Taking Parliament to the People, Questions to the President, Deputy President and Budget Votes among key issues this quarter
The Taking Parliament to the People programme of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), questions for oral reply to the President and Deputy President and budget votes of government departments, the Presidency and Parliament are among the forthcoming quarter’s key issues.
From Monday, the Taking Parliament to the People Programme, which has been running since 2002, will bring Parliament and Members of the Cabinet closer to the people of Oudtshoorn in the Eden District Municipality.
The week-long programme includes site visits to government institutions and projects and public hearings on basic and higher education, local government, human settlements, water and sanitation, health, social development and home affairs issues, agriculture, labour and land reform, economic development and youth, police and the justice system and on energy. The programme concludes on Friday with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa addressing a plenary sitting of the NCOP at the Bridgton Sports Grounds in Oudtshoorn.
This week also sees the start of presentations to Parliamentary Committees from departments on their annual performance plans, strategic plans and budgets. Deliberations on these issues feed into the annual round of Budget Vote debates in sittings of the National Assembly (NA) and the NCOP. The process concludes with consideration of the Appropriation Bill by the NA and the NCOP in June.
Political parties represented in Parliament must submit their audited financial statements by the end of May in respect of funds received from Parliament. The Constitution obliges the NA to have rules and orders for financial and administrative assistance to each party represented in the Assembly in proportion to its representation, to enable the party and its leader to perform their functions in the NA effectively.
President Jacob Zuma’s first session for 2015 of oral replies to questions proceeded smoothly on 11 March. The President’s second session of oral replies to questions is scheduled for Thursday, 16 April. This is an additional session to the annual four required. Another oral reply to questions session is scheduled for 18 June.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and a number of Cabinet Ministers will also answer questions for oral reply in the NA this quarter.
Joint sittings, of both the NA and the NCOP, have been provisionally scheduled to debate Freedom Day (provisionally scheduled for 28 April), Africa Day (provisionally scheduled for 22 May) and Youth Day (provisionally scheduled for 11 June).
