With all the Portfolio Committees meeting the deadline to finalise their Budget Vote Reports by last Friday (and some already published in the Announcements, Tablings and Committee Reports (ATC)), the focus now shifts to the budget vote debates that will commence tomorrow (Tuesday, 15 July 2014) and run for ...

President Jacob Zuma delivered his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in the National Assembly on Tuesday evening, 17 June 2014. People’s Assembly has already reported on the main themes of the Presidents speech including commentary from opposition MPs. A lot has been written about Zuma’s comments on the economy ...

As People’s Assembly recently published an infographic on the gender breakdown of seats in both houses of Parliament, we thought we’d go a step further and get some analysis on whether a higher number of women MPs translates into more gender equality in legislation. We caught up with honorary research ...

Wilma Newhoudt-Druchen has experienced many firsts: She was South Africa’s first deaf MP as well as being the first woman and the first person from the African continent to fill the role of Vice President at the World Federation of the Deaf. While she is not returning to Parliament this ...

The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) passed fifteen bills in just two days this week (26 and 27 March), in a rush before the close of Parliament’s last session. Twelve of the bills were sent to the President for assent. Minor amendments were made to only three bills by the ...

Civil society organisations and MPs, during a recent Roundtable on empowerment and the rights of women, children and the elderly, highlighted, during the general discussion of the issues, a more nuanced problem of how, within vulnerable groups, there were differing abilities to access justice. They noted unequal access to justice ...

During his welcome address at the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) roundtable on empowerment and the rights of women, children and the elderly, NCOP Chairperson Mahlangu said that vulnerable groups needs the protection of the primary institution of law making, namely parliament.

Mahlangu added that although the “law is good, ...

At the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) roundtable on empowerment and the rights of women, children and the elderly yesterday in Parliament, General Khehla John Sithole, Deputy National Commissioner of Policing Operations, told MPs that the police top brass were taking steps to improve policing in the country.

Deputy Chairperson ...

Eight Committees in Parliament's Second House met today to vote on final mandates for legislation that the Fourth Democratic Parliament is determined to complete - as its last day fast approaches. Five provinces need to vote in favour of a bill in order for it to pass. Many of these ...

Higher Education South Africa (HESA) briefed the Higher Education and Training Portfolio Committee today on the state of higher education in the country, touching on lack of student access and opportunities, postgraduate education, higher education transformation, and the challenge of funding. HESA warned that there was a lot more that ...