Parliament, Wednesday, 23 October 2019 – The Select Committee on Petitions and Executive Undertakings has resolved to postpone its engagement with petitioners that submitted a petition on behalf of the AbaThembu Nation. The petition urges the National Council of Provinces to intervene in respect of the alleged prejudice against the Thembuland Royal Empire.
The decision to postpone the engagement was made as a result of a realisation that the petition was broader than initially anticipated and dealt with issues that affect many Kingdoms. “We arrived at this decision primarily because as a committee we must be seen to be impartial and afford everyone who is affected by the petition to be present, and to make their inputs if the objects of the petition are to be dealt with in its entirety,” said Ms Zukiswa Ncitha, the Chairperson of the committee.
Furthermore, the substantive documentation that the petitioners rely on in their petition were not made available to the committee and to other parties affected by the petition. It was only fair to get the documentation and make it available for other parties to enable them to make informed contributions to the petition.
The committee has committed itself to reconvene the engagement within 30 days to enable these processes to occur.
Regarding the land restitution issue, the committee urged the Commission on Restitution of Land Rights to improve its communications with claimants to keep them in the loop of their processes and where they are in relation to their claims. “It is unfortunate that some claimants are unaware of progress in relation to their claims, some of which were lodged in 1998. The commission must utilise the Inter-Governmental Relations Framework, using municipalities and traditional leadership, as conduits of their messages to the people in general,” Ms Ncitha emphasised.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES ON BEHALF OF THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON PETITIONS AND EXECUTIVE UNDERTAKINGS, MS ZUKISWA NCITHA.
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