Chairperson, hon Minister of Finance and members of this House, I am not going to cover some of the issues because the Minister has covered those, but I am going to reflect on one aspect which the committee dwelt on a great deal.
Although the Select Committee on Finance has passed the Bill, it did so with stringent conditions and qualifications.
The Bill before us, as the Minister has said, is grossly gender insensitive. Almost every section of the Banks Amendment Bill makes reference to words such as ``chairman'', ``he'', ``him'' and ``himself''. It would appear superficially that only men or boys participate in the financial sector. Committee members across the political party spectrum of the Select Committee on Finance have shared their concerns on the breach of our Constitution. In my capacity as the chairperson, not as ``chairman'', of the Select Committee on Finance, I raised this concern with many persons, such as the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank and the parliamentary law advisers, including the state law advisers.
The opinion provided by the parliamentary law advisers is that there is no reason why the Bill in question should not be amended at this stage to make it more gender sensitive. However, officials from the Reserve Bank argued that since the principal Act uses masculine terminology for certain nouns, relying on section 6 of the Interpretation Act of 1957 - which was long before I was born - the terminology is to be interpreted as including females. The amending Bill before this House cannot be changed in isolation from the principal Act. The Select Committee on Finance was informed that, from the drafting point of view, it was correct to adopt an approach in terms of which textual amendments should, for the sake of consistency, fit like a glove into the existing arrangements.
However, the committee members felt compromised and resolved to pass the Bill with the understanding that, within 12 months, the Ministry of Finance would make the Bill gender sensitive. I humbly request the women of our country, because I regard this as a serious indictment, to exercise their patience, tolerance and understanding one more time. The Select Committee on Finance is confronted with a legal impediment, but firmly resolves to carry out its mandate, and will report to this Chamber on the progress in this regard within the next 12 months. [Applause.]