Skills Development Act, 1998 (Act No. 97 of 1998)ConstitutionsConstitution of the Insurance Sector Education and Training Authority (INSETA)The Council |
Representation
The representation of the interests of employers and employees shall be equal and Council will consist of persons representing:
| • | organised labour; |
| • | organised employers including small business; |
| • | relevant government departments |
| • | and the Chief Executive Officer of the INSETA (non voting) |
If the Minister, after consultation, considers it appropriate for the sector
| • | any interested professional body; |
| • | any bargaining Council within the jurisdiction of the sector |
Members of the Council
INSETA must appoint the number of representatives indicated in the schedule below and as amended from time to time in accordance with the appointment procedure of this Constitution.
Stakeholder Groups |
Number of Representatives |
||
Organised Labour |
6 |
||
Organised Employers |
6 |
||
Relevant Government Departments |
|
Period of appointment
Council members are appointed at its annual general meeting for a period of two years and are eligible for re-appointment.
Responsibilities of Council Members
All representatives elected to Council will be required to:
| • | Represent the interests of constituents in their discipline, who are registered with INSETA; Demonstrate that they fall within the appropriate constituency; |
| • | Demonstrate that they have a sufficient mandate to act on behalf of the constituents they represent; |
| • | Commit time and effort to attending to the affairs of INSETA; Demonstrate their involvement in and commitment to the national interests of education and training; and |
| • | Consult regularly with the constituents, whose interests they represent, and provide regular feedback to such constituents. |
Procedure for the Appointment Council members
The Council shall determine the date and place of the special meeting at of which the appointment is to take place.
At least 21 days before the meeting the secretary shall forward to Stakeholders a Notice of a meeting which shall set out the following matters:
| • | A statement that nominations are required for the appointment of Council members representative of the Stakeholders. |
| • | The number of Council members to be appointed; and |
| • | the closing date for receipt of nominations, which shall be not less than 48 hours before the date of the meeting. |
Any Stakeholder shall be entitled to nominate representatives for appointment as a Council member. The nomination of any Stakeholder representative shall be conducted in accordance with the rules and regulations of that particular Stakeholder.
Each nomination shall be signed on behalf of the nominator and the nominee.
Each retiring Council member shall be eligible for re-appointment.
The secretary shall determine which of the nominations are in order. If only the required number of valid nominations to fill the available positions is received, the nominees shall be declared appointed at the annual general meeting of the Council.
If the nominations received for appointment exceed the number of positions to be filled, an election by ballot shall be held at the meeting. Each Stakeholder present at the meeting may cast their vote. Voting by proxy shall not be permitted. The secretary shall conduct the election and the Chairperson may appoint such persons present at the meeting who are not nominees to act as scrutineers and to assist the secretary in the conduct of the ballot.
If no nominee receives a majority of the votes the nominee who receives the lowest number of votes must be eliminated and a further vote taken on the remaining nominees.
The Chairperson of the meeting shall declare the result of the election.
Removal/replacement from Council
The Council may remove and or replace a member from the Council for any one of the following:
| • | on the voluntary resignation of the appointee |
| • | on the written request of a Stakeholder |
| • | he/she ceases to be employed within the insurance sector; |
| • | for misconduct or bringing INSETA into disrepute in terms of the Code of Conduct; |
| • | for incapacity; |
| • | for being absent from three consecutive meetings without good cause or apology. |
Replacement Procedures
A vacant position on the Council through removal or replacement will be filled in terms of the "Appointment procedure of Council members".
Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson
The Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson must be elected by the appointed members of the Council within one (1) month of the Annual General Meeting.
The Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the Council shall hold their respective offices until the next annual general meeting and shall be eligible for re-election.
Once a new Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson is appointed the current Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson’s duties terminate.
In the absence of the Chairperson, the Deputy Chairperson will perform the Chairpersons’ functions and in the event of both being absent the Council may appoint a temporary Chairperson to perform these functions.
If the Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson as the case may be, ceases to hold their positions in terms of "Removal /replacement from Council" then the Council may appoint a Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson as the in case may be until the next election.
The Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson shall have the authority and powers assigned to them from time to time by the Council.
Chief Executive Officer
The Chief Executive Officer will be responsible for the administrative and secretarial work arising from the functioning of the Council and for performing the duties imposed by the Authority in terms of the Act and this Constitution.
All SETA functions as recorded in terms of Section 10 of the Skills Development Act is delegated to the Chief Executive Officer and is authorised to delegate same.
Conduct of members
Council members must perform their functions in good faith, giving full effect to the obligations and spirit of the Act and the Code of Conduct.
