Hon Chairperson, please allow me to congratulate the committee on the work done on the three Bills, particularly on the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill where Hon Carrim said, we managed to get Treasury to sit down with stakeholders and consulted extensively. However, the reason for my declaration is a less pleasant one. The arrogance of the Treasury in our deliberations was distasteful and disgraceful in the extreme. To have a director-general advising the committee that since the National Assembly had already passed the Bill, he chose not to bring a compelling argument to the select committee undermines this House and the Constitution itself. To have a similar remark passed by his deputy director-general a few days later, stating that since the NA had already approved the Bill, they advised the stakeholder that there will be no changes - it's a shocking reflection on the reputation of this House and the respect shown to our constitutional mandate.
Chair, the Treasury has been warned. If they return with a similar display of disdain, the committee will propose that this House return a Bill to the National Assembly in terms of section 75 (1)(a) paragraph 2 of the Constitution with our recommendations. This will trigger a revisiting of a Bill by the National Assembly in terms of