National Council of Provinces - 07 March 2006
TUESDAY, 7 MARCH 2006 __
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
____
The Council met at 14:10.
The Chairperson took the Chair and requested members to observe a moment of silence for prayers or meditation.
ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS – see col 000.
CONDOLENCES TO MS B N DLULANE, EASTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL WHIP, ON PASSING AWAY OF HER SISTER
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE COUNCIL: Chairperson, I move without notice:
That the Council -
1) expresses its deepest regret and sadness at the sudden departure of
Thoko Ntabeni, the sister of Ms B N Dlulane, Provincial Whip for
the Eastern Cape, on Saturday, 18 February 2006, at the age of 39;
and
2) takes this opportunity to wish Ms Dlulane and her family strength
in this time of difficulty.
May God bless them.
Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
NCOP MEMBER’S HOUSE BURNT DOWN IN ACACIA PARK ON ELECTION DAY
(Draft Resolution)
The CHIEF WHIP OF THE COUNCIL: Chairperson, I move without notice:
That the Council -
(1) notes that –
(a) the house of Ms Maggie Madlala-Magubane burnt down in
Acacia Park on the day of the election; and
(b) she lost all her possessions during the fire;
(2) takes this opportunity to express its deepest regret that this
happened at a time when our country was witnessing yet another firm
affirmation of the mandate of the people of South Africa to the
African National Congress, a party that she has worked for
tirelessly for many years; and
(3) takes this opportunity to wish Ms Madlala-Magubane strength in
this time of difficulty.
Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
CONDOLENCES TO FAMILY OF THE LATE AMOS LANGDOWN, WORLD-RENOWNED ARTIST
(Draft Resolution)
Ms H LAMOELA: Chairperson, I hereby move without notice:
That the Council -
(1) expresses its deepest sympathy with the family of the late Amos
Langdown, the world-renowned artist who passed away on Wednesday, 1
March 2006;
(2) remembers his contribution to art and to artists in South Africa
as painter, illustrator and teacher;
(3) conveys its condolences to his family; and
(4) values his work for its depiction of the life experiences of the
community in which he lived.
Motion agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.
QUESTIONS FOR ORAL REPLY
ECONOMICS
Group 3
MINISTERS
Department of Trade and Industry support for and training of entrepreneurs
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Mr M A Mzizi asked the Minister of Trade and Industry:
(1) Whether his department offers any support, including financial support, to new businesses and budding entrepreneurs; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether any training is offered to people operating businesses who do not have any formal education; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? C24E The DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: Thank you, Chairperson. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) offers a number of schemes to assist entrepreneurs, ranging from financial support, in the form of subsidised operation capital, to nonfinancial support, in the form of mentorship. In addition to this, the DTI also sponsors entrepreneurs to exhibit at international trade fairs and similar gatherings, at full cost to the department.
The department gives targeted support to enterprises that fall within the start-up enterprise range, namely micro, small and medium enterprises. The range of instruments used is covered under the following: firstly, information and advice programmes, with the focus on the provision of information pertaining to available support services, industry and market research, and business planning support; secondly, training and capacity- building programmes with the focus on business management training, mentorship and technical assistance, and small-business incubators; thirdly, co-operatives’ support programmes, which focus on the mobilisation and consolidation of informal micro enterprises; and, fourthly, youth entrepreneurship programmes implemented through partnerships with institutions for further education and training.
In the realm of the type of nonfinancial support services described above, the Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda) is a key institution and its national infrastructure network is currently being rolled out with the aim of having an established footprint across all nine provinces by year-end. So far we have managed to launch about three.
Nonfinancial support is complemented by financial support services. A range of instruments are used, such as the following. Incentive grants; loans, including in February 2006 a start-up fund launched by Khula specific to small businesses and with less administration work, and the Apex Fund - initially launched in 2005 as the SA Micro Finance Apex Fund (Samaf) – specific to micro enterprises from as little as R1 to R10 000; venture- capital finance specific to small and medium-sized enterprises; sureties and guarantees.
Apart from the above, a new initiative is currently being developed in partnership with Khula in order to scale up access to finance for small and medium-sized enterprises. Credit supply to this part of the markets has been severely constrained to date. To improve access to all of the above services, the department is focusing on institutional capacity-building across its specialist small enterprise institutions.
The question was twofold, so that was the answer to the first part of the question. The answer to the second part of the question is as follows: Training specific to running small businesses is offered through mentorship schemes that are substantially subsidised by the department. Customisation of entrepreneurship programmes is central in the design and implementation of the DTI programmes as implemented through its agencies.
Institutional capacity-building priorities support access to services by all nationals of the Republic. This is achieved through a balance between language proficiency and training methodology, and partnerships applied in the planning and implementation of the training programmes. The level of education is not a criterion for access to the DTI and any of the DTI institutional support services.
Mong M A MZIZI: Ke lebohe ho Mme Mofumahadi ka karabo e batsi, e totobetseng. Ntlha e le nngwe, Mme, e hlahang karabong ya hao, mabapi le thupello. Ho dithupello tseo re di fumanang haholoholo ntlheng ena ya Black Economic Empowerment, re fumana hore ho na le batho ba ngodisang eka ba thusa maqheku, hore le bona ba tle ba fihlelle moruong ona oo re leng ho ona.
Hangata batho bana ba lahlelwa setsheng feela seo ba sa kgoneng hore ba ka tswella pele ka sona, hobane ha ba qeta mesebetsi eno, ba iphumana ba se na thupello. Ba iphumana e le hore ba ne ba sebetsa feela jwaloka basebetsi, e seng batho bao e neng e le hore ba sebetsa mmoho, mme le bona ba na le kabelo mosebetsing oo. Mme taba eo e a re kgathatsa.
Ho na le dintho tse ngata tse etsahalang ho batho bana ba ngodisang ho TDI ba re ba rupella batho. Mme, he Mme, re fumana hore mosebetsi wa bona ha o atlehe haholo. Ebang he, ho le jwalo, DTI e reng ka batho ba? Na e ba neha thupello hore ba tsebe hore ha ba kena mererong ena ya Black Economic Empowerment, ditshwanelo tsa bona ke dife, mme ba tlamehile hore ba etse eng, hore hamorao ba tle ba se ke ba iphumana ba sa fumana thupello e felletseng? Ke a leboha. (Translation of Sesotho paragraphs follows.)
