The week ahead – End of First Term

The constituency period beckons, with MPs due to depart this week and return on 14 April.

But a fair amount of heavy-duty business will be done before they go. With little scheduled in the main chambers, the committee corridor will be the main source of parliamentary action, where there are several hearings on sensitive issues, including detailed legislating and interviewing candidates for the SABC Board. Elsewhere, most committees will be having lengthy meetings as they continue to process the budget votes for the respective departments and entities they oversee.

Here is my run down of the meetings that will produce the big headlines.

On Tuesday, the Portfolio Committee on Police will begin a two-day National Firearms Summit. According to the Committee Chairperson, “the summit will bring together 150 practitioners and members of civil society comprising key policing personnel, policy-makers, legislators, government departments, trade unions and members of academic institutions to develop a common approach towards addressing the proliferation of firearms in the country”. In addition, South Africa's gun laws are back in the spotlight with a draft bill , which has been released for public comment. The bill aims to tighten controls and introduce minimum sentences for using guns in crimes.

On the same day, the Minister of Public Works will formally introduce the Expropriation Bill to MPs. The proposed law – likely to be highly contested and controversial- was first introduced in 2008, but was later withdrawn after clauses that removed the rights of land owners to approach the courts were criticised for being unconstitutional. The legislation sets down the powers of the public works minister to expropriate property, the procedures for the investigation and valuation of property, how the intention to expropriate is conveyed and how expropriation is to transpire, how compensation is to be paid and the role of the court in settling disputes. In addition, the Bill makes provision that expropriation will only be allowed in the "public interest" and for "public purposes" and only after an unsuccessful attempt has been made by the state to negotiate the purchase of the property "on reasonable terms".

There is pressure mounting on government to introduce legislation to ban transfer pricing when it is used as a tax-avoidance measure to shift profit offshore. This issue comes to the fore when the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry meets with the Department on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the troubled public broadcaster will be in the limelight when the Portfolio Committee on Communications begins interviewing candidates to fill vacancies on the Board.

In between, there is some detailed legislating as the Justice and Finance committees continue with their deliberations on the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) amendment Act Amendment Bill, Maintenance Amendment Bill and Banks Amendment Bill.

At least one sub-committee – the Sub-Committee on the Rules of the National Assembly- is set to meet during the constituency period. MPs have been grappling with amending the rules for the past few years, but matters have escalated in the Fifth Parliament as MPs scrutinise and challenge almost every rule. No doubt a few MPs will use this opportunity for point-scoring and to eke out some parliamentary publicity.

The majority are expected to be in their constituency office carrying out important work.

You can find the full list of meetings here