ATC230606: Report of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development on the nomination of candidates to serve on the Board of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), dated 06 June 2023.
Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development
Report of the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development on the nomination of candidates to serve on the Board of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), dated 06 June 2023.
The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development, having considered the request by the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development to the National Assembly to nominate suitable candidates to serve on the Board of the Agricultural Research Council (ARC), referred to it on 17 May 2023 (see referral document dated 17 May and letter from the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development), reports as follows:
- The process for nomination of candidates
The process for nomination of candidates to the Board of an entity by the Committee entails the formal tabling of the referral to the Committee, which must include the accompanying letter from the Minister detailing the nature and number of vacancies that needs to be filled and what is expected from the Committee.
On consideration of the referral, the Members of the Committee are then requested to submit curricula vitae (CVs) of suitable candidates as legislated in Section 9(3) of the Agricultural Research Act (Act No. 86 of 1990, as amended) including other required documents as outlined in the referral, for consideration by the Committee.
The Committee will then formally consider the submitted CVs of nominated candidates to ensure that they meet the requirements as legislated in Section 9(3) of the Agricultural Research Act (Act No. 86 of 1990, as amended). After selection of qualifying candidates, the Committee adopts a report that will be sent to the Office of the Speaker with the relevant CVs and documents of qualifying candidates for submission to the Minister.
- Committee decision and resolution
The letter from the Minister of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development that was sent with the referral to the Committee was dated 25 April 2023. However, it was only referred to the Committee on Wednesday, 17 May 2023, two days before the due date of 19 May 2023. As the Committee generally sits on Tuesdays, it only managed to consider the referral on Friday, 19 May 2023, which was the due date. The Committee therefore, could not proceed with the nominations as per the usual process outlined in Section 1 above.
The Committee resolved that interested Members of the Committee can still nominate, as individuals, qualifying candidates and submit the required documents to the Committee Secretariat by 16h00, for direct submission to the Minister. One nomination was received from MP Tlhape and the CV of Dr Poncho Jarius Mokaila was sent directly to the Minister’s office.
Report to be considered.