The Week Ahead: Question Time & Legislation in the spotlight

There are four more weeks left in the first term and the programme has a familiar pattern: lots of unglamorous legislating, oversight and scrutinising, with some set piece battles in prospect.

There's both high policy and low politics on display in the main chambers this week, with appearances by the deputy president and ministers in the peace and security and governance clusters (combining both of the above, no doubt).

Question Time is an established part of the parliamentary day and gives MPs an opportunity to question government ministers about matters for which they are responsible. Over time, guidelines have been developed on how to improve this oversight mechanism. According to the new rules, oral questions have been extended by an hour to three hours.

There are some notable aspects of this practice:

• An interesting part of the exercise is how the questions are structured and framed as MPs simultaneously try to get their talking points across and ask a question

• Ministerial attendance remains a concern despite assurances that this is being attended to

• Many of the questions (see here and here) touch on bread and butter issues and/or high-temperature business.

The Leader of Government Business will be making his second consecutive appearance in the National Assembly on Thursday and lawmakers will probe him on a wide range of issues.

Fireworks and finger-pointing are expected when lawmakers debate the recent outbreak of xenophobic violence in the lower chamber on Tuesday. Officially, the debate is titled: Promoting harmonious coexistence and respect for the rights of all persons, including foreign nationals, as enjoined by our Constitution. It's almost 2 years since Parliament suspended its plenary sittings for a week to allow MPs to go to their constituencies and mobilise their communities to combat xenophobia. While the condemnations will be full-throated and unanimous, there will be a lot of disagreement about the cause and responses to the latest incidents. This has caused tensions with Nigeria and that country’s Senate has even sent a delegation to South Africa to discuss this matter.

Elsewhere, other plenary highlights include legislative business, motions, statements, statutory appointments, and the processing of assorted bills and committee reports (including the Ad Hoc Committee on SABC Board Inquiry's report).

View the full programme here.

Meanwhile, the committee corridor has scheduled several interesting meetings that are likely to produce big headlines. Here is a run down of the highlights:

The consequences of the Esidimeni tragedy continue to reverberate. In a preemptive move, the Portfolio Committee on Health has called in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape Provincial Departments of Health on Tuesday to get an update on the state of health care services for mentally ill patients in their provinces.

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts has summoned the Social Development Minister to account for the looming crisis in the payment of social grants.

Other noteworthy meetings include discussions about environmental governance in the mining sector; a workshop on inequality and engagement with the Department of Transport and the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) on the status of Metrorail.

MPs will get a status Report on the recall of the Ford Kuga. Ford SA was forced to recall thousands of cars after reports of the vehicles catching fire spontaneously. The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has launched a probe into the matter and will also be part of the meeting.

On Wednesday, several departments and entities – the DCS, NPA, Legal Aid SA, Judiciary and SAPS - will brief legislators on the impact of bail protocol, bail-related legislative and policy provisions, and minimum sentencing legislation on inmate population management.

There will be a lot of interest to hear what the Minister of Justice and Correctional Services will say to legislators about the High Court ruling on the International Criminal Court (ICC) matter. The court ruled that government’s decision to give notice to withdraw from the ICC was unconstitutional and invalid, and it was ordered to revoke the notice. The DA took government to court saying the Minister unlawfully bypassed Parliament when he made the decision and therefore did not act in line with the Constitution.

Also notable are meetings on the performance of State Owned Entities, White Paper on Police and the new Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA) landscape.

On Friday, there is more budget work when the two appropriations committees meet to receive a briefing from National Treasury, FFC and SALGA on the Division of Revenue Bill.

The Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will receive a briefing from the Food and Allied Workers Union on the challenges facing the poultry industry and how these impact on employment in the sector and the South African food industry. This is the second successive week that this matter is on the committee’s agenda.

In between, there will be some detailed legislating on the following bills: Films and Publications Amendment Bill; Refugees Amendment Bill; Border Management Authority Bill; Foreign Service Bill; Extension of Security of Tenure Amendment Bill and Protected Disclosures Amendment 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.