During the pre-budget speech on Wednesday morning, 26 February, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said it was essential that people started “developing a savings culture in South Africa” and found ways to “get out of the debt trap” as “consumerism was replacing society” both here and abroad.

The good news for ...

Singing, chanting slogans and waving #Fixthebudget placards,civil society advocacy groups and NGOS such as the Treatment Action (TAC) Campaign, Section 27, the Budget and Expenditure Monitoring Forum (BEMF), the Progressive Youth Movement and others, gathered outside the gates of Parliament on Tuesday, 25 February, to voice their concerns around tomorrow's ...

Singing, chanting slogans and waving #Fixthebudget placards,civil society advocacy groups and NGOS such as the Treatment Action (TAC) Campaign, Section 27, the Budget and Expenditure Monitoring Forum (BEMF), the Progressive Youth Movement and others, gathered outside the gates of Parliament on Tuesday, 25 February, to voice their concerns around tomorrow's ...

The Department of Energy briefed the Economic Development Select Committee on Tuesday, 25 February, giving MPs an update on the rollout of the Solar Water Heater (SWH) programme that should see four million SWHs being installed in homes by 2030.

According to the Department’s presentation, SWH uses innovative renewable energy ...

The Select Committee on Public Services held a meeting on Tuesday, 25 February, with the Independent Development Trust (IDT) regarding their role in the delivery of school infrastructure with specific reference to the eradication of mud schools. Considering the huge public outcry surrounding mud schools, People’s Assembly was surprised that ...

The Social Development Portfolio Committee held a meeting with the Department of Social Development on Tuesday, 18 February to discuss its six-monthly report (April-September 2013). During a review of the Department’s performance, MPs noted that although the target for adoptions had been more than met – 735 adoptions registered against ...

On Wednesday, 19 February, the Public Service and Administration Committee received a joint briefing by the Department of Basic Education and the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities on the crucial issue of access to schools for children with disabilities.

In her opening statement, Chairperson of the Committee, ...

Pravin Gordhan’s budget speech on Wednesday will be the main highlight this week in Parliament.

In the 2013 MTBPS Speech by Minister Pravin Gordhan the following challenges were enumerated:

● “Growth is too slow.

● Unemployment is high and many households are over-indebted.

● Government expenditure substantially exceeds our revenue. ...

On Tuesday, 18 February, the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education received a briefing by its respective department on the 2013 National Senior Certificate (NSC) results with Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, in attendance. The Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training (Umalusi) also briefed the Committee ...

Punctuated by heckling, insult trading and truckloads of rhetoric, Tuesday 19 February saw the second day of the two-day State of the Nation (SONA) debates descend into a rather raucous state of affairs. Amid the now hackneyed use of the “good news” refrain, laundry lists of national government policy successes ...