Deputy Chairperson, the National Planning Commission has the responsibility articulated in the revised Green Paper which has been through a parliamentary process in terms of which it has certain obligations. Other Ministers do not have a similar kind of advisory power. The powers of the National Planning Commission are, in fact, sometimes to contradict the executive and sometimes to advise decision-making processes. But because the individuals who are members of the National Planning Commission are not, apart from me, themselves part of the executive, they don't have any executive powers. However, they have a very special status because of the nature of the executive decision taken by His Excellency the President in appointing them.
The same doesn't apply to panels appointed by ministerial colleagues. So, the Minister of Economic Development can't say, "Well, you can't take a decision like that because my panel says this." This is why I distinguish between that and the Ministers' Committee on the Budget, which is a committee of Ministers who sit and engage with the Minister of Finance on matters relating to the Budget. As it happens, Minister Shiceka and I are both members of that committee. We probably meet six to eight times a year and we engage on a whole range of issues. We can advise, but ultimately the decision is that of the Minister of Finance. When one is dealing with the National Planning Commission, one knows that it will be required to publish its research outputs, etc, and it has a particular status.
So, through you, Deputy Chair, I want to request the hon member Harris not to conflate issues because I know that this story in the press has somehow assumed the status of equity between a panel appointed by one Minister and the National Planning Commission. My plea is simply not to give that story legs, because it is without substance in law or in fact. Thank you.