Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air; Committee Session Report: adoption

Meeting report

SELECT COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICE
10 May 2006
CONVENTION FOR THE UNIFICATION OF CERTAIN RULES FOR INTERNATIONAL CARRIAGE BY AIR; COMMITTEE SESSION REPORT: ADOPTION

Chairperson: Mr R Tau (ANC, Northern Cape)

Documents handed out:
Ratification and or Accession to the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air
Session Report: January–April 2006

SUMMARY
A scheduled briefing by the Department of Public Works had to be postponed after the sudden death of the Minister of Public Works. In other business, the Committee approved the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air; adopted a report on the January to April parliamentary session and discussed proposed international study trips.

MINUTES

Introduction
The Chairperson informed Members that the Committee should have been briefed by the Department of Public Works, but that due to the sudden death of the Minister the briefing had been postponed. This request came from the Acting Minister of Public Works.

The Committee had been requested to adopt the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air. The Department of Transport had responded in writing to a question posed by Mr L van Rooyen (ANC, Free State). He wanted to know if this response was adequate.

Mr Van Rooyen confirmed that the Department’s response was adequate.

The Committee unanimously adopted the Convention without further discussion.

Committee Report on January-April 2006 Session

The Chairperson requested corrections or additions to the report.

Mr A Watson (DA, Mpumalanga) commented that the budget figures were not readable.

The Chairperson replied that it was a "creative effort gone wrong". He said that in the original document the figures were highlighted in green. After the document was photocopied the figures became unreadable.

Mr Van Rooyen wanted to know if the National Ports Authority did not fall under the Department of Transport. He suggested that the relevant section be flagged to obtain greater clarity.

The Chairperson replied that they should contact the Department for more clarity. The National Ports Authority was a new body established by the Minister. Its establishment still had to be finalised and the Committee needed to know how its Board was appointed.

Ms M Oliphant (ANC, Kwazulu-Natal) said that they needed to find out whether the National Ports Authority Bill had been signed by the President and whether the required regulations had been promulgated.

The Chairperson said that the Department of Transport would soon brief the Committee on their Budget and Strategic Plan during which they could clarify the issue of the Ports Authority.

Ms H Matlanyane (ANC, Limpopo) commented that they have not finalised any legislation, yet the report stated that they had.

The Chairperson said that the reference should be changed to "Legislation before the Committee".

Mr Van Rooyen suggested that the Committee’s expenditure for the quarter be included in the report to ensure that it was not underspending on its budget.

The Committee adopted the report with amendments.

The Chairperson told Members that the Minister of Public Works would be buried on Tuesday, 16 May. Members decided that the Chairperson would attend the funeral on behalf of the Committee.

International Visits Progress Report

The Chairperson told Members that visiting Cuba to see how it dealt with housing would be inappropriate because Cuban conditions differed vastly from South African conditions. After further research, it was discovered that Malaysia had the same conditions as South Africa. He said that Malaysia had the same problems as South Africa and has provided low cost housing for their citizens.

Mr F Adams (ANC, Western Cape) commented that Germany has the best practice model for housing. He said that the housing structure in the former East Germany had collapsed and they should investigate how it had been built up again.

The Chairperson stated that they needed concrete proposals by Wednesday, 17 May.

The meeting was adjourned.