Infographic: Local government audit results show little improvement

On Tuesday in Parliament, the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) briefed the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Portfolio Committee on local government audit outcomes for the 2012/13 financial year.

The audit results left Members feeling dissatisfied – while Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal performed well, the rest of the municipalities ...

Parliament hears update on SAFA match-fixing scandal

Minister for Sport and Recreation, Fikile Mbalula, briefed Parliament today on his department’s efforts in resolving the controversial match-fixing scandal involving SAFA officials. The scandal, which involved five friendly games before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, is under investigation by soccer’s world governing body, FIFA, after it came ...

Infographic: Evaluating the impact of firearm regulation on gun-homicides

The Portfolio Committee on Police recently heard a presentation by the Central Firearms Registry (CFR), where they briefed the department on measures taken to curb gun-homicides and gun-violence in general. The CFR is a subsidiary body of the South African Police Service (SAPS) who are tasked with regulating the country’s ...

The Week ahead – Environmental Issues come to the fore

With the sharp rise in the number of rhinos being poached and killed in the past few years, South Africans will be pleased that Parliament is doing its part to address the situation. The Portfolio Committee on Environmental Affairs has organised public hearings in three provinces (the KZN hearings were ...

Is government meeting the energy needs of rural households?

Access to electricity is a basic need that cannot be unmet by service delivery inefficiencies. Fortunately, as the Department of Energy (DoE) states, 82% of households are connected to the energy grid, which is largely powered by Eskom. Despite the load-shedding problems associated with the giant electricity provider, government has ...

Parliament and use of the sub judice rule: Justified or not?

On Tuesday, opposition party Members of the Communications Portfolio Committee expressed frustration with Communications Minister, Faith Muthambi, who was responding on behalf of the Department of Communications to the Public Protector’s report on the South African Broadcasting Corporation. DA and EFF Members accused the Minister of using the sub judice ...

Languages: The barrier to better education results?

On Tuesday, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) briefed the Basic Education Portfolio Committee on the Incremental Introduction of African Languages (IIAL) in South African schools. Although a progress report on the implementation of the IIAL is premature and cannot be released to the public until the pilot project is ...

That week in Parliament - After the stand off

Parliament’s plenary sittings will be under scrutiny this week (and probably for the next while) following last Thursday’s dramatic and unprecedented events in the National Assembly. The House had to be suspended when the EFF disrupted proceedings and heckled the President. Chaos ensued after the EFF had demanded to know ...

Infographic: Rhino poaching on the rise

The conservation of South Africa’s dwindling rhino population took the spotlight when the Department of Environmental Affairs briefed its parliamentary oversight committee on its progress with initiatives to deal with rhino poaching, its current and future interventions, while noting the shortcomings and challenges it faced.

rhino

Current interventions sees the department ...

Infographic: South Africa's energy future

The Department of Energy’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) projects South Africa’s energy capacities for the year 2030. The IRP seeks to diversify our energy sector from being coal-reliant, to one that utilises renewable energy sources to meet our future needs.

But while the capacity to produce more energy is achievable, ...

About The Week in Parliament

That Week In Parliament

Recent happenings in Parliament