The Week Ahead: Deputy President, SABC, Land & Legislation top the agenda

There's a broad and busy flavour to this week's parliamentary business in the National Assembly chamber - it includes oral questions to the deputy president, members’ statements, notices of motions, a debate, and the processing of assorted bills, international agreements and committee reports.

The main plenary highlight will be the tabling and consideration of the Ad Hoc Committee on SABC Board Inquiry's report. After a lengthy and gruelling process - resulting in revelations, a subpoena, a walkout and hundreds of documents - the committee wrapped up its work last Friday when a majority of members formally adopted the final report. The DA & UDM reserved their rights on the report. The final report wants action against Minister Faith Muthambi, GCEO James Aguma and former Secretary Theresa Geldenhuys.

Beyond this, the Deputy President will fulfil his regular appointment when he appears to answer oral questions in the House. He will be probed about a mixture of big-picture policy matters and current controversies including the national minimum wage, the deployment of extra security measures during SONA, the WEF event in Davos, FICA Bill, his possible conflict of interests in relation to SAA, and if government will now introduce a constitutional amendment that will provide greater powers to national Government with regard to the employment and hiring of services at provincial level following the Esidimeni incident.

There is presssure mounting on government to fast track land reform. President Zuma acknowledged this in his SONA commenting that “it will be difficult if not impossible, to achieve true reconciliation until the land question is resolved”. He further emphasised the state's intention to use the Expropriation Act (referred back to Parliament by the President) and Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Act (referred back to Parliament by the Constitutional Court) to pursue land reform and land redistribution, in line with the Constitution, and urged Parliament to move with speed so that the laws can be finalised to effect transformation. Enter the EFF: the party has tabled a motion - to be debated on Tuesday - to amend the property clause in the Constitution. They argue that this clause is at the centre of the current crisis on the land question. The motion calls on the National Assembly to review Section 25 of the Constitution to make it possible for the state to expropriate land without compensation if it is in the public interest. Two thirds of the votes in the National Assembly are required for such a motion to be passed. They are unlikely to attract a critical mass of legislators, capable of voting through this amendment.

This week could see voting on the FICA Bill. President Zuma referred the amended Bill back to Parliament voicing concern that it would not pass constitutional muster because it allowed for warrantless searches. The review process pitted big business, banks and civil society who were in favour of the Bill against their detractors who were anti the Bill. The Committee supported the independent legal opinion given during the debates which resolved that warrantless searches were constitutional. Nonetheless, minor tweaks and consequential amendments were made to clarify the affected provisions.

Over in the NCOP, there are no sittings scheduled and the only business will be preparatory internal meetings where committees do some strategic planning and review their performance.

Elsewhere, Parliament will commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Constitution and the NCOP. The Constitution was first adopted on December 10, 1996 and came into force on 4 February 1997. The NCOP was established at the same time. There is no specific reference in the Constitution that declares that the National Assembly is more important than the NCOP. The two chambers are theoretically equal, each having exclusive powers and both having joint powers. However, in practice and perception the NCOP is viewed as subordinate to the NA. Parliament will launch a series of activities to commemorate both events. The launch will take place on Friday and will culminate in a round table discussion on the transition brought about by the Constitution and the establishment of the NCOP

View full programme here

There’s lots of action in Committee-land, with a few Cabinet Ministers set to make appearances. Everything from detailed lawmaking, to executive scrutiny, to internal reports, to big-picture policy will be under the microscope. Here is a rundown of the highlights:

On Tuesday, lawmakers will get an opportunity to discuss a subject that is viewed by many governments as a national security issue: cyber security. With SA a top cyber crime target in Africa, it is no surprise that government is responding to the concerns and stepping up to arrest the problem. There is a policy in place that looks at promoting cyber security culture and demanding compliance to minimum security standards. In addition, there is a proposed law, which was tabled in Parliament recently.

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) will hold a hearing with the Department of Social Development on irregular, fruitless and wasteful expenditure and on the Cash Paymaster Services (CPS) contract. According to media reports, Cash Paymaster Services and its parent company Net1 may have to pay back hefty profits made since 2012 from managing the grant payment system, in terms of a ruling made by the Constitutional Court.

The Portfolio Committee on Communications will begin the process in appointing an interim SABC Board. The Board can only be appointed for a period not exceeding 6 months. The Committee came in for some criticism for failing to hold the public broadcaster to account. This criticism will be ringing in its ears as it puts together the interim board.

Other noteworthy meetings include briefings on the Housing Demand Database, challenges facing the poultry industry including the reported job losses, recent challenges at the Road Accident Fund and EPWP targets to create job opportunities.

The budget has moved to the next phase where it will be considered by parliamentary committees before Parliament accepts, amends or rejects it. The joint finance and appropriations committees will be briefed by the Parliamentary Budget Office and the Financial and Fiscal Commission on the 2017/18 Budget.

There are two main highlights on Wednesday:

  • The Portfolio Committee on Police will be briefed by the SAPS on the Establishment of Specialised Units

  • MPs will receive a briefing from the South African Reserve Bank on its role, position and readiness in the implementation of SASSA’s institutionalisation of social grant payment system

On Friday, the Standing Committee on Appropriations will receive a briefing from the Parliamentary Budget Office on its research findings on Eskom’s finance. The media recently published a report that exposed the awkward details, family dealings and self-inflicted load shedding at the electricity parastatal. This is sure to come up in the meeting.

In between, there will be some detailed legislating on a number of critical bills, which are at various stages in the legislative process. These include the Road Accident Fund Amendment Bill; Extension of Security of Tenure Amendment Bill; Protection, Promotion, Development and Management of Indigenous Knowledge Systems Bill; Foreign Service Bill; National Veld and Forest Fire Amendment Bill; Refugees Amendment Bill and Border Management Authority Bill.

View the full schedule here.

*This summary is based on the schedule as it is published on Monday morning. The programme is subject to frequent updating so the link above needs to be checked daily to confirm the programme for the day.

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