The President's oral question session - on Thursday - is the high point of the parliamentary week. The President is required to answer questions of national or international importance once per term in accordance with the annual parliamentary programme. The questions are sifted and published beforehand to ensure that only those satisfying the set criteria are put to the President. Four supplementary questions, arising from the reply to a question, are allowed. This is President Ramaphosa's final question session in the National Assembly for 2022.

View the full Questions here

Select Ministers in the Social Services Cluster will be quizzed on a range of issues during their Question Time Session on Wednesday.  

In Tuesday’s NA plenary sitting, lawmakers will consider assorted committee reports, including recommending candidates to fill vacancies at the Commission for Gender Equality.

Over in the NCOP, there will be a Ministerial Briefing Session on Tuesday. The focus is Resourcing of the Police Service and Police Stations. These events are a regular feature of the NCOP’s programme. They serve as a platform for the Executive and provinces to discuss and highlight national and provincial perspectives on issues.

In addition, delegates will probe Select Ministers in the Social Services Cluster on Thursday.

Following last week’s presentation of the Medium Term Budget Statement (MTBPS), Parliament’s role in processing and approving the mini-budget has kicked into gear. The adjustment process provides an opportunity to make revisions to the February budget, in response to changes that have affected the planned government spending for the year.

The Standing and Select Committees on Finance and Appropriations are central in coordinating Parliament’s response to the government’s budget and revenue proposals. The Minister of Finance and his team briefed the joint committees last Thursday. This week, the Parliamentary Budget Office and the Financial and Fiscal Commission will provide advice and analysis to lawmakers on proposed amendments to the fiscal framework, and policy proposals with budgetary implications. In addition, there will be public hearings on the fiscal framework and the public has been invited to submit comments on the associated money Bills.

The Select Committee on Land Reform, Environment, Mineral Resources and Energy will from 31 October – 4 November conduct an oversight visit to Mpumalanga. The Committee will, "among other things, assess poor air quality in provinces responsible for power generation, the challenges experienced by local government in monitoring air quality, along with the challenges experienced by the Department of Minerals and Energy (DMRE) relating to ageing infrastructure and the need to generate sufficient electricity for the country".

A multi-party delegation will take part the in First Ordinary Session of the Sixth Pan-African Parliament from 24 October until 12 November 2022.

Following, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s submission of the #StateCaptureInquiry report implementation plan to Parliament, the NA Rules Committee will meet on Friday to consider a number of issues, including the handling of the recommendations from the Zondo Commission. The Commission made 358 recommendations. Parliament will take note of the President’s remarks: “Deputy President David Mabuza, who is the Leader of Government Business, will interact with Parliament’s Presiding Officers on the Commission’s recommendations on the interface between Parliament and the Executive. To ensure that Parliament is sufficiently resourced to hold the Executive to account, the National Treasury will engage with Parliament to determine the most appropriate way to give effect to the Commission’s recommendations on the funding of Parliament”.

In the background, the work of the independent panel, which will determine whether Ramaphosa has a prima facie case to answer on Phala Phala continues. This week will mark the midway point before the Panel must report back on its decision. According to the timeline, the President is responding to questions between 28 October and 6 November.

 

It's another interesting week in the virtual Committee corridor. Here is a rundown of the highlights:

TUESDAY, 1 NOVEMBER 2022

Joint Meeting: Standing Committee on Finance, Standing Committee on Appropriations, Select Committee on Finance and Select Committee on Appropriations, (National Assembly and National Council of Provinces), [Briefing by the PBO and the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC) on the MTBPS], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:00-12:00

Standing Committee on Finance, (National Assembly), [Clause by clause deliberations and consideration and adoption of the Committee report on the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill [B18-2022] (“General Laws Bill”)], Virtual Meeting Platform, 18:00-21:00

Portfolio Committee on Communications, (National Assembly), [Deliberation/finalisation on the SA Postbank Limited Amendment Bill [B 22-2022]; Briefing by the Department on the Public Protector’s Reports 113 of 2021/22 and 114 of 2021/22; Briefing by Department and Sentech, USAASA, SABC and SAPO on update on all outstanding issues including BDM Project amongst others and Sentech on transmission costs], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:00-13:00

