Committee Annual Performance Plan for 2018/19

Tourism

23 May 2018
Chairperson: Ms L Makhubele-Mashele (ANC) (Acting)
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Meeting Summary

The Portfolio Committee on Tourism considered the Draft Committee Annual Performance Plan for 2018/19; the Draft Second (Q2) and Third (Q3) Performance Report for 2017/18 Financial Year; Draft Minutes; and Correspondence.

The Committee adopted the Draft Committee Annual Performance Plan for 2018/19; and also adopted the Draft Second (Q2) and Third (Q3) Performance Report for 2017/18 Financial Year

Committee minutes of 18 April 2018 were adopted with amendments; and minutes of 25 April 2018 and 09 May 2018 without corrections.

A letter had been received from communities from Mpumalanga Province indicating their interest to come before the Committee to present the issues that are contained in the document which accompanied that letter. As the document referred to the portfolio committees of Environmental Affairs and also Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, it would be proper if those Committees could consult on this issue so that when they decide on a date for the presentation these communities can come before a Joint sitting of Committees.

Meeting report

Opening Remarks

The Acting Chairperson welcomed all present in the meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to look at the Draft Committee Annual Performance Plan (APP) for 2018/19, which was previously tabled before the Committee and of which they needed to adopt. The Committee must also look at the Draft Second (Q2) and Third (Q3) Performance Report for 2017/18 financial year, and the Draft Minutes, and Correspondence. She asked whether there were any apologies.

Mr Jerry Boltina, Committee Secretary said there are no apologies from any Member other than those from the Minister's office and the Deputy Minister's office.

The Acting Chairperson said amendments needed to be effected in the APP and asked the Content Advisor to address the Committee in this regard.

Draft Committee APP for 2018/19

Dr Sibusiso Khuzwayo, Content Advisor, said they had effected all the changes that the Committee indicated to them at the time. Only one correction was not made, which was submitted by Mr G Krumbock (DA). It was felt that as that issue raised talked about financials, that on page 8 of the report there is an indicator which reads as follows: "Committee reports and interventions on various aspects of departmental performance". They had included that indicator previously because many things would come up during the term that they need to intervene on as a Committee, and therefore do not need to specify that these are the issues as and when the Committee will deem them necessary to tackle. So, they felt that issue raised by Mr Krumbock has been taken care of or covered by that indicator on page 8 of the report. They were already dealing with issues of budgeting and so on, and this was one of the interventions. They will still be dealing with the legacy report, which is where it will be clearly stated as one of the interventions of the Committee.

Dr Khuzwayo said there was also an issue around the budget itself on page 14 of the report because what they had put there was just an estimate, but they had since costed the entire trip of the international study tour, initially from R1.6m to R1.7m.

The Acting Chairperson asked for the mover for the adoption of the APP with effected changes.

Ms S Xego (ANC) said she would like to add that the budget that is allocated to international study tour per Committee must be reflected in their legacy report. She moved for the adoption of the report.

Mr J Vos (DA) seconded the move.

The Committee adopted the Committee APP for 2018/19.

Draft Second (Q2) and Third (Q3) Performance Report for 2017/18

The Acting Chairperson said changes were also made or proposed to be effected in this report and would like the Content Advisor to take the Committee through those proposed effected changes.

Dr Khuzwayo said in terms of this report it should be recalled that they had met with the Department and the entity and some of the issues in this report have been overtaken by some events because these are issues Members have deliberated on when both organisations appeared before the Committee in terms of budget and performance.

On page 10 of the report which summarises the observations by the Committee, and on bullet point 4 there was an issue of compensation of employees where there was over expenditure by the Department. In this regard the Department has assured the Committee that in this current financial year there will be no over expenditure. But for the Committee it is a matter which still needs to be followed thoroughly because it is the matter which the Office of the Auditor General (AG) is also following.

The issue of the vacancy rate has also been rectified because people were not placed in the new structure, it has since been modified.

On the SA Tourism Amendment Bill, it was clear that this Bill would not be processed by this Committee.

On business events, the Department has indicated that already by the third quarter they had achieved a number of events planned. But they are still separating their targets according to quarters to reach their annual target. In this regard there is room for the Committee to call for an addendum if the Committee feels strongly that the targets need to be separated accordingly into quarters. This is because it continues to be a challenge to track any business event. Because in terms of revenue they can only say this is how much has been spent on business events for so many delegates, but they cannot check that report. Members have always said if they know how many events will be held in advance, for example in this quarter they will hold five events, they should know in the first quarter there will be five events, and how many delegates will be there. But it is up to the Committee to request an addendum to the APP.

Dr Khuzwayo said quality assurance remains a problem in terms of governance and the duration of the board. They had raised this because it was raised in the meeting, but do not have serious issues with the SA Tourism (SAT) Board because they had dealt with most of the governance issues. It was just that there were increased costs in terms of running the board. And it could be recalled that SAT’s response was that it was trying to rectify that by having a lot of meetings in one day. The Committee just needed to follow up on that.

In terms of BFR / Major Tourism this was an issue around domestic tourism where there was no improvement on conversion from BFR to Major Tourism. This is a matter the Committee needs to debate on and how to ensure that conversion takes place and should follow up on this.

The Acting Chairperson said so that means they should request an addendum in this regard.

The Acting Chairperson thanked the Content Advisor for his inputs. 

Mr S Bekwa (ANC) moved for the adoption of the report.

Ms Bam (Member) seconded the move.

Ms E Masehela (ANC) supported the adoption of the report but recommended that the business events must be divided into quarters because otherwise it would be difficult for them as a Committee to oversee them (business events).

The Committee adopted the Second (Q2) and Third (Q3) Performance Report for 2017/18.

Minutes of 18 April 2018

Ms Masehela made a correction on page 2 of the report. She also requested correction of her surname on page 5 of the minutes.

The Committee adopted the minutes with corrections.

Minutes of 25 April 2018

The Committee adopted the minutes.

Minutes of 09 May 2018

The Committee adopted the minutes.

Correspondence

The Acting Chairperson asked the Committee Secretary whether there was any correspondence that the Committee need to be aware of.

Mr Boltina said a letter had been received from communities from Mpumalanga Province indicating their interest to come before the Committee to present the issues that are contained in the document which accompanied that letter. The document containing those issues had been circulated to all the Members so that Members could familiarise themselves with the issues before these communities come and present to the Committee on a date to be decided by the Committee. Secondly, these communities have also written to the Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs requesting the same interest to come and present before that Committee. Therefore, it will be proper if both Committees could consult on this issue so that when they decide on a date for the presentation these communities can come before a Joint sitting of both Committees.

Ms Bam said on the document that was circulated to Members these communities spoke about agricultural challenges. She asked whether the Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) had been consulted so that it be part of this sitting.

Mr Boltina said he was not aware whether DAFF had received such communication but would consult with the Committee Secretary of that committee and inform the Committee in the near future about those developments.

The Acting Chairperson said they will leave everything to the support staff to determine availability of Members and the relevant Committees, and as to when those communities will come and present to them. Administratively, the support staff will play its part to organise all the relevant stakeholders in this regard.

The Acting Chairperson thanked Members and the support staff for their inputs.

The meeting was adjourned.
 

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