Vincent Smith and Mathole Motshekga swap chairs on parliamentary committees
29 August 2018
ANC MP Vincent Smith is the new chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services, replacing former ANC chief whip Mathole Motshekga.
Smith is co-chairperson of the Joint Constitutional Review Committee, which is currently handling the matter of reviewing section 25 of the Constitution, on whether to allow expropriation without compensation.
If Parliament decides to amend section 25 of the Constitution, it might well fall to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services.
Smith has previously chaired committees dealing with politically sensitive matters, like the investigation into the former SABC board, and party funding.
Motshekga will take over from Smith as the co-chairperson of the Joint Standing Committee on the Financial Management of Parliament, the ANC whippery said in a statement.
"Comrade Smith was duly elected by the Committee on Justice today [Wednesday] and comrade Dr Motshekga will duly be elected by the Joint Committee at its next meeting scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 12 September 2018," the statement reads.
"We congratulate both comrades on their new positions. We are confident that the changes in these two committees will strengthen the oversight capacity of these respective committees."
On Wednesday morning, the justice committee was set to consider the responses by the Public Protector to the request to expedite the procedure to remove the Public Protector from office, Parliament said in a statement.
Smith postponed the meeting to allow him to familiarise himself with the subject matter.
The committee's programme, including all other urgent matters, will be considered at the next meeting.