[Thank you, Madam, for your broad and clear answer. There is only one point in your response concerning training. Of all the training that we receive, especially on this issue of economic empowerment, we notice that there are people who register as those who assist the aged, so that they can reach the same economic status as us.
In most cases these people are placed where they cannot develop, because after completing those jobs, they still find themselves without any training. They find themselves in a situation where they worked like ordinary labourers, not as partners who are shareholders in those projects, and we are concerned.
There are so many things that happen to these people who register with the DTI as trainers and thus we find that they are unsuccessful in their work. If this is the situation, what does the DTI have to say about these people? Does it provide them with training, so that when they get involved in black economic empowerment deals they know their rights, they know what they have to do, so that at a later stage they do not find themselves in a situation for which they are not properly trained? Thank you.]
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: Chairperson … Ke a leboha, Ntate Mzizi. Kgetlo la pele ke hore feela ke re . . . [Thank you, Mr Mzizi. Firstly, let me just say . . . ]
… as we all know, the DTI has done a survey in terms of the training given to small businesses and, as you also know, we used to have the National Co-ordinating Office of the Manufacturing Advisory Centres (Namac) and Ntsika before. That is why we have Seda now, because Seda is much more hands-on. Seda is currently assisting people, mentoring people and incubating them in the sense that they are not left hanging.
Ke ka hoo he, re reng, rona re le lefapha la Trade and Industry, batho ba diLearnerships ke ba sebetsanang le Lefapha la Mesebetsi. Rona ho DTI re thusa batho ka ho ba ruta hore ba ka qala dikgwebo jwang. Re thusa batho hore na baka kgona jwang ho fumana tjhelete, jwaloka Apex fund, eo re e thakgolang diporofensing tse hlano jwale. (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)
[That is why we, as the DTI, want to say that the learnerships must work in partnership with the Department of Labour. We in the DTI assist people by training them in how to start their own businesses. We help people with the way to access funds, like the Apex Fund, which we have launched in five provinces thus far.]
We have launched this Apex Fund in five provinces. This is a scheme that assists very poor people. As we all know, we have been saying. . .
Khula ke e thusang batho bao e leng kgale ba le kgwebong. Empa Apex fund ke ya batho bohle le ba sa rutehang le ba leng mahaeng, ke hore, dibakeng tse hole le ditoropo. Re sebedisana le dibanka tsa metse [village banks], moo ho nang le dibanka tsa metse, re sebedisana le bona hore re qale Khula. Empa moo ho se nang dibanka tsa metse . . . (Translation of Sesotho paragraph follows.)
[Khula is assisting people who have been in business for a long time, while the Apex Fund is for everybody, even the illiterate who are in the remote rural areas. We are working together with the village banks, where they are available. We worked together with them in order to launch Khula, but where there are no village banks . . . .]
. . . the DTI, through the Apex Fund, does some research and work, and then start up these particular institutions, which, at the end of the day, assist the majority of the people who were outside the economy of this country.
Therefore our programmes are geared up to do that. But if you have a case, Mr Mzizi . . .
. . . ya motho ya sa kang a fumana thuso ho DTI, re ngolle fatshe mme o re bolelle hore ke mang, mme o tswa kae. Re se ke ra akaretsa feela, hobane . . . [ . . . of a person who did not get assistance from the DTI, write to us and tell us what his or her name is and where he or she came from. Let us not generalise, because . . . ]
Our programmes are much better oriented now, because we now have some experience. And we know who we want to help, specifically people who are in the second economy. They are the people we are targeting and assisting. As I have indicated here, we even help people to go abroad as part of the delegations that go with the department: to get a sense of the international markets, so that they will be able to trade with other countries, being small as they are. These people also benefit from the DTI’s programmes.
Black entrepreneurs assisted by business partners in the Free State in 2004- 05
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Mr C J van Rooyen asked the Minister of Trade and Industry:
(a) What are the details of the number of black entrepreneurs who were assisted by business partners in the Free State during the 2004-05 financial year, (b) what was the monetary value of this assistance in each case, (c) which black business benefited from their procurement policies during the 2004-05 financial year in terms of transactions and monetary value and (d) what was the percentage, in each case, in terms of total loans and procurement expenditure approved for the said financial year? C25E
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: Chairperson, firstly, as the DTI we had to refer this question to the business partners because we don’t specifically own business partners. So this is the response given. After getting a response from them, we then formulated this answer. So I hope this is in order.
The answer to part (a) is that 11 or 25,6% of the 43 Free State transactions approved by business partners during the 2004-05 financial year, were for businesses owned by black entrepreneurs.
The answer to part (b) is that a total of R8,01 million - or 19,7% - of the R40,62 million worth of transactions in the Free State approved by business partners during its 2004-05 financial year, was for businesses owned by black entrepreneurs. Client confidentiality prevents the publishing of detailed case-by-case amounts. We cannot do that as the DTI, as we could be sued by some of these companies.
The answer to part (c) is that R0,41 million - or 23,7% - of business partners’ R1,73 million in discretionary expenditure in the Free State during 2004-05, was spent on procuring goods and services from black businesses. No statistics are available on the exact number of businesses, which benefited from business partners’ procurement policies during 2004- 05.
The answer to part (d) is as indicated in parts (a), (b) and (c). Those answers cover the last portion. Thank you very much.
Mr C J VAN ROOYEN: Chairperson, what role, if any, will business partners play in Seda, the development agent, in terms of its main objective of being a one-stop shop for small businesses broadly and in the Free State in particular?
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: Chairperson, the role the business partners can play in the Seda process – and Seda as well – is to go to the different provinces and scrutinise the existing structures that are providing the services of assisting small businesses or big businesses. More particularly, business partners assist people who cannot access loans from big banks because of collateral and other related issues, as we all know. So Seda then goes to each and every province. Before it can launch, it checks within that particular province what service providers exist and which can partner with Seda if possible.
Some, because they don’t want their names to go off the records or have historical backgrounds, don’t want to work with Seda. But the majority of those who were consulted by Seda personnel agreed to partner with them because Seda is mentoring, assisting and giving people comprehensive information rather than sending them whatever. But, if they cannot provide that information, Seda has the right to refer them to a relevant institution they can go to in order to get the particular information that Seda maybe could not give them.
