Interviews of short-listed candidates for appointment to the National Youth Development Agency Board: day 1

Meeting report

Process to be followed
Ms Kubayi said that the candidates would be scored from poor to excellent, and each member had a score sheet which had to be filled based on the interviewees answers.

Mr A Nyambi (ANC) asked what would be the approach of the Committee regarding Members that had not yet arrived in the meeting.

Ms B Mabe (ANC) said some Members might arrive late, some candidates would be at a disadvantage position. The questions might be different from those that had been interviewed earlier.

Ms Kubayi said that she was concerned with quorum issues.

Ms Mabe suggested that the Committee should wait until all Members had arrived before they could commence with the interviewing process.

Mr M Makhubela (COPE) said that the interviewing process did not need a quorum, unless the Committee had to make a decision.

Mr Maile suggested that Members should wait for 15 minutes to allow other Members to arrive.

Ms Mabe said that the Committee should be consistent with the questions, and all Members that had started the interviewing process should be available for the whole three days.

Ms Kubayi informed Members that out of the 23 candidates, 2 had been disqualified.

Mr M De Villiers (UDM) suggested that if one of the ten Members were not present today, then he/she would then be automatically be excluded the next two days.

Ms Mabe asked whether Members were allowed to ask generic questions that were not part of the list that was agreed on. The Committee agreed that all questions should be concise and consistent.

Interviews
The following questions were asked to the short-listed candidates:

•Candidates were asked if the knew all 9 nine provinces.

•Candidates were asked what the NYDA was, how legislation was formed and what was the role off Parliament in that process.

•They were asked whether they were familiar with developmental needs of the youth.

•Candidates were asked whether they interacted with rural youth

•They were asked what they thought of the merger between the Umsobomvu Fund and the National Youth Commission .

•Candidates were asked what would be their contribution to youth development.

•They were asked how they would benefit the youth if they were elected to sit on the board of the NYDA.

•Candidates were asked to explain why it was important for them to be part of the NYDA Board.

•They were asked how they would ensure the sustainability of the NYDA.

•The NYDA had received clean audits, but the programmes of the agency were not accessible to most young people. They were asked how they would change that around.

•They were asked how they would implement the Bill of Rights.

•The NYDA had not reached its targets on youth development, how would they make sure that the targets would be reached or turn that situation around.

•They were asked if they knew about the Masupatsela Youth Pioneer Programme.

•They were asked how they saw the role of the NYDA in the Southern Africa Development Community and the South Sudan.

•25% of the population of the South Africans were unemployed, the majority of them being young people, candidates were asked how would solve that problem.

•They were asked about their schedules and if they could dedicate more time for the NYDA board activities.

•They were also asked how they would conduct themselves if they disagreed within the board or if other board members disagreed with their ideas.

•The NYDA had been using 42% of its budget to pay staff salaries and other administrative tasks. They were asked how they would make sure that the bulk of the money was used for youth development.

•They were asked to comment or ask any questions to the panel regarding the interviewing process.

[Refer to audio for responses]

The meeting was adjourned