World Heritage Convention Bill; Provincial Tours: discussion

LAND & ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS SELECT COMMITTEE
15 October 1999
CONSIDERATION OF THE WORLD HERITAGE CONVENTION BILL AND A DISCUSSION OF PROVINCIAL TOURS

MINUTES
World Heritage Convention Bill
Mr F. Mashamba, of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, apologised on behalf of the other officials who were unable to attend as they had to. He explained that there have been some concerns expressed in the Gauteng Province concerning the World Heritage Convention Bill. The other representatives of the Department were in Gauteng to try and sort out the problems. Mr Mashamba said the Department was considering to hold public hearings in Gauteng at the end of next week. This will not be certain until the beginning of next week.

The Chairperson asked if discussion of the Bill should continue in light of the recent concerns raised in the Gauteng Legislature.

Ms Versfeld (Western Cape) felt that their discussion would not be useful since there are still ongoing talks between the Department and Gauteng Legislature. She suggested that the Committee wait and see what happens.

Ms Thompson (KwaZulu-Natal) agreed with Ms Versfeld.

The Chairperson then asked if there were any opposing views. It was agreed to suspend further discussion of the Bill until it heard more from the Department. The next meeting was scheduled for Wednesday, 20 October, at 10 a.m.

Provincial Tours
The Chairperson then informed the committee on the proposed schedule for the members to visit their respective provinces and look at the projects of land restitution.
The provinces were divided into three groups and given days for visitation.

Group 1: KwaZulu-Natal (October 29-30)
Eastern Cape (October 27-28)

Group 2: Free State (October 28)
Gauteng (October 27)
Northern Cape (October 29-30)

Group 3: Northern Province (October 28-29)
Mpumalanga (October 30)

The Chairperson explained that a guideline of what is expected during the visits will be handed out before the members' leave. The schedule was agreed to with no debate and the meeting was adjourned.

These minutes have been supplied by Contact.