PC Agriculture: Report on Oversight Visit to Northern Cape & Outstanding Committee Minutes

Meeting report

Election of Acting Chairperson
In the absence of the Chairperson, Mr M Johnson (ANC), Members unanimously elected Ms M Twala (ANC) as the Acting Chairperson.

Outstanding Minutes
Minutes: 21 June 2011
The Acting Chairperson tabled the minutes for consideration. She indicated that the Committee would go through all the minutes individually page by page before adopting them.

Mr S Abram (ANC) suggested the minutes be adopted.

Mr N du Toit (DA) seconded him.

The minutes were adopted with no changes.

Minutes: 23 August 2011
Mr Abram referred to page 1 and suggested that a new heading should be added to reflect Members who did not attend meetings and then failed to send a written apology. He was referring specifically to Mr L Gaehler from the UDM who fell into this category.

Ms D Carter (COPE) pointed out that Mr Gaehler was not absent on that day because his contribution was captured in the document. She further informed the Committee that the murderers of Bishop Tolo have been arrested.

Mr Abram referred to page 5 and stated that it was unacceptable for the Minister and Director-General not to respond to the request of the Committee to meet with the Committee. He went on to say that the Department was an organ of the state and it should at all times interact with the Committee and account to it. The impression created was that the Committee did not matter to the Department, and that was a sign that the Department was in disarray.

The Acting Chairperson commented about the absenteeism of Ms I Ditshetelo (UCDP). According to her investigation, the Member concerned belonged to a minority party and served on many other committees and could therefore not attend all the meetings. The Acting Chairperson suggested that Ms Ditshetelo should send an apology or send somebody else to attend on her behalf.

Ms Carter suggested the adoption of the minutes.

Mr Abram seconded her.

Minutes: 30 August 2011
Mr Abram commented on that statements made by Mr A Trollip of the DA concerning the election of an Acting Chairperson for the meeting on 13 September 2011.Mr Trollip had sent unsavoury remarks to the Speaker about the Acting Chairperson yet he (Mr Trollip) was in the meeting for less than ten minutes. The Acting-Chairperson did her work diligently during that meeting, and the comments from Trollip were unfounded. He asked the DA colleagues to convey his displeasure to Mr Trollip and to let him know that the Acting Chairperson was elected by the Committee and she did her job properly.

Dr L Bosman (DA) replied that Mr Abrams did not have the correct facts at hand. Mr Trollip was there at the meeting for a full briefing by the Red Meat Industry Forum (RMIF). The complaints from Mr Trollip were not about the Acting Chairperson but on the workings of the Department. He added that he had a letter that contained the complaints which he could show to the Committee.

The Acting Chairperson asked Ms Dineo Martin, Committee Secretary, if she had a copy of the letter that Mr Abram was referring to.

Ms Martin replied that she had seen the letter that Mr Trollip had sent to the Speaker about the Acting Chairperson, but not the one Mr Bosman was talking about.

Mr Abram said that he and Mr Bosman were not on the same wavelength and suggested that the two letters should be brought before the attention of the Committee. The one Mr Bosman was talking about was in the public interest, and the one about the Acting Chairperson by Mr Trollip should be forwarded to the Committee for discussion.

On page 3, Mr Abram suggested that Advocate Fortune should be erased and replaced by Advocate Ebstein.

Ms Carter motioned for the minutes to be adopted.

Dr Bosman seconded the move with amendments.

Members agreed that the Committee should keep a record of all matters that arose during previous meetings so that they could be followed-up on the next meeting as it was difficult to recall something that happened two months ago. This would, they suggested, help them to see which matters the Department has responded to or not, and would give them an indication on things done and not done.

Report on Oversight Visit to Northern Cape
The Acting Chairperson tabled the report on the Oversight visit to the Northern Cape for consideration.

Dr Bosman indicated that the report had been discussed previously and all the necessary changes had been made to it. He therefore suggested that the report be adopted.

Mr du Toit objected saying the third paragraph on page 2 should be rewritten.

The report was adopted with amendments.

The meeting was adjourned.