve as an effective framework for how the Committee addresses petitions.

Secondly, we had thought that maybe it might help the institution to establish a petitions office in the NCOP. That will dedicate resources, support etc. to make the work of the Committee even more effective, improving efficiency and effectiveness.

It is also recommended the Committee be given more time to deal with its work. Members will remember that the Committee normally starts meetings at 12 and finishes at around one and then Members have to join the House soon after that. So the fact that meetings finish minutes just before the House sits actually creates problems in a way. So this needs to be looked at.

It is recommended the Committee be given resources to conduct capacity building for us as support staff, but also for the Executive. This is particularly so as the Committee is not a committee that is department-based or does not oversee a specific department. The Committee cuts across all departments, whether it's labour, whether it's health, it's education, so it's difficult to then have deep knowledge for all of those sectors. So the Committee does need that capacity building.

It is also recommended the Committee be given those powers to subpoena stakeholders who failed to appear before it. At the moment, the Committee not have those powers and can only appeal to the Executive and convince them to appear.

Again, it is recommended the Committee look into the sorts of petitions it considers to improve the quality of what the Committee produces.

Discussion
Mr R Badenhorst (DA, Western Cape) wondered if it would not be more effective for petitions to be sent directly to National Assembly portfolio committees that are specialists in a particular field. The Committee has experienced that it is under capacitated. Members sit on so many committees and have very little time to deal with petitions. One has to wonder if it's not more beneficial for petitioners to have petitions sent directly to the National Assembly portfolio committees where they can deal with those petitions in a more effective and specialised manner.

He asked about the actual Executive undertakings sent to the Committee. It may be very difficult for the next Parliament to exercise oversight over those undertakings if they were not listed as actual undertakings and reports.

Ms M Bartlett (ANC, Northern Cape) supported the recommendations to amend the Committee's meeting times.

Mr C Dodovu (ANC, North West) agreed that quality is extremely important. Petitioning Parliament is a big part of democracy. He was concerned that the Committee was not given the necessary time it deserved. It meets at 12 o'clock, rushing everything, and it should be done by one o'clock because of House sittings. So the Committee must make the statement that it should be given more respect. He wanted the Committee to do its work diligently and operate like all other committees. It must be given time. The Committee needs to hold the Executive accountable through undertakings they have made. This Committee must be allocated more time. This Committee needs time going forward so that whoever will serve in this Committee in the future must do their job more effectively.

The Chairperson said all the points must be added because this Committee is quite important. The Committee must oversee and hold the Executive accountable for undertakings and communities believe the Committee can assist them with petitions. The issue of time was emphasised – the Committee only has 45 minutes to deal with issues where the petitioner must still be engaged which is not easy. This Committee could not just be dissolved, as it played an important role in ensuring communication between the public and Parliament. There was also no certainty that portfolio committees had the capacity to take on the work done by this Select Committee.

The Committee Legacy Report was adopted.

The Chairperson thanked Members for their time and engagement. She appreciated the work done for the Sixth Parliament. It is important for the Committee to have more time to deal with its work.

The meeting was adjourned.