Final list of recommendations for appointment

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FINAL LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS

AD HOC COMMITTEE ON FILLING OF VACANCIES IN COMMISSION FOR GENDER EQUALITY
15 March 2001
FINAL LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS

Chairperson: Ms Xingwana

SUMMARY
The Committee finally reached a unanimous agreement to submit a list of 14 candidates to the President for appointment to the Gender Commission. The recommended candidates are as follows: B Ngcobo, M Tlake, T Maitse, R Manjoo, T Kgase, S Meintjies, Rev B Khumalo, Siqwana Ndulo, Gertrude Fester, N Bhengu, S De Bruin, Jenny Malan, Nobantu Mayekiso, Dorothy Motubatsi

MINUTES
Members were allowed to propose a list of candidates they considered appropriate for appointment to the Commission. After considerable debate on the number of candidates to be included in the list, a compromise was finally reached that 14 candidates would be submitted to the President so that he may make an appointment accordingly.

This compromise was not taken kindly by all members of the Committee as they felt that such a limited number would circumscribe and limit the President's discretion in making an appropriate choice. It was eventually agreed that the final list would be accompanied by the resumes of the candidates.

Discussion
The Chairperson said that the Committee would make a further shortlist to a number of about 15 candidates who performed well in the interviews. The Ad Hoc Committee would subsequently submit the shortlisted resumes to the President to allow him to exercise his discretion in the matter.

Ms S Camerer (NNP) said that the she doubted if the Committee could do as the Chairperson had suggested. Her alternative view was that this could be done if it is sanctioned by the Constitution.

Ms B Dlamini (ANC) proposed that eleven candidates be submitted to the President. Her opinion was based on the recent appointment of commissioners for the Youth Commission where eleven candidates had been shortlisted from the original list.

Ms Camerer suggested that the Committee should examine the provisions of the Constitution as to the number required to be submitted to the President. Other Committee members noted that the Constitution does not make provision regarding the number of candidates to be submitted.

Ms H Bogopane (ANC) drew the Committee's attention to the Gender Commission Act, which gives the President powers of appointment. She said that this Act provides that the potential appointees shall be nominated by a certain group of persons. The Act does not specify a number of candidates to be submitted.

Ms Dlamini said that the Constitution refers to section 3 of the Gender Commission Act. This section provides that the President shall nominate seven or not more than eleven members to the Commission. Therefore, there was not any restriction in regard to the number of candidates to be submitted to the President.

The Committee then reached an interim agreement to submit a list of fifteen candidates from which the President would make an appointment. It was also agreed that the Committee members would identify seven candidates whose names appear on each party list.

Ms Camerer argued that the issue of the correct number of shortlisted candidates should be discussed with the State Law Advisor. If the Committee nominates more people than there are available positions this would mean that the power of opposition parties to negotiate certain people onto the shortlist would be removed. The candidates that are nominated by the minority parties might fall away.

The Chairperson said that this matter should not be treated as a wrangle between majority parties against minority parties. She stated that the President should not be dragged into making a decision that favours a majority party against opposition parties. The Law Advisor should not be seen to be taking sides in terms of the opposition against the majority position.

Ms Camerer replied that she had been misunderstood and the matter had been politicised. Her suggestion was legally related in that the Law Advisor's legal advice should be sought in order that there may be clarity into the number of permitted recommended candidates.

The Chairperson indignantly said that there was nothing illegal about the selection process as something similar had been done with regard to the appointment of Commissioners for the Youth Commission. She added that Ms Camerer had politicised the matter as well as she had stated that the President would not consider candidates that had been nominated by the minority parties.

Ms N Hangana (ANC) added that she had served on the last committee responsible for appointments to the Gender Commission. More than the required number of candidates were submitted to the President in order to allow him the leeway to make an appropriate appointment. It was not unconstitutional for the President to make a desired appointment. The Legal Advisor arrived at this juncture. She stated that there was not anything illegal about the process of having an unlimited number of recommended candidates.

It was ultimately agreed that eleven candidates would be selected from the interview list after which the Committee would vote on the selection.

Ms Dlamini submitted the following list:
R. Manjoo, Bafana Khumalo, Gertrude Fester, Themba Kgase, Teboho Maitse, Nobantu Mayekiso, Nozipho Bhengu, Sheila Meinjties, Sophie De Bruin, Manana Tlake and Beatrice Ngcobo

General C Viljoen (Freedom Front) said that he would like to propose Jenny Malan and Fisa Lembede as his candidates. The Chairperson asked if he was happy with other candidates whose names had been proposed. He replied that the list was fine because the Committee was still going to vote on the names that had been suggested.

Ms Maggie (ANC) proposed the following list of candidates:
Teboho Maitse, Gertrude Fester, Bafana Khumalo, Themba Kgase, Beatrice Ngcobo, Manana Tlake, Sophie De Bruin, Siqwana Ndulo, Sheila Meintjies, Nobantu Mayekiso and R. Manjoo

Ms N Mtsweni (ANC) said that due to the fact that the candidates proposed by ANC members were almost similar, they should allow the opposition parties to propose their list of candidates.

Ms Sono (DP) submitted the following list from the DP and the NNP
Beatrice Ngcobo, Manana Tlake, Teboho Maitse, Siqwana Ndulo, Jenny Malan, Rapuleng, R. Manjoo, Meintjies, Kgase, Khumalo and Dumisa.

The Committee identified seven common names appearing on the different party lists: Beatrice Ngcobo, Manana Tlake, Teboho Maitse, Rashida Manjoo, Themba Kgase, Sheila Meintjies and Reverend Khumalo.

Ms Camerer stressed that the Gender Commission must be as representative as possible, particularly geographical representivity. The Chairperson responded that certain recommendations had made by the Gender Commission regarding appointment of Commissioners. KwaZulu Natal, Eastern Cape, Northern Province, Free State and Northern Cape had been identified as priority provinces where potential candidates must be appointed.

The Chairperson recommended that a further list of four candidates should be added to the already existing seven candidates to bring the number of candidates to eleven.

Ms N Gxowa (ANC) did not take kindly to the Chairperson's suggestion and responded that it would be better to increase the number of candidates to more than four. This would be done to allow the President an increased discretion to make a proper decision. She even suggested that Committee members should not blindly accept legal advice regarding the number of candidates to be nominated.

General Viljoen proposed that the Committee should submit a list of fourteen candidates. The Chairperson asked if the Committee would accept General Viljoen's proposal as a compromise. In order to bring matters to a head, the Committee unanimously agreed to accept Viljoen's proposal as a compromise.

Finally the Committee unanimously recommended the following candidates in terms of section 3 (2)(b) and 4 (3)(a) of the Commission on Gender Equality Act 39/1996 for appointment to the Gender Commission.
B Ngcobo.
M Tlake.
T Maitse.
R Manjoo.
T Kgase.
S Meintjies.
Rev B Khumalo.
Siqwana Ndulo.
Gertrude Fester.
N Bhengu.
S De Bruin.
Jenny Malan.
Nobantu Mayekiso.
Dorothy Motubatsi.

The Chairperson signed the resolution. The meeting was concluded.


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