Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development

Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development
Formation1994 (as Portfolio Committee on Justice)
PurposeOversight of the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development
Chairperson
Xola Nqola (ANC)
Parent organisation
National Assembly of South Africa

The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development is a portfolio committee of the National Assembly of South Africa. It is responsible for oversight of the agencies managed by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, including the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development.

The committee was established during the first post-apartheid Parliament as the Portfolio Committee on Justice, chaired for two terms by Johnny de Lange. It was renamed as the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development after the Department of Justice was renamed accordingly. Between 2014 and 2024, it oversaw an enlarged portfolio as the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services; the enlarged committee was created in a merger between the justice committee and Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services, precipitated by the corresponding ministerial merger that created the Ministry of Justice and Correctional Services.

In addition to overseeing the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, the committee oversees a long list of statutory entities related to justice and law enforcement: the Council for Debt Collectors, Legal Aid South Africa, the National Prosecuting Authority, the Office of the Chief Justice, the Public Protector, the Rules Board for Courts of Law, the South African Board for Sheriffs, the South African Human Rights Commission, and the Special Investigating Unit.[1]

List of chairpersons

To date, all chairpersons of the Committee have been members of the African National Congress (ANC), the national governing party.

2024–present: Justice and Constitutional Development

Chairpersons of the Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development
Session Chairperson Party Election date Citation
7th Parliament Xola Nqola ANC 9 July 2024 [2]

2014–2024: Justice and Correctional Services

Chairpersons of the Committee on Justice and Correctional Services
Session Chairperson Party Election date Citation
6th Parliament Gratitude Magwanishe ANC 2 July 2019 [3]
5th Parliament Refiloe Mothapo ANC 9 October 2018 [4]
Mathole Motshekga ANC 24 June 2014 [5]

1994–2014: Justice and Constitutional Development

Chairpersons of the Committee on Justice
Session Chairperson Party Election date Citation
4th Parliament Luwellyn Landers ANC November 2010 [6]
Ngoako Ramatlhodi ANC 1 June 2009 [7]
3rd Parliament Fatima Chohan-Kota ANC 11 May 2004 [8][9]
2nd Parliament Johnny de Lange ANC 16 August 1999 [10]
1st Parliament Johnny de Lange ANC 1994 [11]

References

  1. ^ "Justice and Constitutional Development". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. Retrieved 11 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Election of Chairperson". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. 9 July 2024. Retrieved 2024-07-11.
  3. ^ "Election of Chairperson; Draft Committee Programme". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  4. ^ "Department of Correctional Services & JICS 2017/18 Annual Reports, with AGSA input and Deputy Ministers present". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. 9 October 2018. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  5. ^ "Election of Chairperson". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. 24 June 2014. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  6. ^ "Surprise demotions in parly reshuffle". The Mail & Guardian. 2010-11-19. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  7. ^ "Election of Chairperson". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  8. ^ "Chairperson election; Committee Programme: adoption". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. 11 May 2004. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  9. ^ "Chairperson Election". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. 24 June 2004. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  10. ^ "Election of Chairperson". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. 16 August 1999. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  11. ^ "The People Are No Longer Strangers". The Mail & Guardian. 1994-08-26. Retrieved 2023-06-25.