So far we have worked well with provincial economic affairs departments and with some municipalities to consolidate these and to make sure that as we launch Seda, we launch a structure that is going to assist people. This is the same as the Apex Fund, as I answered in the first question.
National Treasury withheld payments to municipalities
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Mr T S Ralane asked the Minister of Finance:
Whether the National Treasury withheld any payments to provinces and municipalities in terms of section 33 of the Division of Revenue Act, Act 1 of 2005, in the 2005-06 financial year; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details? C29E
The MINISTER OF FINANCE: Chairperson, I observe that my boss, the chairperson, the hon Ralane, is not in the House. The question as drafted is actually more suited to a kind of written reply. But let me deal with the bare bones of it. If one looks at the question, it would appear that National Treasury has oversight over all the grants in terms of section 33 of the Division of Revenue Act of 2005. But, in fact, the approach requires a bit more nuancing and detail than the question suggests.
The first part of this is grants from the National Treasury to provinces that are administered centrally. Here, the one grant is the provincial infrastructure grant in terms of which some R1,1 billion was initially withheld for three reasons: Firstly, a failure to submit quarterly reports indicating spending and progress with projects; secondly, a failure to submit draft infrastructure plans on the prescribed date; and, thirdly, evidence of slow spending, as reflected in section 32 of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) reports.
The grants were, in fact, withheld not in their entirety but delayed in respect of six of the provinces. The three provinces that were not affected were the Eastern Cape, the North West and the Western Cape.
So, part of what we are trying to inculcate through the management of conditional grants and the withholding thereof is better planning and spending, and also a higher level of accountability. That deals with the first kind of grant.
The second kind of grant, in terms of which there has been some withholding, has been provincial grants administered by other departments. There is one grant in terms of which there have been changes here and that is the hospital revitalisation grant. Hon members will be aware of the fact that in terms of the Division of Revenue Bill last year, which was canvassed by this House and eventually agreed to by the House in a sitting in KwaMhlanga, we agreed that there would be a special provision in respect of the hospital revitalisation grant that would allow money to be moved from one province, where it was initially allocated, to another province if spending in the latter province was speedier on hospital revitalisation.
So, if one looks at the detail, then there was some measure of withholding from the Eastern Cape of some R10 million, the Free State R7 million, Limpopo R10 million, the North West R40 million and the Western Cape R24 million, owing to slow spending. Against that amount, an additional R81 million was allocated to Gauteng and R20 million to the Northern Cape, but that was allowed. The shift between provinces on big infrastructure programmes, like the hospital revitalisation programme, was allowed in the way in which we discussed the matter last year.
Then there are two kinds of grants that are administered by National Treasury that go to local government. The first is the restructuring grant, in terms of which we had to delay payments to Mangaung, Johannesburg, Umfuleni and Buffalo City owing to the poor quality of reports and insufficient financial information to assess financial compliance.
Then there were also some delayed grants in terms of the financial management grant, and these were withheld from 12 municipalities that were supposed to receive their transfers during July of last year. We eventually transferred the grants in October 2005. So this is not an act of anger; it’s the facilitation of higher levels of accountability. What we would want in ensuring that we can trigger the release of the grant is a better plan, better management, and then we can pick it up later in the context of the Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act.
There are also two kinds of grants administered by other departments to municipalities where there has been withholding. The one is the municipal infrastructure grant, in terms of which the Department for Provincial and Local Government requested the National Treasury to withhold payments owing to slow spending during October 2005. The municipal infrastructure grant unit, which is located in the Department for Provincial and Local Government, is also continually assessing the ability of municipalities to spend on infrastructure, as requested and then not planned for. There are a series of other grants also in which the tendency has been to withhold for less than 30 days. Because of the levels of desperation, the municipalities soon realised that unless they meet the requirements of the letter and spirit of the law, we are not going to give money to them. So, both in respect of provinces and municipalities, both by the National Treasury and by other departments, there has been the delay or the withholding of some grants and, as with the case of the hospital revitalisation grant, the reallocation to other provinces if spending is too slow.
I think that this gives effect to central allocations to the structuring of conditional grants, to the way in which we then align the Division of Revenue Act with both the PFMA and the Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act. Thank you.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Thanks, Minister. Mr Ralane is not here. I think his committee is sitting. Anyway, this is for the House, not specifically for him. All of us, I think, benefit from the answer, as does the public at large. Is there any follow-up question? Yes, Mr Mack?
Mr N J MACK: Chair, I would like to know whether in the event of any of these grants being withheld, is there any special mechanism or assistance for these provinces or municipalities in terms of not letting this happen again, so that this money can be quickly released? Thank you. The MINISTER OF FINANCE: Thank you, Chair, and thank you for the follow-up question. The difficulty is, of course, that one doesn’t want to encourage poor financial management. We walk the line between the building of capacity, as we are still doing especially in terms of the Local Government: Municipal Finance Management Act, and taking the responsibility away from an entity which is an elected government in the context of democracy.
So, whilst we can signal from the side of the National Treasury - and frequently we do so in consultation with other departments on a number of the grants, that would be the Department for Provincial and Local Government - we ensure that we don’t act in a capricious way. There would be a warning; there would be a signal: If you don’t behave yourselves, if you don’t submit the following reports, we regret that we shall have to withhold the grants. Sometimes, apart from the letters, I then speak to mayors and say, “Get the officials to behave differently, because we can’t have this; it’s not in the interest of improvements in service delivery.”
So we try to deal with the issues politically as well. And I think that what the record would show, especially in relation to municipalities, is that it doesn’t take long to then get the reports, which could not be produced earlier.
Also, in respect of those big infrastructure programmes, like the hospital revitalisation one, as we were able to demonstrate where the programme is really moving – in Gauteng and Northern Cape – you don’t want them to have a stop-start relationship with contractors when, in fact, there is money for hospital revitalisation sitting bottled up in other provinces.
Again, in those circumstances, we wouldn’t just wake up one morning and say, “Let’s take this money away.” The big issue is the way in which we receive the reports in terms of section 32 of the PFMA. I’ve said to the committees that I deal with more frequently – and I want to say this to this House as well - that the section 32 reports are for Parliament.
When we table those reports we expect Parliament to take that up and then take responsibility for inviting the department, or the sphere of government, to ask the necessary questions. What we can read from a section 32 report is slow spending. Then, where there is a conditional grant, we would act in the letter and spirit of the Division of Revenue Bill. But, it’s about the empowerment of Parliament.
