Speaker must urgently address Parliamentary Committees to prevent Constitutional delinquency

13 May 2020

Note to Editors: Please find attached video and letter from Natasha Mazzone MP, Chief Whip of the Official Opposition.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has written to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Thandi Modise, to request that she urgently addresses the current chaos reigning in some of the virtual portfolio committee meetings.

Should the Speaker fail to address the issue and not stop Parliament from becoming Constitutionally delinquent in its oversight role, the DA will request an opinion from the Constitutional Court to whom every Parliamentarian swear an oath.

The manner in which some of the portfolio committee meetings have been run on virtual platforms during the Covid-19 lockdown is actively hampering Parliament’s Constitutional oversight role over the Executive.

The DA has over this period, noticed the shameful manner in which some committee chairpersons seemingly use deliberate methods in virtual meetings to undermine Parliamentary oversight and give the Executive a free pass:

There are time limits for the committee meetings;

Members are only allowed to speak during allotted times;

Parliamentary rules are routinely misinterpreted;

Incapacity of chairpersons to chair virtual meetings;

Lack of basic technical knowledge about the virtual platforms used to host the meetings;

Chairpersons’ inability to maintain discipline in meetings; and

Members of Parliament’s questions are not answered by the Executive.

The Executive cannot be given a free pass.

The DA will do all in its power to curb Parliament’s descent to Constitutional delinquency. We will continue to fight to fulfill our mandate of Executive oversight to ensure that South Africans’ rights are not trampled upon and that the Rule of Law continues to reign supreme.

Issued by Natasha Mazzone, Chief Whip of the Official Opposition, 13 May 2020