Business directly related to the State of Nation Address draws to a close today, with President Jacob Zuma replying this morning to the two-day debate on his address.
In a departure from the practice since 1994, a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament the National Assembly (NA) and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) debated the State of the Nation Address and will hear the President’s reply. Until now, the debate and the President’s reply took place only in the NA.
The lively debate will be followed next week by the election of Chairpersons for Parliament’s oversight and lawmaking Committees.
There are 11 Select Committees in the NCOP and 32 Portfolio Committees in the NA. The list of Select Committees was published on 4 June and Portfolio Committees, on 11 June.
On Tuesday, 24 June, there will be a debate on Youth Day and delivery of tributes for Mr Michael Coetzee, the highly-regarded Secretary to Parliament who passed away on 13 June, having lived with cancer for several years.
Once Committees have elected their Chairpersons, they can schedule their work for the year. Key is consideration of the Appropriation Bill and the budget votes of government departments, Parliament and the Presidency. Both the NA and NCOP must adopt these by the end of July.
A meeting of the NA Programme Committee this week heard there could be as many as 12 budget votes a day for Committees to process. In preparation for the gruelling budget vote schedule, Members will undergo training about budget votes in general and the procedures and preparatory work that processing these demand. This training is scheduled for next Wednesday and Thursday.
About 52% of its 400 members are new to the NA and about 86% of the NCOP’s 54 Permanent Delegates are new to that House.
The NCOP’s Presiding Officers, House Chairpersons, the NCOP Chief Whip, Provincial Whips, party representatives, the Chairperson of Chairpersons and Committee Chairpersons will have a three-day workshop on NCOP processes from 30 June.
On Wednesday, the NA agreed to resume proceedings on the Appropriation Bill and the Development Bank of Southern Africa Bill. The NA also agreed to revive the report of the Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests on the Code of Ethical Conduct and Disclosure of Members’ Interests for the Assembly and Permanent Council Members. The NCOP adopted the revised code on 26 March 2014.
