The Week Ahead: Public Protector Recommendation, Ministerial Question Time, Debates…

It's a busy week in the main chambers and committee corridor. Everything from Ministerial question time, to debates of public importance, to statutory appointments, to legislative business, to motions and members' statements dominate the plenary agenda. Beyond this, Parliament has scheduled a joint sitting on Thursday to mark Women's Day. ...

The week ahead – President to answer oral questions

It's a week of farewells and loose ends.

The constituency period beckons, with MPs due to depart on Friday and return on 12 April. But a fair amount of heavy-duty business will be done before they go with lots of action scheduled in the main chambers and committee corridor.

The ...

The Week Ahead: Question sessions, higher education & legislation

It's a big week in the NA chamber with MPs scheduled to sit for long hours to consider several bills and assorted committee reports.

The major plenary highlights will be the question sessions involving the Ministers in the Social Services Cluster and the Deputy President on Wednesday and Thursday respectively. ...

The Week Ahead: Parliament's third term kicks off

Parliament resumes this week after a three-week constituency period. The third term will run for ten weeks and the programme is packed with activities. Some of the highlights include committee, oversight and legislative work; oral questions to the President and the Executive; and the NCOP’s Provincial and Local Government Weeks. ...

The Week Ahead – The end of Parliament's second term looms

It's a week of farewells, loose ends and tussles…

The constituency period beckons, with MPs due to depart at the end of the week and return to Parliament on 21 July 2015. But a fair amount of heavy-duty business will be done before they go.

It's a big week in ...

The Week Ahead: President and Deputy answer oral questions

Even with the Youth Day Holiday to compress the parliamentary week, the legislature has arranged a substantial programme in the main chambers, which includes ministerial statements, policy debates, oral questions and the processing of assorted bills and statutory instruments.

No surprises, President Zuma will grab the limelight when he answers ...

The week ahead: Youth issues and oral questions take centre stage

The programmes in the main chambers offer a blend of members' statements, policy debates, legislative business, oral questions to the Deputy President and Economic Cluster and a joint debate to mark Youth Day.

During his question session in the National Assembly (NA) on Wednesday, the leader of government business ...

Infographic: Breakdown of debt owed by and to municipalities

This week the Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) Portfolio Committee tackled the contentious issue of municipal debt owed to Eskom and water boards. National Treasury was present on Tuesday, 12 May 2015, to defend its decision to withhold Equitable Share (ES) from municipalities that have not prioritised paying their ...

Ms Phumzile van Damme - DA

P Van Damme

Political background: Growing up, I was involved in politics in one form or another. My earliest memory of political activity was leading a strike in Grade 5 because our teacher would not allow us to go out for break.

At university I majored in Political Science and Law, and the ...

The week ahead: All Action in the Committee Corridor

With no sittings scheduled in the main chambers, the committee corridor will be the main source of parliamentary action this week.

MPs will spend a considerable time meeting with various departments and entities on their strategic plans, annual performance plans and budgets.

In between, there's some detailed legislating as MPs ...