Question NW1796 to the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
11 December 2018 - NW1796
Mokgalapa, Mr S to ask the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation
(a) What number of official (i) domestic and (ii) international flights has she undertaken since her appointment to this position on 27 February 2018 and (b) what was the (i) destination, (ii) date, (iii) purpose, (iv)(aa) name and (bb) professional designation of every person travelling with the delegation and (v) detailed breakdown of cost of (aa) flights and (bb) accommodation and (cc) any other expenses in each case?
Reply:
I wish to remind the Honourable Member that the provision of names when responding to Parliamentary Questions is not permissible according to practise applicable to parliamentary questions and guidelines contained in the document titled, “Guide to Parliamentary Questions in the National Assembly”. The document referred to prohibits Members of Parliament, including the Executive, from divulging names of persons, bodies when asking or responding to parliamentary questions. It states the following:
“Questions are to be framed as concisely as possible. All unnecessary adjectives, references and quotations are omitted. Names of persons, bodies and, for example, newspapers are only used in questions if the facts surrounding the case have been proven. As the mere mention of such names could be construed as publicity for or against them, it should be clear that this practice is highly undesirable. If a question will be unintelligible without mentioning such names, the Departments concerned are notified of the name (-s) and this phrase is used: ".......a certain person (name furnished)”
Further, at the end of each financial year, we table annual reports with audited financial statements containing the information requested by the Honourable Member.