Parliamentary committees officially kicked-off last week, as Members of Parliament (MPs) gathered in their committees and elected their chairpersons for the next five years. Once introductions were made, chairpersons took their seats and many began working on their agenda for the year. Based on the committee schedule for this week, most parliamentary committees will have all-day meetings focusing on Strategic Plans, Annual Performance Plans and budgets for the 2014-2015 financial year.
The Strategic Plans will look at the overall mission statements for the departments. Committees will be briefed on the previous term’s departments’ achievements and outstanding issues, and the committees as a whole will write a mission statement on how they plan to accomplish the outstanding goals.
The Annual Performance Plans will set the priorities for the year, which come into place once the department has an overall mission statement. For example, last week, at the first Home Affairs Portfolio Committee meeting, the Committee was already discussing issues surrounding visa regulations. Once the Department of Home Affairs has a mission statement, visa regulation will likely be one of the more important issues on the agenda.
The budget meetings will look at departments and entities spending of their budgets. This is another way that Parliament performs oversight over government entities. A country’s budget is extremely important because it shows the nation’s priorities and concerns. As such, it is important that Parliament, as the people’s representatives, vote on where money is allocated and the programmes that need to be prioritised. This vote passes through committees, and once committees agree on the right amount of money in their respective department, the vote goes to the National Assembly (NA). Once the NA approves the budget, the proposal must pass the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). If both Houses agree on the budget, the recommendation is passed to the executive, which has the final word on the budget.
Most of the time, the executive approves the budget, which sets the stage for governmental action for the entire year, making this week a very important week in Parliament.
The NCOP will hold a workshop of Presiding Officers, Whips and Chairpersons of Committees from Monday, 30 June to Wednesday, 2 July.
By Camila Rodriguez, J.D. Candidate 2016
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