Happening at Parliament this week
The Houses of Parliament will this week rise for Constituency work and December holidays. The National Assembly will hold its last sitting for the year on Thursday, 6 December 2018 while the National Council of Provinces will do so on Tuesday 4 December 2018. Both Houses will conclude their business with the traditional end-of-the-year farewell speeches, in which Members of Parliament make reflections on the year and express well wishes.
On Tuesday 4 December 2018, both the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces will simultaneously consider the report of the Joint Constitutional Review Committee on the Review of Section 25 of the Constitution. The Western Cape High Court on Friday dismissed an application by AfriForum to interdict Parliament from considering the Committee's Report, which recommends that section 25 of the Constitution be amended to make it explicitly clear that expropriation of land without compensation by the state in the public interest should be one mechanism to address the injustices of the past.
The committee, which in February was mandated by a resolution of both Houses of Parliament to carry out this task, finalized and adopted this report on Thursday, 15 November.
On Thursday 6 December 2018, Deputy President David Mabuza is scheduled to appear before the National Assembly to respond to questions from Members of Parliament on a wide range of issues this week. These regular oral question and answer sessions are an important mechanism through which Parliamentarians hold the executive to account.
The House Chairperson for Committees, Oversight and ICT in the National Assembly, Mr. Cedric Frolick, will lead a delegation comprised of Members of Parliament and Officials to the 8th World e-Parliament Conference, in Geneva, Switzerland from 03 - 05 December.
The conference, hosted by the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) under the theme ‘Parliaments, technology and innovation’, is a biennial information and communication technologies (ICT) forum of the parliamentary community, with the aim of assessing how technology can be used as a catalyst to increase transparency for enhanced representation.
Further, the conference aims to promote and highlight the role of technology in distributing information to ensure public participation and engagement in parliamentary work. As such, the conference will present an opportunity for South Africa to demonstrate its digital systems innovation namely, ‘My Parliament’ application and the ‘Submission application’ system which was used during the flagship programme of Taking Parliament to the People.
There are 26 committee meetings scheduled this week and plenary sittings of National Assembly are scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday while the National Council of Provinces is scheduled for Tuesday.
The National Assembly plenary will consider 4 reports from various Portfolio Committees, among those to be considered include the report of the Portfolio Committee on Public Works on Oversight visit to Eastern Cape Province
At least 5 Bills are scheduled for consideration at the sitting of the National Assembly. These are the Ikamva National e-Skills Institute Bill, Foreign Service Bill, Property Practitioners Bill, Customary Initiation Bill and the Road Accident Benefit Scheme Bill.
The Property Practitioners Bill seeks to repeal the Estate Agency Affairs Act, 1976 which was meant to provide for the Estate Agency Affairs Board and the Estate Agency Fidelity Fund and for the control of certain activities of estate agents in the public interest.
The Customary Initiation Bill seeks to protect, promote and regulate initiation and provide acceptable norms and standards for structures at national and provincial levels with a view to ensure that initiation takes place in a controlled and safe environment. To provide for the protection of life, the prevention of injuries and the prevention of abuse in any form, during and after initiation.
The Road Accident Benefit Scheme Bill seeks to provide an effective benefit scheme in relation to injury or death caused by or arising from road accidents.
During its plenary sitting on Tuesday, the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) will further consider 11 Bills which include among others the National Research Foundation Amendment Bill, Public Service Commission Amendment Bill, Communal Property Associations Amendment Bill and the Competition Amendment Bill whose main objective is to address two persistent structural constraints on the South African economy, namely, the high levels of economic concentration in the economy and the skewed ownership profile of the economy.
The plenary will consider reports of Select Committee on Appropriations on; Proposed division of revenue and the conditional Grant allocations to provinces and Local Government as well as the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement. The NCOP plenary will further consider the Report of the Select Committee on Security and Justice on the Extradition Treaty between the Republic of South Africa and the Government of the United Arab Emirates.
On Wednesday 05 December 2018, 3 Bills are scheduled for consideration by the National Assembly, these are; Performers’ Protection Amendment Bill, Copyright Amendment Bill and National Gambling Amendment Bill
On Thursday 06 December 2018 the National Assembly will consider 1 Bill which is the Civil Union Amendment Bill which seeks to repeal section 6 of the Act, which allows a marriage officer to inform the Minister that he or she objects on the ground of conscience, religion, and belief to solemnising a civil union between persons of the same sex.
Committee meetings scheduled this week include the following:
Tuesday, 4 December 2018
Ad Hoc Committee to inquire into the intervention in the North West Provincial Government in terms of Section 100 of the Constitution: Briefing by the Inter-Ministerial Task Team on an updated progress report on the intervention in the North West Province in terms of Section 100 of the Constitution since its last briefing on 16 August 2018.
Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry, Feedback on progress made with respect to localisation; Consideration of the Report of the High Level Panel (HLP) on the Assessment of Key Legislation and the Acceleration of Fundamental Change as it relates to the DTI mandate; Consideration of the first draft of Committee’s Legacy and Annual reports.
Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, Consideration of outstanding Draft Reports; Briefing by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) on the following: Schools-That-Work Report; Early Grade Reading Study; DBE 25-Year Review
Report.- National Assembly
Portfolio Committee on Transport, Meeting on governance matters at the Cross-Border Road Transport Agency - National Assembly
Select Committee on Social Services, Briefing on the Electoral Laws Amendment Bill.
Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Hearing on the Department of Water and Sanitation and Water Trading Entity on the irregular fruitless and wasteful expenditure as well as deviations and expansions.
Wednesday, 5 December 2018
Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry, Feedback on progress made with respect to localisation; Status report by SASA on the transformation of the sugar industry.
Portfolio Committee on Labour, Briefing by the Phumelela Gaming and Leisure Representatives on the lease agreement and living conditions of the grooms in the horse-racing industry.
Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises, Briefing by Denel on the forensic investigations instituted and charges laid against those implicated.
Standing Committee on Finance, Carbon Tax Bill finalisation.
Portfolio Committee on Health, Briefing by the Chief Nursing Officer on progress made in relation to the re-opening of nursing colleges; update on the new nursing programmes, curriculum and Collaborations with the Department of Higher
Education on the curriculum and training of nurses;- National Assembly
Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform, Briefing by the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform on its organogram and update on the Elandskloof Land Claim.
Joint Standing Committee on the Financial Management of Parliament, Parliament’s Mid-Year Report: briefing by the Acting Secretary to Parliament.
Thursday, 6 December 2018
Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Hearing on the financial matters of the Public Investment Corporation (PIC).
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