Committee Programme and Oversight Report

Meeting report

LABOUR PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
8 February 2005
COMMITTEE PROGRAMME AND OVERSIGHT REPORT

Chairperson: Ms O Kasienyane (ANC)

Documents handed out:
Committee Report of its Oversight visits to Northern Cape and North-West Provinces
Committee Minutes: 19, 26 October and 2, 9, 16 November 2004.
Draft Committee Programme

SUMMARY
The Committee adopted minutes of meetings held in October and November of 2004 and tabled its report on the oversight visit to two provinces in 2004. The Committee also discussed its Committee Report and its programme for January to April 2005.

MINUTES
The Committee adopted five sets of official committee minutes of its October and November 2004 meetings. The Committee Report on oversight visits to Northern Cape and North-West provinces was considered and technical minor changes suggested by members. The Report will be tabled in the Announcements, Tabling and Committee Reports (ATC) publication. The Committee Programme was accepted with amendments.

Committee Report of its Oversight visits to Northern Cape and North-West Provinces
Mr S Rasmeni (ANC) suggested that issues arising from the Report be made available to members to ensure that the Committee follow up on these issues.

Mr G Oliphant ((ANC) noted that the Committee minutes of 16 November 2004 stipulated this about the recommendations. Thus this meant that the Committee would follow up on all issues arising from the report and all other reports.

Mr Rasmeni suggested that the Report on the provincial oversight visits be debated in the House before publishing it in the ATC. He had observed that when reports are tabled through the ATC, they were adopted without debate.

Mr Oliphant responded to this concern, saying that a report would only be debated if there were issues causing major disagreement. He pointed out that the Committee had agreed on the report and also had agreed to follow up issues arising from the report.

Mr Rasmeni was satisfied with this reply.

Committee programme
The Chair asked for comments on the Committee programme.

Mr Oliphant asked if the Committee had been given a formal invitation to the National Skills Development Conference on 3 and 4 March 2005.

He suggested that the planned meeting with the Department of Labour also include the Inspectorate from the Free State. This would enable the Committee to listen to a full briefing on the situation at Sasol. He also suggested that presentations from agencies such as the Commission on Employment Equity and the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) contain their budget and not just a progress report.

The Chairperson replied that the Committee had not secured an invitation to the conference as yet, but that this should be sorted out soon. Funds would be sourced from Parliament to ensure that all committee members attended the conference. She agreed that budgets form part of the presentations by agencies and departments.

Mr O Mogale (ANC) commented that there was a lot of funding available within Parliament for this and the Committee should take advantage of such funds to sponsor attendance by committee members at the National Skills Development Conference. He also suggested that the Committee’s 8 March meeting with the Umsobomvu Youth Fund be carried out prior to the National Skills Development Conference. It was very important for Umsobomvu to inform the Committee about their work before members attend that conference. Umsobomvu had a mandate to create jobs and fight poverty and it would be important for the Committee to get an understanding of what the organisation was doing to develop skills prior to the conference.

The Chair noted Mr Mogale’s concern. She asked if members were in agreement about the selection of the four provinces for oversight visits and about their potential attendance of the 95^th International Labour Organization (IOL) Conference from 30 May to 16 June.

Mr M Mzondeki (ANC) suggested that political parties meet with their respective parties before finalising the provinces to be visited.

Mr Oliphant suggested that it would help the Committee to visit African countries with experience of dealing with the ILO.

The Chair stated that the Committee would benefit from both the Department of Labour briefing on the ILO and visits to other African countries as well. She suggested that the issue be visited again by the Committee.

She stated that the Committee concern about the continuing trend of accidents at Sasol had led to a quick decision to visit the company the previous week. She apologised for the short notice given and thanked those members who had attended. She gave a brief summary of the meeting with Sasol for the benefit of members who could not attend the meeting. It was recommended that Sasol needed to improve the situation and Sasol also agreed to develop a partnership with the Department of Labour. Sasol, the National Petroleum Refiners of SA (Natref) and trade union representatives would be invited to Parliament to make a presentation.

Mr Oliphant thanked the Chair for the brief verbal report and suggested that a written report on the Sasol meeting should be made available to members who had not attended.

The Chair agreed that a report would be made available at the next meeting. The Committee Programme was adopted with amendments.

The Meeting was adjourned!