Tours; Meeting with Sports Minister; Education Laws Amendment Bill

EDUCATION SELECT COMMITTEE
25 October 1999
UPCOMING NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL VISITS AND OTHER ISSUES: DISCUSSION

Documents handed out:
None

SUMMARY
The following issues were discussed:
The trip of the education joint committees to the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal and which delegates would be going.
The preparation for the trip to New Zealand and Australia.
The date to be set for the meeting with the Minister of Sport.
The forthcoming debate regarding the Education Law Amendment Bill and the necessary briefings which had to be made.

MINUTES
The joint committee's trip to the Eastern Cape and Kwa-Zulu Natal
It was indicated that delegates from both the select and the portfolio committees on education would be visiting these areas and that the committee would pay for the members travelling expenses. The delegates visiting the Eastern Cape would still have to be finalised.

At this time it was noted by Mr N M Raju (DP, Kwazulu Natal) that his party had decided that he should go to the Eastern Cape based on the rationale that it would be better for him to go to the province that he was less familiar with. He added however that the secretary of the portfolio committee expected to get clearance from chairperson Kgware.

The chairperson noted that although the select committee would be accompanying the portfolio committee they would have to pay for their own expenses and their budget was not as extensive as that of the portfolio committee's.

At this time the meeting turned to who would participate in the tour. Raju noted that he thought that there might be some kind of formula which would have to be followed, e.g., 3 members from the ANC, 3 members from each of the other parties, etc; he concluded however by stating that he was not certain.

Mr P G Qokweni (UDM, Eastern Cape) indicated an interest in participating in the tour and noted that his method of reasoning differed from that of Raju's in that he chose to participate in the tour as he came from the Eastern Cape.
Ms J Witbooi (NNP, Western Cape) stated that she would be glad to go but that she was concerned about the formula. The chairperson responded by indicating that the formula did not bind them. A summary of the members who were already going was given, they are; Mr Raju, Mr Qokweni, and Mr L Suka (ANC, Eastern Cape).

Raju requested that the data regarding the tour be clarified. The following dates were indicated:

2, 3, and 4 November - the visits to the Eastern Cape
1 - 4 November - the visits to Kwazulu-Natal
When the chairperson was asked whether he would be attending, he responded that he could not as he had to attend a meeting.

No members had as yet volunteered to attend the trip to Kwazulu-Natal and it was decided to keep the matter open for decision at another meeting.
(Raju did however indicate that he was not "married" to the idea of going to the Eastern Cape; as he comes from Kwazulu-Natal he would not mind being part of that delegation either).

Trip to Australia and New Zealand
The chairperson again indicated that there were budgetary constraints to be considered and noted that the desired time for the trip was January as he was taking into account the Y2K fever which was in line with popular thinking. Thus, he did not want to be the victim of any mechanical malfunction.

Raju asked what kind of representation there would be; how many people would be going. The chair responded that they would have to look at the budget.

At this time a committee member noted that there was an established formula for such visits but that that formula did not apply to internal visits. It was added by another committee member that the committee's budget had to be handed in between now and March and that it had to be approved.

It was suggested that the names of this delegation be ignored for the time being as there was a definite formula which had to be followed.

Meeting with the Minister of Sport
It was indicated that the date given by the minister for this meeting was the 8^th of November, but, that this date, which is a Monday, clashed with the date for the rugby final.

Here Raju noted that he was personally very involved in sport and that it was important to be present at these briefings as there was still a lot of leeway to be made in this area, including golf. For these reasons he indicated that he was pleased about the meeting with the select committee. The chairperson noted that they were on a tight schedule and the date of the 8^th was agreed upon.

Debate regarding the Education Law Amendment Bill
The National Assembly went into a joint sitting with them and will pass the bill tomorrow. As it is a S76 bill it will have to go back to the provinces for briefing and they will come back with ideas. The negotiating mandates will be heard on the 8^th. The final mandate will be heard on the 10^th. Thereafter the bill will be adopted.

In this regard it was noted that as next week is constituency week they might interact personally with the respective provincial committee to get the negotiating mandate, rather than to do it telephonically.

The meeting was adjourned.