GNU ministers fail to answer over 50% of official Parliamentary questions
18 November 2024
ActionSA has written to the Speaker of Parliament and the Deputy President, as the Leader of Government Business, demanding accountability for the alarming disregard demonstrated by Ministers in responding to our published Parliamentary questions, with over 50% remaining unanswered.
Rule 145(a) of the National Assembly strictly stipulates that Ministers have 10 days to respond to official questions, however, ActionSA has found that Ministers are flagrantly in breach of this rule, often well exceeding the 10-day deadline by weeks.
ActionSA believes this marks a clear disregard for the vital aspect of oversight and accountability, with the very mandate of Parliament, as outlined in Section 55(2) of the Constitution, being undermined, specifically in respect of Parliament’s role in exercising oversight over the Executive.
Concerningly, just last week, the Minister of Police and his two deputies set a new low when they abruptly left Parliament under the pretext of "urgent business," leaving their scheduled oral questions unanswered. Is the business of the people, the very foundation of democratic governance, not considered urgent?
ActionSA is concerned that a worrying pattern is emerging, where a governing coalition, already commanding 70% of Parliament and having co-opted much of the former opposition, is displaying an emboldened disregard for accounting to Parliament.
Of the pressing questions unanswered, we have submitted critical enquiries about the progress in prosecuting state capture-related cases, the true extent of the jet-setting cabinet and the associated costs paid for by taxpayers, progress in implementing promised reforms, essential SAPS interventions in gang-infested communities, wasteful expenditure across municipalities, and a number of other critical questions related to service delivery concerns that South Africans have raised with ActionSA.
ActionSA is not prepared to allow GNU Ministers to evade accountability and will explore every available avenue to ensure that the integrity of Parliament and its functions are upheld uncompromisingly.
Issued by Athol Trollip, Parliamentary Leader, ActionSA, 18 November 2024
