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Parliament opposes court bid to stop NYDA board appointment

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Parliament has opposed an urgent application by Letlhogonolo Modisane Maimane to stop the appointment of the seven new members of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) Board.

The National Youth Development Act obliges the President to appoint NYDA Board members on recommendation of Parliament.

In a statement on Tuesday, Parliamentary spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo, said Parliament, consisting of the National Assembly (NA) and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), jointly established the sub-committee to process the applications.

However, Maimane cited only NA Speaker Thandi Modise as the first respondent and the co-chairpersons of the sub-committee of the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, as the second respondent.

Mothapo said Parliament believes Maimane’s application should be dismissed on three grounds.

“Omitting the NCOP Chairperson as a respondent is a material non-joinder and makes the application fatally defective; the application is not urgent, and it lacks merit.”

The closing date for applications was 9 April 2021. Parliament said it received Maimane’s application on 8 April and recorded it as number 690.

“More than 1 000 people applied for the seven NYDA Board positions and Parliament published the names of all these applicants on its website from 18 to 24 May 2021. This was solely for the sake of transparency. There was no statutory or other obligation to do so,” Mothapo said.

On 27 May 2021, Parliament, in terms of section 9(3)(c) of the NYDA Act published the names of the 40 shortlisted candidates on its website, and Maimane was not shortlisted.

The public had until 5 June to comment on the shortlisted candidates and the sub-committee then had public interviews with all 40 candidates.

According to Mothapo, on 18 June 2021, Maimane instructed his attorneys to issue a letter of demand against the subcommittee. On 22 June 2021, the sub-committee responded to Maimane, making it clear that it would not agree to his demands.

“On 28 June 2021, Maimane launched his present application and his founding affidavit does not explain this delay.

“Maimane also conflates the publication of applicants’ CVs on Parliament’s website for transparency purposes with the publication of shortlisted applicants for interviews, as the NYDA Act requires.

“His complaint appears to be that his CV was published a few days after the first CVs started being published on the website.

“In his founding affidavit, Maimane claims his rights would be violated if the President appoints the new board ‘on the grounds that a fair process in as far as the advertisement of all the shortlisted candidates for public comments can be inferred that it was not applied’. This claim is not supported and the case lacks merit,” Mothapo said.

The matter was set down for hearing on Tuesday at the Western Cape High Court. – SAnews.gov.za

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.