National Assembly Adopts New Dismissal Guidelines For Chapter 9 Institutions

Riyaz Patel

The National Assembly (NA) has adopted new guidelines setting out the process for the removal of a head of the so-called Chapter 9 Institutions.

The organisations affected are: the Auditor General; the Commission for Gender Equality; the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities; the Electoral Commission; the Public Protector; and the South African Human Rights Commission.

Existing rules of the National Assembly and section 194 of the Constitution, only define broad parameters for the dismissal of office bearers or commissioners in these institutions, and this necessitated Parliament to initiate the process for new rules in this regard.

The new regulations expand on what would constitute the grounds for misconduct, incapacity or incompetence:

• Misconduct means the intentional or gross negligent failure to meet the standard of behaviour or conduct expected of a holder of a public office;
• Incapacity includes a