The Week Ahead: Questions, Debates & Legislating

The National Assembly (NA) chamber has scheduled a broad and busy programme this week, which includes a motion of no confidence vote in the President, oral questions to the Deputy President and Peace and Security Cluster as well as a debate to mark International Women’s Day.

The motion was tabled by Agang last year and was confirmed by the NA Programming Committee in January. In a surprise move, Agang later approached the courts to postpone the scheduling of the motion. In its application, the party asked that the motion be voted on by way of a secret ballot and that Baleka Mbete be declared unfit to hold the office of Speaker. This application was dismissed last Friday and the vote on the motion will proceed on Tuesday as scheduled.

The Deputy President will respond to a mixture of internal and domestic related issues during his question time on Wednesday. This includes an enquiry about his working trip to South Sudan, what measures the government planned to take to prevent the country from losing billions of rands every year through illicit financial flows and how he intended to promote the use of indigenous languages in the private sector.

Meanwhile, the Ministers in the Peace and Security Cluster will be in the hot seat as they also reply to oral questions on the same day. The EFF and DA will probe the Minister of State Security about his department’s involvement during the State of the Nation Address. The Minister of International Relations and Cooperation will be asked what kind of support South Africa was providing to the people of Palestine. The Minister of Justice and Correctional Services has to answer about what actions he has taken in response to the report by retired Constitutional Court Justice Yacoob on the National Prosecuting Authority.

Elsewhere, President Jacob Zuma will deliver the annual address to the National House of Traditional Leaders (NHTL) on Thursday. The event is organised in terms of section 8(1)(b) of the National House of Traditional Leaders Act, 2009 (Act 22 of 2009).

The NCOP has not scheduled any plenary sittings or committee meetings this week. The upper House has instead planned preliminary oversight visits to the Western Cape as part of its Taking Parliament to the People initiative.

There's an intriguing week in prospect in the Committee corridor with a few meetings likely to produce big headlines. Here is a rundown of the highlights:

On Tuesday, the Department of Home Affairs will brief MPs on the plans and progress in the relocation of the Refugee Reception Offices closer to the borders and on the implementation of the Refugee Regulations.

The matric cheating scandal, rhino poaching and the performance of the Property Management Trading Entity will be interrogated by the respective parliamentary committees.

Money matters will remain at the fore as the joint finance and appropriations committees are briefed by the Parliamentary Budget Office on the Fiscal Framework and Revenue Proposals and Division of Revenue Bill. Further meetings have been scheduled for the following days on this topic.

On Wednesday, the Department of Public Service and Administration and the Public Service Commission will update MPs on the filling of the post, verification of qualifications and security clearance, 50% of employment of women in senior management service and 2% employment of people with disabilities in the Public Service.

The role of State-owned Companies in promoting localisation, beneficiation, and supporting small and medium enterprises will be in the spotlight when the Department of Public Enterprises briefs MPs on the subject.

On Thursday, the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry will deal with a Status Report on IPAP 2013/14.

In between, there's some detailed legislating as the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services conducts public hearings on the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act Amendment Bill. The Portfolio Committee on Health will continue its deliberations on the Medicines and Related Substances Amendment Bill.

Click here for the full list of meetings.