Home Affairs BRRR: postponed

Meeting report

The Chairperson opened the meeting by appreciating the conclusion of the Committee’s work on the complex Electoral Amendment Bill.

Now that the Committee has deliberated on the Annual Reports of the Department of Home Affairs, Government Printing Works and the Independent Electoral Commission. The Committee now needs to deal with its report on these interactions.

He noted the Content Advisor said the work on the report was not yet complete as the Committee has been dealing with a lot of work lately, especially on the Bill, and there were problems with the laptop.

The Committee Secretary said that Members have not yet seen the Budgetary Review and Recommendations Report (BRRR) and suggested the meeting be postponed to the regular meeting slot next Tuesday. The Committee Report will be finalised over the weekend.

The Committee Content Advisor also made Members aware of the short time frame to compile the report, loadshedding and problems faced with his laptop. The report was done overnight but it was only sent to Members this morning. He was willing to take Members through the main points of the report before it was adopted at the next meeting.

The Chairperson asked Members what they thought.

Ms M Modise (ANC) said, in light of Members not receiving the report until this morning, she supported postponing the meeting provided they were able to see the report over the weekend to prepare.

Mr T Mogale (EFF) supported this.

Ms L van der Merwe (IFP) thanked the Chairperson for his leadership during the process on the Electoral Bill. She suggested Members provide their input via email over the weekend so that the report could simply be adopted at the next meeting. She was concerned about deliberating on the report at the next meeting, where amendments might have to be made but the report also has to be adopted on the same day.

Ms A Khanyile (DA) also thanked the Chairperson for his guidance on the Electoral Bill. She noted Members only received the report two minutes before the meeting started so she supported the suggestion of Members submitting input over the weekend.

The Chairperson agreed to give the staff more time to refine the report, and send it to Members the next day for their comments and input. The comments could be added to a separate document for discussion at the next meeting.

The meeting was adjourned.