In his absence, I want to express our appreciation to the hon Ralane and the committee, because I think what they did in respect of the hearings earlier this year on the conditional grants, in fact, demonstrated that the NCOP has a presence, wants that presence to be felt, is reading the section 32 reports, and wants to hold departments in provinces accountable for their laxity. That is the spirit that, I think, we will all collectively be able to say to people that we live out the letter and spirit of the PFMA. Thank you.
Kgoshi M L MOKOENA: Chairperson, arising from the Minister’s reply, is there any way in which we can identify those who are responsible for this mess, other than putting the whole province or the whole municipality into the same basket? Thanks, Chair.
The MINISTER OF FINANCE: Ke a leboga, Kgoshi. [Thank you, Chief.]
At the end of the day we must strengthen those who have the oversight function. In terms of the PFMA, every month I, as the executing authority, must receive from the departments that report to me, or they must submit to me - and there are three in my case: the National Treasury, Statistics SA and the SA Revenue Service - the figures of expenditure against budget. Each month I call in the accounting officers to point out to them what I see in the report.
Now if there is an instance in which money has to be withheld, I would have to be jointly responsible, because my accounting officers know I read the reports and I ask questions about them. They lean on the chief financial officers. The chief financial officers in the departments then have to ensure that the system works. It’s like the engine of a car: You can put in the key, but you can’t turn on the engine if the battery is flat – you have to deal with the battery. If there is a different mechanical problem, the driver is best advised to know what the nature of the problem is. You can’t just stand aside and say, “Well, we don’t know what’s going on.”
So, in the nature of the PFMA, we who are executing authorities, have the responsibility each month to receive the reports. If the departments aren’t sending them to us, we must hold the director-general to account there and then. At the same time, we do so knowing that these reports are going to be published in the Government Gazette. And, publishing them in the Government Gazette, says to Parliament: Here it is; this is the information on last month.
So if the Select Committee on Health wants to know why spending is slow, it can look at this month’s report and say, “Well, what is the trend of the past three months? Let’s call the Minister and the Director-General of Health to account here.” That’s how you strengthen accountability; that’s how we strengthen oversight. That is why I think the instrument created in the Act - to strengthen the oversight by Parliament - is something that we should use a lot more vigorously than we do at present. Thank you.
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Thank you, Minister. Is there any other follow- up question? No. We then proceed to the next question, which is directed at the Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs by Mr le Roux. He is also not in the House. I don’t see him here. Anyway, the question stands.
The MINISTER OF FINANCE: Chair, I know I have spoken a lot, but have I been dismissed now?
The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: Oh, I see. I’m sorry. Question 4 is next – posed by the hon Ralane to the Minister of Finance.
Extent to which municipalities have complied with Division of Revenue Act
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Mr T S Ralane asked the Minister of Finance:
To what extent have municipalities and their entities complied with section 9(2) of the Division of Revenue Act, Act 1 of 2005? C30E
The MINISTER OF FINANCE: Thank you very much, Chair. I am glad that I wasn’t fired on the hoof like that. A bit of prior notice helps. The question relates to section 9(2) of the Division of Revenue Act and the impact thereof on municipalities and their entities. Again, it is a difficult question. The full answer will be published. Section 9(2) of the Division of Revenue Act is actually not applicable to municipalities and their entities. It is only applicable to municipalities that enter service- level agreements with public entities like water boards and Eskom.
There has been significant progress in the last while. Seven water boards have entered into agreements with 17 municipalities, while Mangaung and Moretele have entered into negotiations with the Bloem and Magalies water boards respectively. Although discussions between Eskom and affected municipalities are at an advanced stage, there are technical issues that still need to be carefully examined, and said issues frequently arise from schedule 5 of the Constitution.
To assist in the process, National Treasury has provided a draft agreement that the provinces may modify. The answer, because it’s complex and deals with little things and because it has quite a detailed table, will be published in the Hansard for the benefit of members. Thank you, Chair.
Moratorium on sale of land to non-South African citizens and the
implications for foreign investment
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Mr J W le Roux asked the Minister for Agriculture and Land Affairs:
(1) Whether a decision has been taken regarding the recommendation by a committee investigating foreign land ownership to impose a moratorium on the sale of land to non-South African citizens; if not, when will a decision be made; if so, what are the relevant details;
(2) whether companies, close corporations, trusts or partnerships, of which any shareholder, member, trustee or partner is not a South African citizen, will be barred from owning land in South Africa in terms of any prohibition on foreign ownership of land; if not, who will fall within the definition of a prohibited purchaser; if so, what are the implications of such prohibition for foreign investment in South Africa? C36E
The DEPUTY MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE AND LAND AFFAIRS: Thank you, Chairperson. I’m very glad that you are so eager to hear the answer to this question. Let me just start by saying: In this very important matter, it should be noted that this panel of experts gave a progress report. What has been widely reported in the press was based on this as a progress report. I don’t think this was brought out very clearly. Further work will still be done and there will be refinement of this matter.
The first part of the question is about the so-called moratorium on foreign land ownership in South Africa. As an introduction, the Ministry believes that in this progress report an undoubtedly successful argument for the wise regulation of the acquisition of land by foreigners is made. Matters are addressed, such as the protection of high-potential agriculture land, labour losses that ensue from some of these investments, environmental impacts, social impact and food security. One matter that organised agriculture especially mentions is the question of land bought by foreigners - that creates some unfairness when stronger currencies are used for buying land. Other matters are the existing livelihoods that are being lost, and the chasing up of rates and taxes by municipal governments as their only guideline.
So, I think, the argument for some regulation, at least, is made. If one compares what the panel of experts report in a country like Australia where this regulation is enforced, you will see that we can also make use of that type of approach. I am not saying that the decision Australia had made would eventually be our decision, encouraging the improvement of land, but not speculation in raw land, as the distinction is being made. We do have that authority already in terms of land-user charges in municipal government, or the so-called differential ratings, that are possible.
But then this panel of experts, after having referred at the beginning of the report to the provincial land summits and the national land summit at which this call for an immediate moratorium was made, left it at the beginning. On page 23 of the report they refer to this moratorium as follows: that there is no majority support for a moratorium.” And they describe it as drastic action.
