Speaker's Taj Hotel splurge defies Treasury
13 January 2015
Earlier this afternoon I received an SMS from Speaker Baleka Mbete's office inviting me and various MPs to "a planning workshop on The Legislature and the National Development Plan (NDP)" at the Taj Hotel in Cape Town at 08:30 tomorrow.
The Speaker unilaterally deciding to hold a parliamentary gathering during recess and only notify us via SMS within less than 24 hours of the meeting is yet another affront to due procedure and Parliament as an institution. It also demonstrates her complete disdain for opposition parties by giving minimal notice and justification for this workshop.
Mbete's continued whimsical and at times chaotic approach to the administration of Parliament has compromised the institution's credibility, operations and ability to hold the executive to account.
Mbete should be prioritising the outstanding question sessions to the President and last year's unresolved business not, what will undoubtedly, be another bureaucrat breakfast on taxpayers' tab.