Standing Committee on Public Accounts, (National Assembly), [09:00-11:00: Update by Minister of Employment Labour on the issues raised regarding Compensation Fund and UIF; 11:30-13:00: Meeting with the National Treasury Minister - Non-tabling of Annual Report by National Treasury for 2021/22], Committee Room M46, Ground Floor, Marks Building, Parliament, 09:00-13:00

Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy, (National Assembly), [Briefing by the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy and the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy on all Glencore’s activities and mining rights in SA], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:00-13:00

Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, (National Assembly), [Updated Status Report on BELA Bill: Written Submissions; and Oral Submissions Requests], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:30-13:00

Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation, (National Assembly), [Briefing by the Department of Water and Sanitation on dams’ safety and status of tailings dam across the country], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:00-12:00


WEDNESDAY, 2 NOVEMBER 2022

Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure, (National Assembly), [Briefing by the DPWI, DBSA and National Treasury on the working relationship; impact on organograms of each institution; and oversight responsibilities emerging from their 17 August 2020 memorandum of understanding to manage the R100 billion Infrastructure Fund and deliver strategic infrastructure in South Africa], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:00-12:00

Standing Committee on Appropriations, (National Assembly), [Briefing by National Treasury on the following: 2022 Division of Revenue Amendment Bill (DoRAB); 2022 Adjustments Appropriation Bill (AAB); and 2022 Special Appropriation Bill], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:00-12:00

Joint Meeting: Standing Committee on Finance and Select Committee on Finance, (National Assembly and National Council of Provinces), [Public hearings on the 2022 Revised Fiscal Framework and Revenue Proposals], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:00-12:00

Standing Committee on Public Accounts, (National Assembly), [Briefing by AGSA on the audit outcomes of the following SOEs for the financial year 2021/2022: TRANSNET; SAPO; Postbank; PRASA; SABC], Committee Room M46, Ground Floor, Marks Building, Parliament, 09:30-13:00

Portfolio Committee on Health, (National Assembly), [Clause by clause deliberations on the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill], Committee Room S12A/Hybrid, 10:00-13:00

Select Committee on Security and Justice, (National Council of Provinces), [Briefing by the Department of Home Affairs on the Electoral Amendment Bill [B1B-2022] (S75); Consideration and adoption of the Interim Regulations for the Critical Infrastructure Act report], Virtual Meeting Platform, 10:00-13:00

Select Committee on Public Enterprises and Communication, (National Council of Provinces), [Briefing by the South African Post Office on the entity’s financial sustainability (financial challenges) and measures put in place to improve the situation], Virtual Meeting Platform, 10:30-13:30

Select Committee on Finance, (National Council of Provinces), [Briefing by National Treasury on the General Laws Amendment Bill (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Bill], Virtual Meeting Platform, After NCOP Plenary


THURSDAY, 3 NOVEMBER 2022

Select Committee on Petitions and Executive Undertakings, (National Council of Provinces), [Consideration of Progress Report by the Minister of Public Enterprises on the following executive undertakings: During the Questions Session on 11 March 2021, the Deputy President responded to question 4 pertaining to the retrenchments at Eskom and made undertakings thereon; During the Questions Session on 16 March 2021, the Deputy Minister made undertakings pertaining to the restructuring of Eskom and the impact of SAA on its employees], Virtual Meeting Platform, 13:00

Joint Standing Committee on Defence, (National Assembly and National Council of Provinces), [Briefing by the Aerospace, Maritime and Defence Industries Association (AMD) on the industry’s challenges and opportunities, including feedback on cooperation with the NCACC; Feedback from the AMD on the uptake of and training on the NCACC electronic permit application system], Virtual Meeting Platform, 18:00-21:00


FRIDAY, 4 NOVEMBER 2022

Joint Meeting: Standing Committee on Finance and Select Committee on Finance, (National Assembly and National Council of Provinces), [Response by National Treasury to submissions received on the Revised Fiscal Framework and Revenue Proposals], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:00-12:00

Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy, (National Assembly, [Discussions on the Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Bill [B13 – 2021] (UPRD) - draft programme on provincial public hearings to be undertaken in 2023], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:00-13:00

Committees provide a platform for the public to present views directly to MPs. Share your thoughts, on-the-ground experience and expert information with the relevant committees. Critically, what questions should MPs pose to the Executive as they conduct their oversight work? Write to a Parliamentary Committee

View the schedule page here.

*This summary is based on the schedule as it is published on Monday morning. The programme is subject to frequent updating so the link above needs to be checked daily to confirm the programme for the day.

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