Hon delegates, let me take this opportunity to thank the special delegates by availing themselves and to thank everyone who participated in this important sitting of the NCOP. Hon members, that concludes the business of the day.
The Council adjourned at 11:42. ----------------------- Chairperson, we do wish to make a presentation on the Bill. The one matter that we would like to raise is that we are very concerned about the Bill, in that we live in a constitutional democracy where we do believe that we should be synchronising our country in terms of ensuring that all our people are enjoined in one Constitution.
It is our belief that many of our people in all the areas, particularly, as you would've seen, a number of areas that sometimes would've been rural areas you'd find that they are now semiurban areas, and you already have conflicts whereby there are now assertions that those people need to be subjected to ... which Bill. Do they need to be subjected to the Traditional Courts Bill or do
Arising as a result of that ... with a Bill of more than a billion which, even to date, has not been clarified ... which was supposed to be back pay for Izinduna in KwaZulu-Natal.
This Bill talks about justices of the peace, talks about the clerks, talks about the personnel staff and other support staff that are supposed to be dealing with this Bill. As we talk, we have been told by the Minister of Finance that we need to cut on the costs of staff; we need to ensure that all the departments have frozen the employment of staff, and our budgets have been cut.
Now, you've got to appoint the presiding officers and all
this emanated from section 6(1) of the Act, which states that the committee shall, within the five months of its appointment, and thereafter within two months after 31 March in each year, table in Parliament a report on the activities of the committee during the proceedings of the year, together with the findings made in it, and the recommendations it deem appropriate and provide the copy thereof to the Parliament and the Minister responsible for each service.
For the appointment of the JSCI, it is pertinent to note that the legal processes of finalising the appointment of the committee, were delayed for various reasons. Consequently, the committee was appointed in terms of the