DA IGNORANTLY CRITICISED THIS WEEK'S PARLIAMENT PROGRAM
23 August 2015
The DA's allegation that this week's National Assembly plenary sittings and meetings of committees have been cancelled is a blatant lie intended to mislead the media and the public. The media, in particular, has no reason to fall for the DA's dishonesty and cheap propaganda as it regularly observe meetings of the National Assembly Programming Committee (NAPC), where parliament programming matters are openly and transparently discussed in advance.
Therefore any suggestion that the programme was dictated upon by the ANC majority is utterly disingenuous and petty, as any programme is a product of discussions and agreement by parties in attendance.
This week's programme of Parliament was declared a "committee week" with a view to decrease the number of House sittings in order to afford parliamentary committees time to finalise critical legislation before them and process important appointments to boards of state institutions. Committees are the engines of any Parliament; a great share of the overall work of Parliament takes place in the committees - which subsequently inform the agenda of House sittings.
Committees have on average only two hours a week to process legislation; this negatively impacts on the time it takes for the NA to process legislation and have a knock on effect on the cycle of the NCOP. The Committee Week is thus important to ensure that the House timeously and effectively fulfill its legislative mandate before the end of the term.
It is for this reason that Parliament would from time to time dedicate a week or so to the work of committees. It is an embarrassing indictment on the standard of our official opposition that it would publicly display such ignorance of such an important aspect of Parliament's constitutional function. Obviously the DA believes Parliament is all about howling in the House.
In terms of the agreed "committee week" programme:
1. There would be a National Assembly sitting on Wednesday to deal with questions to the Governance Cluster ministers
2. A number of Committees will sit on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to finalise Bills and boards appointments
3. Concurrently, media communications training for committee chairpersons would be conducted from Tuesdayafternoon to Friday midday. This is in line with the strategic plan of Parliament, which amongst others, emphasizes capacity building and training for all MPs - including improving public communications by parliamentary committees. The DA's dismissal of this crucial training, which is intended to enhance Parliament's communications with the people of South Africa, as a 'spin classes' is both silly and reflective of how little it comprehends the real work of Parliament.
Statement issued by the Office of the ANC Chief Whip, August 23 2015