Then suddenly in the last paragraph of the report, they call for this moratorium in that they recommend a moratorium on the purchase and sale of land. It would have been better to talk about acquisition, because one can acquire land not only by purchase and sale but, for example, one can also inherit land. If you then want to introduce a moratorium, you must change the whole law of inheritance. They talk about the moratorium on the purchase and sale of South African land to noncitizens being imposed with immediate effect as an interim measure, until appropriate legislation has been promulgated.
This is a far more complicated matter. Lenin, in one of his works, reacting to some agrarian theorist, once exclaimed: O sacra simplicitas: Oh holy simplicity. This is a far more complex question. Some people seem surprised that besides the Bible, I also read Lenin. [Interjections.]
What is the position here is that there is simply no legislative authority for calling a moratorium. If you immediately introduce a moratorium, you actually have an impact, in a decisive way, on fundamental rights in terms of the Constitution. You are actually telling a person that his or her property rights are restricted by this moratorium in the sense that he or she can’t sell the land to a foreigner until we have passed some legislation. That is coming into conflict with the rule of law.
The rule of law is simply defined in that the exercise of powers of government must be conditioned by law and that the subject - the person addressed by this action of the executive - shall not be exposed to that arbitrary will of his rule. In other words, if we suddenly call for a moratorium, it seems to me that we should be cautious, and that is the way Minister Didiza has addressed the matter. It should be a cautious and thorough approach, because otherwise we run the risk of such a moratorium being ultra vires. That means that the purported exercise of the power must be authorised by the common law or by a statute.
What a moratorium really is, if I could just give a definition of it, is a legal, authorised period of delay in the performance of a legal obligation or also the payment of a debt. It is also a suspension of activity, a temporary ban on the use or production of something.
The famous British politician, Chamberlain, once made the comment on the executive in Britain that, “So thorough was the moratorium on brains that nobody in power dared to do any primary thinking.” That tells you exactly what a moratorium can be. The problem, in other words, is with a moratorium.
Some of the rights in the Bill of Rights may come into question, especially the property clause, the equality clause, handling some property owners differently from other ones, and the right of freedom of association. What I am saying is that this is a good case, and proper legislation, proper thinking and a careful approach should be followed. My formal answer, then, to the first part of the question is . . . [Laughter.] . . . no, a decision will be taken once the Minister and her department have considered the report and all its recommendations.
The answer to the second part of the question - I will be quick about that one – is also, no. In terms of the recommendations – I can expand on that - there was no outright ban on ownership of land by foreigners. The panel has recommended disclosure and ministerial approval as regulatory measures. I do thank you, Chairperson.
Mr D A WORTH: Thank you, Chairperson. I would like to just take this one stage further, if I may, with the hon Deputy Minister. In his opinion what would happen with regard to permanent residents of South Africa? Is there an intention to include them also in any so-called moratorium, or would they, in his honest opinion, be exempted? Thank you.
The DEPUTY MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE AND LAND AFFAIRS: The hon Minister of Finance, thinking financially, was saying that I am a lawyer, so I must charge for the question, Mr Darryl Worth. Being a Bloemfonteiner, you will understand that we need the money.
Indeed, this whole concept of foreign ownership is all about the permanent residents of South Africa. They all have the right of permanent residence. A very small percentage of what is at stake here is of “foreign foreigners”, if I may say so - people who do not have permanent residency.
The interesting point is that most of the ownership is, for example, in sectional titles. This refers to people who are permanent residents - foreigners who have permanent residence rights - and who have a townhouse most of the time, or an erf, and a certain small percentage have a cheaper type of agricultural land. That is what is dealt with in this regard.
A lot of countries all over the world have some form of regulation of the matter, in terms of foreigners who have permanent residence rights. So, this is about that. It is not that that would a different matter. That is exactly what it is all about. Thank you.
Mr M A MZIZI: Thank you, Chairperson, flowing from the Deputy Minister’s response to the latter question, if it is indeed so that these foreigners are also citizens of South Africa, do they not then have dual citizenship? And, if that is the case, what will happen if we go the route of expropriation? Are they also in the same bracket because they own vast tracks of land? If you go to the Free State, they do not even live on those properties. They hire them out.
In the agricultural sector, black economic empowerment cannot progress in the Free State, because of these vast pieces of land that are owned by foreigners. Thank you, Sir.
The DEPUTY MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE AND LAND AFFAIRS: Thank you. This is an extremely sensitive matter, and indeed it is so that some foreigners in some parts of the country own vast tracks of land, for example certain parts of Limpopo. This is especially so near game parks - the land adjacent to the park is bought up on a large scale.
You will see when you look at the report, that in Chile, for example, there is one huge foreign landowner - and Chile has no regulation of this, but they are now thinking about it. There is one foreigner owning huge pieces of land who has almost split Chile in half. It is a long strip of land and that now becomes a security problem. In most of the countries, security is the number one reason why this is regulated, and economic reasons are only the number two reason.
If you look at how many of the parcels of land are really enumerated by the commission as agricultural land, then percentage-wise it is not so huge. The problem in certain areas, for example, lies along the Atlantic Coast in the Western Cape and certain intensive game areas. That is why I was saying that our fundamental approach is that one needs to regulate this.
I do not think that if someone has dual citizenship, South African and British for example, that you can just go and expropriate the land. You need some purpose with expropriation, and at present the Expropriation Act is under revision. We are awaiting the results of whether we can also use it for land reform. If you’ll recall, we did bring in expropriation powers for restitution purposes. Some people say that if foreigners buy land, which form part of restitution claims, then that matter should be addressed as part of the regulations.
What I am saying is this: We need to address legislative approaches to this matter as soon as possible and we are awaiting the final report of the panel of experts in this regard. Only then will that be discussed in a wider sphere than at the moment. But to issue a moratorium out of the blue, without any legislative basis, will just result in it being put aside by the courts. Thank you.
Mr N D HENDRICKSE: Thank you, Chair. Mr Deputy Minister, yes, I think the whole moratorium idea was to stop any buying immediately. Before 1994 we found that many trusts were formed and land was acquired all over and on the beaches. Today that has gone, and I think that the whole idea of the moratorium now is to stop this. They know that we are busy with this. So we could have tracts of land being acquired by foreigners, whilst we, and I don’t want to use the term “dilly-dally”, are not getting the legislative powers going. Thank you, Sir. The CHAIRPERSON OF THE NCOP: What is your question, Mr Hendrickse?
Mr N D HENDRICKSE: I want to know what the time scale is between now and bringing legislation into being. What do you see, Mr Minister?
The DEPUTY MINISTER FOR AGRICULTURE AND LAND AFFAIRS: Thank you. I think that is a very important question, because the whole idea of the moratorium was to stop speculation and the huge buying up of land for whatever purposes at the moment, because of the threat of bringing in some quite acceptable type of regulation.
Now there are two answers to that matter. Firstly, if you read the report carefully you will see that the panel also proposes that foreigners who are present owners, or who have previously acquired land, will also have reporting duties. That will be phased in. You can, of course, bring in taxing measures.
So, I do not think that foreigners who have received good advice on this matter will simply step in and do a speculative-type of buying of land at the moment, because they are quite aware of what is in this report if their information is good. That’s why I say that even besides a moratorium we can’t do that.
Besides that, there is enough protection to give us time to bring about a proper system, which will not harm foreign direct investment. Let me give you an example that was mentioned by this panel. The country with the highest protective measures against foreigners acquiring land in the world is China, but, at the same time, China is the recipient of the biggest amount of foreign direct investment in the world. So this is not an argument, if you do it right. That is what we intend to do. Thank you.
Regional Electricity Distributor (RED1)
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Ms D Robinson asked the Minister of Minerals and Energy:
(1) (a) What amount has been spent on (i) setting up, (ii) accommodating, (iii) staffing and (iv) equipping the Regional Electricity Distributor 1 (RED1) and (b) which areas are supplied with electricity by RED1;
(2) whether the establishment of RED1 has led to any savings in the cost of providing electricity to consumers; if not, why not; if so, (a) what is the relevant saving and (b) when was it passed on to consumers;
(3) whether the supply of electricity to the areas covered by RED1 has improved since its establishment; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details? C37E
The MINISTER FOR PUBLIC ENTERPRISES (for the Minister of minerals and energy): Chairperson, I have been asked to answer this question. I also couldn’t quite remember the quote that Lenin made about power blackouts in the Cape, but I’m sure he said . . . [Laughter.] I think he did say something like it would be better if this ultraleft tendency didn’t happen. We’ll look it up and see what we can find. I will read out the answer, but summarise it because it is quite a lengthy answer, and members can check this in Hansard.
The City of Cape Town has budgeted R10 million for the establishment of RED1. The establishment costs of RED1 will be shared by the EDI holding company - that is the distribution holding company - and the City of Cape Town for the period of 1 July 2005 until the end of February 2006. An amount of R39 719 has been spent on RED1.
Various figures are given for the different periods as to what will be spent. This will be quite lengthy to read it all.
For the period 1 July to end February 2006, R201,893 has been spent by RED1 on accommodation. For the period 1 July to end February 2006, R1,634,504 has been spent by RED1 on staffing. For the period 1 July to end February 2006, R64,324 has been spent by RED1 on equipment.
RED1 is authorised by the City of Cape Town as the service provider for the entire jurisdiction of the city. It has contracted with the City of Cape Town and Eskom for the transfer of their respective electricity distribution businesses within the metro to RED1 by 1 July 2006. Until then, the City of Cape Town and Eskom within the metro operate under the auspices of RED1 in terms of an operating and transitional plan for transfer agreement.
RED1 holds the National Electricity Regulator (NER)licence for the supply area of the City of Cape Town’s electricity department. Until transfer, Eskom holds the NER licence for the Eskom supply area within the City of Cape Town’s jurisdiction.
The largest cost savings are envisaged to occur as a result of the integration and transformation of the consolidated distribution business planned for after the transfer. RED1’S primary focus has been to plan for and manage this integration and transfer. Although unquantified at this stage, business improvements resulting from the joint Eskom-City technical work groups have been implemented. These will be passed on to consumers through below-inflation tariff increases from 1 July 2006. RED1 has proposed draft tariff increases of 4,9% for the city areas as opposed to the 5,1% Eskom increase. The draft integrated RED1 budget for the period commencing 1 July 2006, shows increased spending on repairs and maintenance from R138 million in 2005-06 to R145 million in 2006-07, and on refurbishment of infrastructure from R58 million in 2005-06 to R125 million in 2006-07. These should see improvements in security of supply on the distribution infrastructure side in the short to medium term.
Ms D ROBINSON: Thank you, Chair. Yes, we have had some problems with electricity, and it’s interesting that we asked this question in advance. We wish we could have forestalled some of the problems.
I wonder whether you could give me an indication of what the cost to the economy has been of the ongoing electricity power supply problems in the Western Cape and elsewhere in the country. Could you also let me know whether you would consider subsidising the cost to homeowners of switching to solar-powered geysers to reduce the domestic electricity demand?
The MINISTER FOR PUBLIC ENTERPRISES: Chair, parts of that question would be more appropriately directed to the Minister of Minerals and Energy. Let me just state that the power situation that is being experienced in the Western Cape is not countrywide at all. There have been problems in the city of Johannesburg, but the situation in the country as a whole remains stable. We certainly have expanded the capacity, even in the past few months, and will continue to do that. So, any notion that what we are experiencing in the Cape is a national problem is not correct. This is a very, very specific problem relating to the coincidence of the accident at Koeberg’s Unit 1 and the fact that we have to take Unit 2 out of commission due to our licence conditions.
So we have, I think, explained in some detail, exactly what the process will be on Friday. We indicated what that is. But this is not a national problem; it’s a Western Cape problem. Therefore any attempt to estimate the cost to the economy has not been done. I think that would be very difficult indeed.
The cost to the Western Cape is something that we will continue to look at. Yesterday there were further meetings with the business community, Eskom, the premier’s office and the city. Certainly, let me just add that having RED1, has made it, I think, a lot easier for us to co-ordinate, as far as we are able to, the programme here in the Western Cape. That has been useful.
With regard to solar energy, that is a question that you will need to put to the Minister of Minerals and Energy. There was at one point, I recall, a programme for that. But, I think, the prospect of subsidising all households to move to that is unlikely in the extreme.
Metrorail in Cape Town metropolitan area
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Ms D Robinson asked the Minister for Public Enterprises:
(1) Whether any study has been done on what percentage of Metrorail passengers in the Cape Town metro area are fee-paying passengers in contrast to passengers riding for free, knowing that conductors cannot check tickets on overcrowded trains; if not, why not; if so, (a) when and (b) what were the findings;
(2) (a) what is the percentage of overcrowding on each specified Metrorail line operating in the Cape Town Metro as at the latest specified date for which information is available and (b) why has Metrorail not added more coaches or additional trains to accommodate the demand for seats in order to avoid unsafe travelling conditions;
(3) whether Metrorail will provide additional trains or coaches to accommodate the high demand on the Khayelitsha line; if not, why not; if so, when? C38E
The MINISTER FOR PUBLIC ENTERPRISES: Chair, as the hon member, I think, would know, Metrorail is in the process of being transferred to the Ministry of Transport. But let me answer the question nonetheless.
Yes, a study on passengers using Metrorail was conducted and finalised in May 2004. The study was conducted, in fact, by the SA Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC), which is the actual owner of the assets, in conjunction with the City of Cape Town who provided the statistical analysis. The percentage of fare evasion on the Metrorail system in Cape Town was found to be below 4%. These figures were tested against actual ticket sales and passenger journeys.
The formal assessment of capacity on the Metrorail system in the Western Cape Metro was done as part of the on-track study carried out by the City of Cape Town in 1998. The only overcrowding at that time was over a short section from Heideveld to Bonteheuwel. The SARCC, in conjunction with the City of Cape Town Metro, is currently conducting a regional formal assessment of Metrorail, and this study will take six months.
All available rolling stock has been deployed. Further deployments will occur as additional rolling stock is provided for the SARCC. Three additional train sets are currently being upgraded, which will be assigned to the Khayelitsha line, and the upgrading process will be completed by June 2007 next year.
Let me just add that, unfortunately, one of the issues at stake in the current strike action by the trade unions in Transnet does relate to this issue of Metrorail. And, as I have indicated on a number of occasions, it is in everyone’s best interest that we carry out the transfer to the Department of Transport as quickly as possible, so that we can streamline the provision of a better service through Metrorail and so that we can channel the funding more effectively to Metrorail.
The current situation in which certain of the operational activities are carried out by the staff of Metrorail who are employed by Transnet, whereas the assets belong to SARCC and the subsidy comes from SARCC, is definitely not a satisfactory situation, and the quicker we make the transfer the better. As I’ve stated on many occasions, there would be no adverse effects on the conditions of employment for workers moving from the Transnet position to the Metrorail position.
Ms D ROBINSON: Thank you for the reply, Mr Minister. I’m just surprised that you indicated that it was only the Heideveld area where there was a real problem, because I know that people in Khayelitsha suffer enormously. So, agreed, you are putting some extra stock there, but this really is extremely urgent.
I wonder whether you could give us an indication of what Metrorail is doing to ensure that the commuter services are not disrupted by the ongoing power failures.
THE MINISTER FOR PUBLIC ENTERPRISES: Clearly, this is a matter that worries us. One of the things I think the country will learn from this set of events is that we do have to plan more carefully with regard to the reticulation systems in cities. It must be possible for us, when load shedding is required, to be able to isolate key activities such as train systems or hospitals, etc.
We have not been able to do this as effectively as we would like. This is one of the issues that we will engage RED1 on and with all of the REDs to redesign, to a higher degree, the reticulation systems. What we will be doing in the coming period, as the chief executive officer announced on Friday during our press conference, is to bring in special large mobile generators - four of them. These are 25-megawatt generators, giving us an additional 100 megawatts. As you know, 25 megawatts is a significant output of energy. We will locate these generators so as to try to deal with some of the critical points in the system.
Let me stress, if I may use this occasion because I think it is relevant to the question, that the planning we announced on Friday is crucial. At peak usage in a cold winter – if we were to hit that peak in this winter – our capacity for the Western Cape would be 300 megawatts short. However, if we implement successfully the plans that we have proposed, we should be able to save 400 megawatts, in which event we would then be within the limits. We should therefore be able to minimise the outages.
Now, regarding the actions that we are taking, as you saw on Friday, there is a very large programme to replace energy-inefficient bulbs with energy- efficient bulbs. That has a significant impact. We will repurchase from some of the big users some of their electricity. Contracts allow for this – you can go to a big user and buy some of their energy at particular times of the day or on the weekends. We will introduce, as I have just indicated, the additional generators, and we are bringing into play certain small additional-capacity - generating capacity - in this area. The existing peaking plants are at full capacity anyway, but we will keep those up.
So if we can successfully implement that programme – and this is what we started discussing with the business community yesterday and with Agri SA – we should be able to bring our demand below the available capacity. There are risks, and we spelt those risks out on Friday. This is something that we must all be clear on. Those risks remain. In cases of breakdown of the transmission system, which is always a possibility, we have to close Koeberg. One cannot keep it open, and it takes time to restart. The station manager explained the exact steps that one has to take to do that.
I’m pleased to say that the business community are co-operating. I’m sure with Metrorail we’ll co-operate. There is a great deal of work we can do to mitigate the problems. Our hope is that we should, with careful planning and co-operation, obviate the problems, but there are risks.
Ms N D NTWANAMBI: Thank you, Chair. I want to ask the Minister, arising from his response, whether it is still in the pipeline that the rail line from Cape Town to Khayelitsha will be extended to areas like Harare and Macassar?
The MINISTER FOR PUBLIC ENTERPRISES: The reason why I am so keen to bring about the transfer as quickly as possible, is so that we can implement projects. I think, quite clearly, that there are a number of areas where rail commuter systems, not only in Cape Town, but also in other cities like Durban, should be extended outwards. There is no question about that. We would be most supportive of those extensions, but we need the new structures so that we can plan properly and drive through.
Our target is that certain critical parts of the transfer would be completed at the end of this month. There are certain aspects related to the protection of workers’ rights, which will be finalised soon after that. The quicker we can do this, the better, and we can start getting these projects on the move. It is important.
Protection of clothing industry in South Africa
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Mr N D Hendrickse asked the Minister of Trade and Industry:
Whether there are any measures being planned to give protection to the clothing industry in South Africa, given the cheap imports of textiles into the country; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what measures? C41E
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: Thanks, Chairperson. The answer to the question is yes, the discussions with the Chinese government are continuing on the technical details towards reaching a final agreement. Any measures aimed at curbing imports will be of a temporary nature. However, industries should therefore seize this limited opportunity if it arises. We would like to transform the sector in order for it to face the challenges of global competition.
To this end, government is working with industry and labour on a comprehensive response, including the development of a customised sector programme, because this should be seen as a package and not seen in isolation from the particular issue of imports. By the look of the question, it was referring to the Chinese imports, hence the answer in this fashion.
Mr M A MZIZI: Thank you, Chairperson. In response to the Deputy Minister, whilst, probably, we are talking to the Chinese, there is a disturbance that we always find occurring. Outside the premises of a shopping complex, you find that there are articles displayed with the trademarks of other countries, other than that of China. What is the department doing about those trademarks that are actually exposed, which are not even South African trademarks? Thank you.
The DEPUTY MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY: Chair, that is a new question. But what was asked, in terms of our understanding from Trade and Industry, is what I am talking about. Surely, if the hon member has that concern, he can raise it with either the intellectual property division or with the people who deal with the question of copyrights.
This doesn’t mean that the DTI is just closing its eyes and not doing anything in terms of imports that come into the country illegally. There are laws. There are issues that pertain to this and to provincial and local government, as well as in terms of allowing people to sell at different stores. This is not entirely the work of the DTI alone, but that of a collective.
The Council adjourned at 15:16. ____
ANNOUNCEMENTS, TABLINGS AND COMMITTEE REPORTS
FRIDAY, 17 FEBRUARY 2006
ANNOUNCEMENTS
National Council of Provinces The Chairperson
- Message from National Assembly to National Council of Provinces in respect of Bills passed by Assembly and transmitted to Council
(1) Bill passed by National Assembly on 17 February 2006 and
transmitted for concurrence:
i) Division of Revenue Bill [B 3 – 2006] (National Assembly –
sec 76)
The Bill has been referred to the Select Committee on Finance of
the National Council of Provinces.
THURSDAY, 23 FEBRUARY 2006
ANNOUNCEMENTS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
The Speaker and the Chairperson
- Translations of Bills submitted
(1) The Minister of Finance
i) Addisionele Aansuiweringsbegrotingswetsontwerp (Boekjaar Jaar
2005-06 [W 4 – 2006] (National Assembly – art 77)
This is the official translation into Afrikaans of the Additional
Adjustments Appropriation Bill (2005-06 Financial Year) [B 4 –
2006] (National Assembly – sec 77).
FRIDAY, 24 FEBRUARY 2006
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Speaker and the Chairperson
a) Report of the Auditor-General on the findings identified during a
performance audit of the approval and allocation of housing
subsidies at provincial housing departments, January 2006 [RP 13-
2006].
TUESDAY, 28 FEBRUARY 2006
ANNOUNCEMENTS
National Council of Provinces
-
Referrals to Committees of papers tabled 1. The following papers are referred to the Select Committee on Labour and Public Enterprises for consideration and report:
a) Final Acts of the Plenipotentiary Conference in Marrakesh, Marocco, in 2002 of the International Telecommunications Union, tabled in terms of section 231(2) of the Constitution, 1996. b) Explanatory Memorandum to the Final Acts of the Plenipotentiary Conference in Marrakesh, Morocco, in 2002 of the International Telecommunications Union.
2. The following papers are referred to the Select Committee on
Security and Constitutional Affairs for consideration and report:
a) Proclamation No R.65 published in Government Gazette No 28279
dated 2 December 2005: Notification by President in accordance
with section 25 of the Protection of Constitutional Democracy
against Terrorist and Related Activities Act, 2004 (Act No 33
of 2004).
b) Proclamation No R.66 published in Government Gazette No 28279
dated 2 December 2005: Notification by President in accordance
with section 25 of the Protection of Constitutional Democracy
against Terrorist and Related Activities Act, 2004 (Act No 33
of 2004).
3. The following papers are referred to the Select Committee on
Public Services for consideration and report:
a) Report and Financial Statements of Servcon Housing Solutions
(Proprietary) Limited for 2004-05, including the Report of the
Independent Auditors on the Financial Statements for 2004-05.
b) The Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for
International Carriage by Air, tabled in terms of section 231(2)
of the Constitution, 1996.
c) Explanatory Memorandum on the ratification and/or accession to
the Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for
International Carriage by Air.
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Speaker and the Chairperson
(a) Quarterly Report of the Auditor-General on the submission of
financial statements by municipalities and the status of audit
reports as at 31 December 2005 for the financial year ended 30 June
2005 [RP 16-2006].
- The Minister of Arts and Culture
a) Report and Financial Statements of the South African State Theatre
for 2004-05, including the Report of the Auditor-General on the
Financial Statements for 2004-05.
THURSDAY, 2 MARCH 2006
ANNOUNCEMENTS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
-
The Speaker and the Chairperson
The Speaker and the Chairperson, on 2 March 2006, called a Joint Sitting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, as follows:
CALLING OF JOINT SITTING OF PARLIAMENTThe Speaker of the National Assembly, Ms B Mbete, and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Mr M J Mahlangu, in terms of Joint Rule 7(2), have called a Joint Sitting of the Houses of Parliament for Wednesday, 8 March 2006 at 14:00, to conduct a debate in celebration of International Women’s Day.
_______________________ ________________________
B MBETE, MP M J MAHLANGU, MP
SPEAKER OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES
Date: ____________________ Date: ___________________
MONDAY, 6 MARCH 2006
TABLINGS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
- The Minister of Labour
a) Strategic Plan of the Department of Labour for 2006 to 2009.
- The Minister of Health
a) Strategic Plan of the Department of Health for 2006-07 to 2008-09 [RP 29-2006].
- The Minister in The Presidency
a) Strategic Plan of Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) for 2006 to 2009.
TUESDAY, 7 MARCH 2006
ANNOUNCEMENTS
National Assembly and National Council of Provinces
The Speaker and the Chairman
- Classification of Bills by Joint Tagging Mechanism
(1) The Joint Tagging Mechanism on 6 March 2006 in terms of Joint
Rule 160(6)(c), classified the following Bills as money Bills:
i) Appropriation Bill [B 2 – 2006] (National Assembly – sec 77)
ii) Additional Adjustments Appropriation Bill (2005/06 Financial
Year) [B 4 – 2006] (National Assembly – sec 77).