Code of conduct
The Council has approved a Code of Conduct for INSETA.
Dispute resolution
Any party to a dispute concerning the interpretation or application of this Constitution may refer the dispute to the Executive Officer of the SETA.
Dispute procedure
The referral must:
| • | be in writing; |
| • | adequately describe the dispute; and |
| • | be delivered to every other party to the dispute by the party referring the dispute. |
The Executive Officer must, as soon as reasonably practicable, refer the dispute to the Executive Committee, which must endeavour to resolve the dispute by conciliation within 30 days of referral of the dispute.
If the Executive Committee fails to resolve the dispute within 30 days of its referral, then any party to the dispute may refer it for arbitration by an arbitrator appointed in terms of the Arbitration Act, 1965 (Act No. 42 of 1965).
The arbitrator must be agreed to by the parties to the dispute with the approval of the Chairperson of the SETA or, failing such agreement or approval, by an arbitrator appointed by the Chairperson of the SETA.
The arbitrator must first attempt to conciliate the dispute. If conciliation is not possible, then the arbitrator must arbitrate the dispute.
The arbitrator must conduct the arbitration in a manner that he or she considers appropriate in order to determine the dispute fairly and quickly, but must deal with the substantial merits of the dispute with the minimum of legal formality.
Within 14 days of the arbitration proceedings:
| • | the arbitrator must issue a signed arbitration award with reasons; and |
| • | the Executive Officer must provide a copy of the award to every party to the dispute |
The arbitration award is final and binding on the parties to the dispute.
The costs of the arbitration must be borne equally by the parties to the dispute. The arbitrator may however make a different and appropriate award of costs if:
| • | a party to the dispute, without reasonable cause, refuses or fails to attend the arbitration or unduly delays arbitration proceedings; or |
| • | the arbitrator is of the view that a party pursuing or resisting the dispute did so vexatiously or frivolously or had no reasonable prospect of succeeding. |
An arbitrator may, at his or her own initiative or as a result of an application by an affected party, vary or rescind an award:
| • | erroneously sought or made in the absence of any party affected by the award; |
| • | in which there is ambiguity, or any obvious error or omission, but only to the extent of the ambiguity, error or omission; or |
| • | granted as a result of a mistake common to the parties to the proceedings. |
Meetings of the Council
The Council must meet at least four (4) times a year.
The secretary must give written notice of meetings together with the agenda to Council members on
| • | the instructions of the Chairperson; |
| • | at least seven (7) days written notice. |
The Chairperson must preside over all meetings. In the event of the Chairperson being absent the Deputy Chairperson must preside. If there is no Deputy Chairperson at the meeting, then the Council must appoint one of the Council members present to preside.
A decision taken at a meeting cannot be rendered invalid due to
| • | a vacancy or; |
| • | an unauthorised person attending a meeting. |
The Chief Executive Officer's must ensure that proper minutes of all meetings of the Council are taken, distributed and retained.
Any member who has a direct, personal or financial interest in any matter before the meeting must, before the matter is discussed by the meeting, declare such interest to the meeting and the Chairperson must determine whether such member may participate in the consideration of the matter.
Voting rights
Every Council Member shall have one vote at a Council meeting. The Chairperson shall have a second or casting vote.
Voting at Council meetings
Unless the Constitution provides otherwise, every motion submitted at any meeting shall be decided by a majority of votes and voting must be by a show of hands of those Council members present, in which case every Council member present or represented shall have one vote and in the case of an equality of votes the Chairperson shall have a casting vote.
Quorum
| • | At least 50% plus one of the appointed Council members must be present before a meeting may begin or continue. |
| • | If, at the time fixed for a meeting to begin or continue, and for 30 minutes after that time, there is no quorum present, the meeting must be adjourned to the same place at the same time on the corresponding day of the following week unless that day is a public holiday, in which case the meeting must be adjourned to the business day immediately following the public holiday. |
| • | A meeting that has been adjourned in terms of above may proceed on the date to which it was adjourned with the Council member present at the time called for the meeting constituting a quorum. |
| • | The Council may adopt general rules of procedure for its meetings. However, in the event of any conflict between those rules and this Constitution, the provisions of this Constitution will prevail. |
Special meetings
A special meeting of the Council may be called by the Chairperson at the written request of at least two Council members or when the Chairperson deems it necessary.
Proxies
Voting by proxy is permitted at any general meeting of the Council. Every instrument constituting a proxy must be in writing under the hand of the Council Member or the Council Members Representative and must be deposited with the Chairperson or the Secretary not later than the commencement of the meeting or adjourned meeting.