MINUTES OF STANDING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTS

NO 01 (2006)
DATE: 02 FEBRUARY 2006
VENUE: E249, SECOND FLOOR, NEW WING
TIME: 09H00 - 13H00

 

PRESENT

AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

Mr P J A Gerber

Mr D M Gumede

Mr D K Maluleke

Ms L Mashiane

Mr T R Mofokeng

Mr R S Ndou

Mr V G Smith

DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE

Ms A Dreyer

Mr E W Trent

INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY

Mr H J Bekker

PAN AFRICANIST CONGRESS OF AZANIA

Mr N T Godi (Chairperson)

UNITED DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT

 

UNITED CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Mr B E Pule

SECRETARIAT

Ms N Madide

Mr G Dixon

PARLIAMENTARY RESEARCHER

Mr L Zepe

PARLIAMENTARY LEGAL ADVISER

Mr D Ramurunzi

OFFICE OF THE AUDITOR GENERAL

The Auditor-General: Mr S Fakie

Deputy Auditor-General: Mr T Nombembe

Corporate Executive: Ms N Manik

Corporate Executive: Mr S Cele

Business Executive – Relationship Management: Mr P Mosaka

Senior Manager: Mr C Botes

Committee Adviser: Ms Z Mene

Committee Adviser: Ms N Hlasa

OPENING AND WELCOME

The Chairperson welcomed the members back from recess. Looking forward he mentioned that the impending elections has divided the attention of members but that he hoped members will step up to the challenge and conclude the business of SCOPA timeously.

APOLOGIES

None

AGENDA

Item two moves to the end of the programme

  1. Minutes 16 November 2005

Minutes adopted: Mr E Trent moves and Mr P Gerber seconds

  1. Matters arising:
    1. Procurement and Disposal System in Parliament
    2. The Chair reported that the letter requesting parliament to halt the auctioning of parliamentary furniture was sent and that the Speaker and the Secretary of Parliament has responded.

      The Speaker has indicated that the letter will be referred to the Parliamentary Oversight Authority (POA) as the structure that deals with operational issues.

      The Secretary to parliament indicated that parliament was in the process of refurbishment.

      This will result in a stockpile of furniture that Parliament cannot store due to limited space. The Secretary is requesting the Committee to clarify the issue as soon as possible.

    3. Outstanding payments to APAC
    4. The R25 200,00 outstanding training fee was resubmitted for approval and the Committee is waiting on a response.

    5. Status of Parastatals

The Committee agreed to discuss this issue at its next meeting.

  1. Report-back by Work Groups
  1. Group 1 – Mr P Gerber

The Group tabled the following draft resolutions:

  1. Accounting Standard Board
  2. ACSA
  3. Competition Tribunal
  4. DBSA
  5. ECIC
  6. Financial Service Board
  7. Godisa Trust
  8. Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park
  9. IDC
  10. National Agricultural Marketing Council
  11. SANAS
  12. SABC
  13. SABS
  14. South African National Biodiversity Institute
  15. South African National Parks
  16. SA Tourism
  17. Trade Investment SA
  18. Onderstepoort Biological Products Ltd.

The Group tabled the following categorisation:

Category A (Hearings)

  1. Armscor- Category A
  2. Defence - Category A
  3. SA Weather Service - A
  4. Transport - Category A
  5. South African Maritime Safety Authority - A
  6. South African Rail Commuters- A
  1. Group 2 – Ms L Mashiane

The Group tabled the following categorisation:

Category A (Hearing)

  1. Compensation Commissioner for Occupational Diseases – A

Category B (Questions)

  1. Thubelisha Homes - B
  2. National Urban Reconstruction Housing Agency (NURCHA) - B
  3. National Housing Finance Corporation - B
  4. Department of Housing - B
  5. Peoples Housing Partnership Trust - B
  6. SAPS - B
  7. Independent Complaints Directorate - B
  8. Department of Health - B
  9. Medical Research Council - B
  10. National Health Laboratory Services - B
  11. South African National Aids Trust - B
  12. Council for Medical Schemes - B
  13. King George the V Silver Jubilee Fund - B
  14. Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) - B
  15. State Information Technology Agency (SITA) - B
  16. Department of Public Service and Admin (DPSA) - B
  17. Public Service Commission – B

Involvement of PC in SCOPA

The group discussed the need to involve the Portfolio Committees in the findings of SCOPA and agreed to invite them to the briefings and SCOPA hearings.

Resolutions

The Group suspended the resolutions pending the assessment of the new Annual Reports.

Questions sent to Departments

The Committee requires the Category B questions sent as soon as possible and agreed that the Secretariat must follow-up on the previous questions and correspondence sent to Departments.

  1. Draft Programme No. 01

The Committee noted the Constituency period scheduled for 20 February 2006 to 03 March 2006.

Amendments:

The planning meetings have been shifted to Wednesdays after the plenary meeting.

Group discussion:

Programme adopted

4 (a) Annual Report 2005, Draft Business Plan 2006/07 and Draft Budget 2006/07 of SCOPA

Not all of the members received the required documentation. The Chairperson apologised for this and the Committee agreed to discuss the issues at its next meeting.

 

4 (b) Letter from the DA re: The Deputy -President

The letter from Mr Gareth Morgan, MP [DA], which was requesting SCOPA to investigate whether certain provisions of the PFMA were not transgressed in the trip by the Deputy-President Ms Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka was tabled

After lengthy debates the choice before the Committee was whether to request the Auditor-General to investigate and report to the Committee in three weeks or to allow the AG to report on it in the normal course of his annual reports on departments.

In view of the fact that the Committee couldn’t reach consensus; the Chairperson was requested to make a ruling.

He ruled that the AG be allowed to report on it in the normal course of his annual reports. The issue was thus disposed of.

5. Auditor-General’s General Report on Audit Outcomes

The Auditor-General presented his General Report to the Committee. (SEE Transcript for detailed presentation)

6. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 12h45.

 

 

 

Chairperson: Mr T Godi Date: