Committee resolutions; ICASA & broadcasters on state readiness for 2021 LGE; SABC on Section 189 process; with Deputy Minister

Meeting report

The Chairperson recognised all colleagues who lost their lives during the constituency periods, and notified the Committee of the memorial which will be conducted at the Zulu kingdom.

Apologies were noted for the Minister and Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies and the Minister in the Presidency for Government Communication and Information System (GCIS).

The meeting was held to consider the readiness for the elections scheduled for 27 October 2021. The Chairperson noted the importance of ensuring the integrity of democracy, and proper coverage, is guaranteed. Everyone must have the opportunity to participate, as guaranteed by the Constitution.

Ms P Van Damme (DA) noted discontent at the Minister’s absence from Committee meetings. She asked for a strongly worded letter to be forwarded to the Minister on behalf of the Committee.

The Chairperson acknowledged Ms Van Damme’s comments. He said the Committee should also consider reasonable apologies, where Committee meetings are scheduled outside the allocated slots, because of other engagements of its officials.

The Chairperson said the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) would not be joining the meeting to make its presentation. It would however join the round table discussion, where other stakeholders from the sector will be engaged, as planned, in the draft programme. The National Community Radio Forum (NCRF) would be given an opportunity to make its comments after the briefing from the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA).

The Chairperson suggested adjusting the meeting programme to manage the flow of discussions. Item (a) and (b) on the programme were moved to the end, to allow for presentations to be dealt with first. The Chairperson suggested the meeting focus on the readiness for the 2021 local government elections. The detailed report on the implementation strategy of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) will be discussed when SABC appears before the Committee on 12 May, as shown on the draft programme plan.

Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) State of Readiness for Local Government Elections, 2021

Ms Thembi Siweya, Deputy Minister in the Presidency, noted the MDDA’s relationship with the Committee has been a healthy one, and MDDA is constantly working on improving. MDDA achieved a clean audit and despite the pandemic, efforts were made to fund commercial and small community media, and ensure MDDA remains afloat. MDDA has also been able to speak the language of the people. Workshops were held to interact with community media sectors and to ensure it is more formalised.

The Deputy Minister said the MDDA noted the concerns received from the National Community Radio Forum (NCRF) on the effect of the current pandemic and non-compliant stations. It will compromise the mandate of the MDDA, and the information available to the public about Covid. However, plans are underway to hold an election workshop by end of June, to prepare the sector and the people for the election.

Ms Zukiswa Potye, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), MDDA, presented on the community media state of readiness for the election. She noted the MDDA is taking steps to ensure people of South Africa receive information in the languages people understand. She presented on MDDA’s legislative mandates, MDDA’s core business, strategic objectives, alignment to national development, plan-vision 2030, and related legislation.

She also presented on the Community Media Landscape from 1994 to 2020, MDDA Community Radio Funding Footprints where projects have been funded, Current Community Prints, Community & Small Commercial Print, and the proactive approach for capacitating the sector for the elections.

National Community Radio Forum (NCRF) on its state of readiness for the 2021 Local Government Elections.

Mr Xola Nozewu, president: NCRF, presented on the entity’s activities. He described NCRF as a membership-based organisation which provides an enabling environment for the establishment of community radio stations. It also advises the community radio sector through consultations, and creates systems to encourage community radios in communities. It shares experiences, skills, best practice models and resources, coordinates capacity building in the sector, lobbies and advocates to promote the interest of the sector, forges alliances with partnerships such as National Parliament, MDDA, and all other types of support.

NCRF has 150 community radio stations, and it provides support through provincial hubs which were launched in all the nine provinces of the country. In November 2020 a meeting was organised with the Electoral Commission of South Africa (ECSA), for the community radio stations to consider advertisements for voters’ registration, and to use of the station for the election period. The process of procuring airtime began, and voters’ registration was booked for six weeks in all stations, throughout the provinces.

Members of NCRF attended election regulation workshops, facilitated by Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA). NCRF is presently collecting data from stations because most of its members are based in rural areas, with limited connectivity. Interventions are being considered to assist stations which do not have internet connectivity. The MDDA will be consulted for its assistance with connectivity issues, where there are shortfalls.

Stations are preparing. Stations are engaging with political parties at local levels, and with independent candidates, to furnish the stations with ICASA regulations for the upcoming elections.  

Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) on the State of Readiness for the 2021 Local Government Elections

The presentation included ICASA’s role in the broadcast of municipal elections, principles of election broadcasts, the factors considered before allocating time for party election broadcast (PEB), principles of PEB allocations, details on political advertisement (PA), and the difference between PA and PEB. The role of the broadcasting service licensee was also discussed, the role of political parties and independent candidates, and technical standards.

Discussion

Ms P Faku (ANC) thanked the Deputy Minister for her opening remarks. She noted the Committee’s appreciation for the work done in the MDDA by the President, and noted the positive reports received on the National Community Radio Forum (NCRF). She wanted to how if the community radios were impacted by the effects of Covid 19. She said MDDA would need to obtain an additional budget to assist in the area of community radios.

She asked the Committee to consider the effect of the retrenchment exercise in the SABC, on the upcoming election. Most people affected were in the newsroom, and this had to be considered. She cited the Eastern Cape as an example, saying, in the Eastern Cape, satellite offices were closed down. In the Northern Cape, some radio stations use the rural languages. She suggested issues around technology should also be considered, to avoid budget constraints in the middle of elections.  

Ms Faku noted satisfaction with ICASA’s presentation and asked about the status of ICASA’s relations with other stakeholders such as the SABC

Ms P Van Damme (DA) said there were reports of some community radio stations and media, discriminately promoting specific political parties during the election. She suggested part of the training for the radio forum should include training on ICASA’s code of conduct.  MDDA has a major role to play in making sure the coverage is fair, and all political parties are given an opportunity.

On the concerns about political debates and the effect of the pandemic, Ms Van Damme suggested telephonic debates could be held. She said debates cannot be left out in an election, or only a particular set of parties will be given the opportunity to speak on the issues.

Ms Van Damme also said the issue of disinformation was not taken seriously enough. She addressed MDDA especially, and said local media should be informed about what constitutes disinformation, so as not to provide a platform for fake news.

Ms Van Damme applauded SABC for a job well done in respect of coverage during the 2019 elections, which was fair and representative of all political parties. She asked for similar efforts to be invested in the upcoming elections. She was pleased to know SABC will also focus on telling local stories, which are not usually given enough national attention. This will play an important role in educating the public about disinformation.

She commended ICASA on a fantastic job during elections, and asked it to also focus on monitoring community media, particularly with respect to disinformation. She suggested a section requiring political parties not to engage in disinformation, should be included in the regulations.

Mr C Mackenzie (DA) said institutions like ICASA and SABC demonstrated progress by ensuring democracy, and he applauded its level of independence and objectivity. He raised the talks about a potential 3rd wave of the Covid 19 pandemic and the need for political parties to campaign differently. He asked if there was a contingency plan to change political reporting and coverage in the event of a third wave of the pandemic.

Mr V Pambo (EFF) said the issue of staff shortage in SABC creates problem for the upcoming elections. Staff morale is actually low, and some staff are calling for an independent judicial enquiry. Staff complaints are in the public domain, with evidence gathered from trade unions. He wanted to know SABC’s response to this and the possible effect on the upcoming elections.  

Responses

The Deputy Minister acknowledged the advice received from the Committee. Speaking on the impact of the pandemic, she said all entities had to cut its budgets, and realign its Annual Performance Plans (APP’s), but it was also able to assist the community sector by providing emergency Covid relief fund. Systems have been put in place to ensure money is saved, and there is no stealing and inflation of prices.

In relation to measures for the next local government election, ideally ICASA should start thinking of a process of ensuring there are systems in place for use when the voting starts, which can also be adopted by MDDA. It is not certain what level the country will be in in October, and there is no certainty on how long the 3rd wave will last. However, the National Command Council may need to advise on the contingency plans in case the 3rd wave extends till the 27 October 2021. A report can be given to the Committee in this regard.

Mr Madoda Mxakwe, Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), SABC, said the retrenchment process was painful. It was difficult but necessary for the financial sustainability of the organisation. It was also necessary to enable it to continue to fulfil its public mandate.

The process was in line with the turnaround plan which is aimed at repositioning the public broadcaster to be more agile, stable, and most importantly to be a financial organisation which can fulfil its public mandate. With Section 189, SABC ensured critical and necessary skills are retained for business continuity. The organisation went through a lot of difficulties in the last couple of months, but because of the competent skills, the public mandate was not jeopardised. The process underwent every legal scrutiny, and there is a court judgement which found SABC acted in good faith and in a transparent manner.

Mr Pambo asked about the effect of the case won in court, and asked who pays for the cost.

Ms Phathiswa Magopeni, Group Executive: News & Current Affairs, SABC, said offices did not close to the extent of having no capacity to cover stories. In the Northern Cape specifically, SKFM operates from this region. Local coverage content and news continue to be delivered in the local languages in the province. Radio has a big consumption rate, due to the language issues addressed by the various stations. SABC will ensure it is not affected negatively. There are openings on radio platforms across the country, which need to be filled, which are directly linked to news and current affairs. Advertisements were made to attract people with the right level of proficiency in the required languages, and positions are expected to be filled within the 45 days window.

Political debates are at the heart of election coverage and should take place within the context of what the citizens expect from political parties. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, there may be some amendments to the usual procedures of being in physical spaces, but all political parties will be represented.

On the issue of local content coverage, plans are being developed to ensure all provinces understand the issues in their areas, and collate all the information required for planning. This information will be incorporated into the master plan, which will specify all the deployments required to cover the elections. The voices of all citizens will be reflected in the programming.

On the issue of disinformation, SABC has a role to play and there are organisations handling this. It is easier to deal with social media platforms such as Facebook or Twitter. WhatsApp is difficult to deal with because of its persuasive and more intimate nature, and because there is no access to the people having the conversations on the platform.

Plans started to adapt to the changed circumstances which may result from the Covid 19 pandemic.

The Section 189 process is extremely difficult and could have affected the morale in the newsroom. Nonetheless, the newsroom has shown resilience at difficulties times, even with the intense part of the Section 189 process. This was due to the unwavering commitment of colleagues in the newsroom, ensuring the newsroom delivers its services to citizens, according to its mandate.

On the question about the new structure being male dominated and white dominated, most of the editors have been with SABC for a long time. The process was made open to everyone. Everyone could take advantage of the opportunity. The issue of gender and race was discussed throughout the process.

On the issue of allegations and resignations, all resignations were treated as standard employee resignations.

Mr Mojaki Mosia, Group Chief Executive: Human Resources, SABC, said as at 31 March 2021, SABC was the most diverse and equitable organisation. The total composition of female employees across SABC is 52%. The total percentage of African females and combined blacks, within the broad definition, is 90%. African females constitute 40% of the composition, and are more representative than African males across SABC.

The normal retrenchment process was followed for the two specific employees. A formal process was set up, but the first employee exercised her right not to be heard in a formal process. The second employee issue is at the Labour Court, where she is challenging the Public Protector’s findings, or reports, accusing her of being entangled in the Section 189 process. SABC remained compliant, and above the target number regarding persons with disabilities. There is no category in SABC which is negatively affected. Broadly, SABC remains diverse, equitable, and inclusive across all the levels.

Mr Ian Plaatjes, Chief Operating Officer, SABC, said the technology issued to enable the news division is robust, but it is also integrated with the rest of its technology and infrastructure. The process of upgrading SABC infrastructure is underway and will benefit the news department.  While there are news specific systems, there are other systems across divisions as well. The only election specific system in SABC is the internal proprietary election database system, owned by the SABC, and the election specific website. The process of upgrading the system is ongoing. This will allow it to be more effective during this election, compared to the previous one.

On mitigating the risk and impact of Covid, SABC invested in an aggressive innovation to enable remote work during the upcoming elections. In the event of a third wave, a disaster recovery and business continuity has been set up for the organisation. Work will continue remotely, and uninterrupted.

Adv Ntuthuzelo Vanara, Head of Legal Services, SABC, spoke on the legal issues related to the Section 189 process and its impact on the case of Ms Chubisi. He said, throughout the discussion around the Section 189 process, organised labour consistently raised issues around lack of consultation. SABC was taken to court last November. The Court ruled in favour of SABC, and found the consultation to be above board. There was an appeal to the Labour Court to overturn the judgement. The appeal also failed, and the matter was referred to the Labour Appeal Court. For the third time, the Labour Court cleared the process of the consultation conducted by SABC.

Adv Vanara said one of the reasons for the Section 189 process was to eliminate inefficiencies in the system. In the news division, some of the positions were not full-time jobs. As part of eradicating inefficiencies, all positions which were not full-time positions, were re-assigned as positions which could be discharged efficiently by independent contractors. The position Ms Chubisi occupied fell into this category. Prior to going to court, SABC offered her an alternative post, which she refused. Subsequent to the judgement SABC offered Ms Chubisi a position in the new structure, but the offer was rejected again. The organisation decided to reinstate her in her previous position, so as not to be in contempt of court, and then the consultation process, as ordered by the court, was initiated. The Court did not fault the reason for her retrenchment, but simply said she was not consulted prior to her retrenchment, and she had to be consulted.

Dr Keabetswe Modimoeng, Executive Chairperson, ICASA, said the relationship between ICASA and other stakeholders is healthy. There are continuous relations with entities such as the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), MDDA, and SABC, which will continue up until post-election, when election monitoring reports are compiled.

Regarding wrong information and fake news, emphasis will be put on the expected conduct of political parties, when workshops are conducted for the actual allocation of slots. In relation to monitoring community media, the public broadcaster is obliged by law to undertake this role. If community media licensees will like to participate, a notification should be given to this effect. During elections, there is usually a turf at community broadcaster level, between political parties, but it is expected all community licensees remain within their constituencies. ICASA is vigilant during this period to ensure compliance and ensure there is no situation where a political party hijacks any community.

Compliance on the community broadcasting side is very difficult. New applications for community radio stations are open. ICASA provides guidance on how those applications can be done. Out of over 100 applications received, only two qualified. The application was overwhelming, but compliance was minimal. The applications will be reopened and the public will be notified through workshops, and by providing guidance to communities on how to prepare for issuance of these licences. The election monitoring exercise creates about three to six months of employment for election monitors. Election monitors will sit at ICASA offices and observe social distancing, and will sit in call centres. It creates much needed employment during this period.

Follow up discussion

Mr L Molala (ANC) said SABC did not provide a honest answer regarding the impact of Section 189 on its operations, in relation to the upcoming elections. The response is not satisfactory because SABC currently has less than 600 staff members, and it is still recruiting. It is not sure if it will complete the recruitment process before the election.  The SABC did not respond adequately regarding why litigation should continue on a matter when it has no case.

He wanted to know why the employees could not be reinstated to their positions. There is a difference between a person who resigns in protest, and one who resigns because she has gotten another offer, or is no longer interested in the job. In this case, the employee said she was resigning in protest, and Parliament cannot be silent. An explanation is needed from SABC on the matter, and the employees will need to appear before the Committee to explain. Parliament must be allowed to address the challenges. SABC is also expected to respond to these issues so the Committee is clear on the matter. The Chairperson suggested, right before the election, the Committee must visit SABC and speak with it, and confirm its state of readiness.

Mr Pambo said even when SABC knew the employee was not consulted, it still went to court to say due process was followed. This shows lack of due process and disregard of public funds. If it wanted to act in good faith, it could have consulted with the employee and taken her through the process. He suggested the Committee engage with SABC employees more, in the event there are other grievances, to prevent future protests on air.

Ms Van Damme wanted to know if there will be any problems as SABC engages in the public education process and vigorous news coverage about adhering to the editorial code of conduct. She referred to the issue of unfunded mandates, the need to cover all the parties’ rallies, and the requirement to stop regular programming. She wanted to know if there are engagements between SABC and the Ministry regarding the unfunded mandates.

Ms Van Damme said disinformation and the public education campaign are important. She asked what was done during Covid, and said SABC should emphasise the issue of disinformation in the public education campaign.

She asked ICASA to consider including in the regulations published ahead of elections, for political parties, a section on fake news and disinformation, which is clearly defined according to international standards.

She noted the importance of the Committee visiting SABC for oversight, and speaking to the staff broadly. The Committee is saddled with a lot of responsibilities at the moment, and should not invest so much time addressing individual labour issues. It can visit SABC and deal with the issue holistically, by hearing from the staff of SABC directly.

Mr Z Mbhele (DA) said the conventional format of the election covers political campaigns, interviewing voters, highlighting key issues, panel discussions, all from the broadcasting perspective. She asked if practical election and voting information can be promoted as part of the election coverage content. In every election there are citizens who are uncertain about registrations. If people are uncertain who to vote for, these people cannot vote on the day of election. Perhaps if these individuals can apply for a special vote to vote early, or if the person misses out on registration weekend, the person can go and register individually at the IEC office until voting is cut off, it could add huge value, and can be amplified on a large scale.

Ms P Faku (ANC) wanted to know how ICASA and MDDA will work with communities to ensure it is not badly affected during the local government elections.

The Committee needs to emphasise the importance of human dignity. SABC must ensure the Constitution is upheld at every point, because it is against human dignity and a persons’ human right to terminate the person’s employment while the person is confined at home.

Regarding technology, Ms Faku said a timeframe should be given. It is worrisome to hear it is an ongoing process when elections are just 90 days away. She said she was not convinced SABC is ready for the local government elections. SABC may need to go back to the drawing board and mitigate some of the challenges raised by the Committee, and make sure those gaps are closed. The elections need to be fair and people should be able to engage in the elections in their choice of language.

The Chairperson said the Committee will need to be informed about mitigation steps in instances where schedules are not realised, where possible programmes which could have generated funds are moved, and losses recorded. It appears from the regulations, emphasis is more on the broadcaster’s side, and nothing is said of penalties for spaces occupied which are not utilised, and detrimental to the broadcaster.

The Chairperson asked for clarification on the 21 day time period for registration of party spokepersons. This is to enable the Committee to communicate clearly with constituencies.  

Responses

Mr Mosia said inherent to SABC staff reduction was the issue of redundancy. This is where SABC had duplication of work and efforts. Some positions were occupied but deemed redundant because there was no effect on operations. Many of the positions affected were in support roles, such as human resources (HR), administration, communication, and marketing. These roles are not at the core of the election process. It is not the roles of reporters, presenters, or front-line positions. The majority of front-line positions were rearranged, or redeployed. A total of 460 offers were made and were taken by SABC employees. Out of the 460, 324 were promotional opportunities which were taken by the unaffected group of employees. On the issue of morale, the corporation is mindful, post Section 189, there will be a dip in staff morale. An employee engagement programme was launched because of this. The programme will address the issues of employee morale, and commitment to increase the engagement levels of the employee. Various platforms will be created to facilitate these engagements, and SABC is very optimistic it will contribute significantly to increasing staff morale.

Regarding the case, Ms Chubisi was offered a post as an alternative to retrenchment before proceeding to court. After the court process, an alternative post was extended to her, which she also declined. A position cannot be created where there is no job, because it would result in the same redundancy. The corporation also does not refer to litigation, nor delay the process intentionally. All efforts are always explored to find alternatives to reaching a mutual and amicable resolution. Where individuals insist on going to court, the corporation will appear and defend itself.  

Ms Faku wanted to know SABC’s position on the court order for the employee to be reinstated.  

Mr Mosia said the consultation process did not happen at individual level, but with unionised and non-unionised members. In response to the court order, the employee will be afforded the opportunity to be consulted. The employee would be consulted and would be informed there are no longer full-time positions available in the new structure. The available alternatives would be presented to her for consideration. If the employee refuses to take any of the available opportunities or is not successful in it, the employee is deemed to have been logically consulted and a logical conclusion reached in the process.

Adv Vanara referred to the impression of SABC proceeding to court when it had no defence. The consultation was a large-scale retrenchment process. The Labour Relations Act sets out consultation with organised labour and not with individual employees. At no stage during the consultations was there any alert to the specific employee being on sick leave, and it was believed the issue of illness came at the time when the outcome of the consultation process was implemented.  Different offers were made to the employee, because of this. On the day of hearing of Ms Chubisi’s case, there was a similar case in court, which was filed by another employee who claimed he was also not consulted. SABC’s position in both cases was, the consultation process required by the law was complied with, and the individuals concerned were not consulting parties in the consultation process. The court in the case of Ms Chubisi ruled against SABC, but in the other case the court ruled in the favour of SABC. This shows SABC did not frivolously engage in this litigation exercise to spite anybody, but did it to help the litigation process.

Mr Plaatjes said, speaking on the timing around the technology, the technology is an internal SABC system, which scope is currently finalised and undergoing internal approval. The process can be completed within three months, because it is an internal system. This will therefore be by the end of July or latest August. The system is already working. Additional integration is being included to improve the system.

Dr Modimoeng said the issue of misinformation and fake news will be addressed when reviewing the regulations.

On unfunded mandates, he said the issues of PEB’s affect normal programming, and has an effect on SABC’s advertising landscape. There are however instances where parties meet halfway, but it has to take place in a balanced manner. It will continue to engage with all stakeholders including SABC to ensure the public interest mandate is fulfilled and it does not also happen at the expense of the public broadcaster.

The 21 days mentioned in the presentation referred to the period in which the community broadcaster or any other commercial broadcaster will need to notify if it wants to participate in flighting PEP’s, which must be done in accordance with the regulations.

The Chairperson said, on 12 May, SABC will present its corporate plan and its turnaround strategy. In this way the Committee will have another opportunity to engage the SABC. The Committee will want continuous engagement on the election readiness, especially in the face of the pandemic and the changes which could be required as a result of the spread of the virus.

There will be continuous engagement with organisations preparing for the election to ensure a free and fair election, and SABC will work closely with the IEC.

The Chairperson noted the suggestion of members regarding oversight to engage workers, and ensure facilities are ready for the election. He asked Members to be available when the opportunity presents itself.

Consideration of 2021 Second Term Draft Committee Programme

The Chairperson said the draft programme takes into account the tight parliamentary schedule of considering APPs and budgets. It is a tight programme which must cover all entities reporting, and ensure action is taken on all decisions made by the Committee.

Ms Van Damme said the time allocated for the meeting set up with social media platforms on 25 May is not sufficient, particularly if all social media platforms will be considered at the same time. She said issues with Facebook are very detailed, and more time should be allocated for the engagement.

Mr Mbhele said no programme was scheduled for the week starting Monday 16 – 21, and suggested the Committee consider including programmes within those dates.

The Committee secretariat said 18 May was not booked because the plenary votes take place on this day, and Members would prefer to prepare for it.

Mr Mbombo Maleka, Content Advisor to the Committee, said in terms of the round table discussion, a confirmation was received from Facebook saying the panel would like to engage the Committee. It was decided, to avoid making the discussion a broad forum, panel presentations should be constituted from the three leading platforms made up of Google SA, Twitter, and Facebook. Participation should be extended to other civil organisations which may be interested in the topic, or may have literature or experience in the matter which will help prepare the concept document. The Content Advisor said he has the contact for Twitter and Google SA, and the invitation letters will be sent on the present day. The process is however still open, in terms of discussions of the best approach to invite the leading platforms.

Ms Van Damme spoke of the importance of the meeting with Facebook, and the need to allow sufficient attention, and not combine interactions with Facebook with other platforms. She said it was important for the Committee to engage adequately with Facebook, so unique issues faced by South Africa can be dealt with and the right information be spread on the platform. The world is watching and the meeting should be given the best effort required, to address the issue of misinformation. South Africa is the first country to engage with Facebook at Parliament, and the opportunity should be used well. Twitter is difficult to get hold of, and a meeting can be set up with Twitter when contact is made.

Ms Faku proposed the programme as presented should be approved, and if required, during the consultations, the allocated time can be extended.

Ms N Kubheka (ANC) agreed, saying the programme should be approved while the time can be extended on the day of the consultation.

The Chairperson reminded the Committee, even when the programme is approved, it can still engage on changes proposed. Mr Maleka said there was a confirmation received from Facebook and the letters for the other social media platforms will be sent out after the meeting. The Committee would proceed based on the confirmations received and time can be extended where required.

Ms Van Damme was of the opinion the Committee does not receive Member’s input on programmes. She said members did not appreciate the importance of misinformation, content moderation, and how important it is for the election work being done. It will definitely affect election outcomes and is critical to the election. She disagreed with the programme on social media engagement, and said it will be a grave embarrassment for the Committee to proceed with it.

Ms Faku said it was unacceptable to say Committee Members do not know or understand the importance of the engagement. She only requested consideration be given to the time, and other engagements Member’s have.

Ms Van Damme said she did not mean Member’s do not understand the importance of the engagement, but it is a complex and new area of information, and perhaps Members do not appreciate the gravity of the issues, particularly related to the election.  

The Chairperson said it was unfair to communicate to the country that Committee Members are not given the opportunity to make input on the programmes. Items are raised in the Committee for consideration and everyone’s input is respected. In all other programmes where there are oppositions, the Committee has tried to collate all the views in a way which will help the Committee function properly. There are also other platforms as important as the issue of misinformation, and it is important to engage with all of these. The programme as approved can always be reviewed based on the needs of the Committee, and urgent matters which arise. As stated by Mr Maleka, letters will be sent with the content documents and members will have the opportunity review it.

Presentation of the Committee Term One 2021 – Resolution Tracking Tool

Mr Maleka presented a template for the resolution tracking tool.

Mr Mackenzie thanked Mr Maleka for the input and noted the tool will help the Committee get an idea of how resolutions are being worked on.

Ms Kubheka thanked Mr Maleka for the work, but noted the Committee would still need someone who will assist with this task.

The Chairperson appreciated the work and said it would be useful to track resolutions. The last column on the target met was welcomed because it would enhance the Committee’s monitoring task.  

Mr Mbhele thanked Mr Maleka for compiling the tracking tool. He said the tool is sequenced by dates of the resolution, but wanted to know if it would be more useful to cluster the resolutions by the departments it relates to. When dealing with a number of entities in one meeting, the depth and quality of the engagements on the issues can be lost.

Mr Maleka said the resolution tracking tool was a collective effort of all the support staff. It helped the Committee deal more efficiently with matters before it. As the tool is being used and evolves, it will become more collaborative. The tool needs to be simple, deal with major issues, and not look too clustered. However, more columns can be added to it.

The Chairperson also said when resolutions are grouped together, it will be difficult for entities to easily respond when it appears before the Committee.

Mr Mbhele said the master spread sheet can be sequenced by dates to enable the Committee to keep track of when matters are uploaded. Before each portfolio committee meeting, a department or entity clustered copy will be easier to refer to during the engagements with the entities.

Ms Faku noted support for the tool, and said it will help the Committee carry out its oversight responsibilities thoroughly.

The Chairperson asked Mr Maleka to work on the tool as suggested by the Committee, including incorporating all follow up questions. There was no objection by the Committee.

The meeting was adjourned.