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I have submitted a memorandum to the Speaker of the National Assembly in terms of Rule 234(1) of the Rules of the National Assembly, proposing an amendment to the Land and Agricultural Development Bank Act (Act 15 of 2002) to allow the National Assembly, as opposed to the Minister, to make appointments to the Board of the Land Bank.

In terms of the Act (section 4(1)) the Minister currently has the sole power to appoint directors of the Land Bank.

Section 4(2) enjoins the minister to call for nominations by publishing such vacancy in the Gazette and in other appropriate media and "by written invitation to the relevant parliamentary committees". This provision is vague and gives no indication of what the role of the committees in the process should be. At most the committees are required to engage, presumably jointly, in their own, separate, process of identifying possible candidates and to either ask such candidates to apply directly to the Minister, or for the committee to act as a post-office to receive such applications and pass them on to the minister. The current provisions of the Act therefore limit the parliamentary committees in their oversight role.

The proposed amendment to the Act will involve the following:

that the power to appoint board members be taken away from the Minister and be conferred on the National Assembly (section 4(1)); and
that in the event of a vacancy the minister shall inform the Speaker of the National Assembly of such vacancy; the Speaker shall then instruct the relevant portfolio committee to engage in an open process of calling for nominations, setting qualification criteria, selecting candidates for interviewing, interviewing them, and finally agreeing to a candidate(s), whose name(s) will then be submitted in a report for approval/rejection to the National Assembly.

The above amendments will also necessitate certain other consequential amendments, which will be addressed when the amendment Bill is drafted.

We believe this open and transparent process will ultimately lead to better appointments, improved governance and a better functioning Land Bank.

Based on the views expressed by members of all parties, including the ANC, in a recent joint sitting of the Portfolio Committee on Finance, and on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, that the current procedure is unsatisfactory and needs revision, we are confident that the proposal will find support.

In terms of the Rules the Speaker must now table the memorandum in the National Assembly and refer it to the Committee on Private Members' Legislative Proposals and Petitions for a recommendation.