This week in Parliament…

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 the next two weeks. These debates will happen in the Extended Public Committees (EPCs), which are mini-sittings of the National Assembly and are considered an alternative forum for debates. These are primarily used for budget votes.

Parliament announced that Ms L Maseko, Mr B Mashile, Mr M Mdakane, Mr T Memela, Mr J Mthembu and Ms X Tom have been appointed in terms of Rule 33 to chair the Extended Public Committees. As People’s Assembly reported last week, many MPs complained that they did not have enough time to consider the budgets (read here). This issue together with the lack of time frames presented in the plans by the various departments are expected to be recurring themes during the debates.

The NCOP committees will get its turn to be briefed by the various departments this week. It will be interesting to see if the presentations have been specifically tailored to address issues relevant to provinces or if it will be a repeat of what said to the portfolio committees.

See below for the budget vote schedule.

*The schedule has not been clustered according to any particular order and each debate has been allocated 2hrs 25mins, barring the debates on Parliament’s and the Presidency’s budgets.

TUESDAY, 15 JULY Extended Public Committees: (145) 10:00 – 12:25 Debate on Vote 4: Home Affairs (Old Assembly Chamber) Debate on Vote 38: Water Affairs (E249, National Assembly Building) 14:00 - 16:25 Debate on Vote 31: Human Settlements (Old Assembly Chamber) Debate on Vote 15: Basic Education (E249, National Assembly Building) Debate on Vote 24: Justice and Constitutional Development (Good Hope Chamber) 16:35 - 19:00 Debate on Vote 18: Labour (Old Assembly Chamber) Debate on Vote 32: Mineral Resources (E249, National Assembly Building) 19:10 – 21:15 Debate on Vote 37: Transport (Old Assembly Chamber) Debate on Vote 9: Government Communications and Information Systems (E249, National Assembly Building)

WEDNESDAY, 16 JULY Extended Public Committees: (145) 10:00 – 12:25 Debate on Vote 21: Correctional Services (Old Assembly Chamber) Debate on Vote 8: Women, Children and People with Disabilities (E249, National Assembly Building) Debate on Vote 19: Social Development (Good Hope Chamber) 14:00 – 16:25 Debate on Vote 35: Tourism (Old Assembly Chamber) Debate on Vote 27: Communications (E249, National Assembly Building) Debate on Vote 7: Public Works (Good Hope Chamber) 16:35 – 19:00 Debate on Vote 26: Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Old Assembly Chamber)

THURSDAY, 17 JULY Extended Public Committees: (145) 14:00 – 16:25 Debate on Vote 30: Environmental Affairs (Old Assembly Chamber) Debate on Vote 12: Public Service and Administration (E249, National Assembly Building) Debate on Vote 14: Arts and Culture (Good Hope Chamber) 16:35 – 19:00 Debate on Vote 20: Sport and Recreation South Africa (Old Assembly Chamber) Debate on Vote 3: Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (E249, National Assembly Building) 19:10 – 21:15 Debate on Vote 33: Rural Development and Land Reform (Old Assembly Chamber)

MONDAY, 21 JULY Extended Public Committees: (145) 10:00 – 12:25 Debate on Vote 25 & 23: Police (including IPID) (Old Assembly Chamber) Debate on Vote 10: National Treasury (E249, National Assembly Building) Debate on Vote 29: Energy (Good Hope Chamber) 14:00 - 16:25 Debate on Vote 6 & 13: Performance Monitoring and Evaluation & Statistics South Africa (Old Assembly Chamber) Debate on Vote 10: National Treasury (State Security) (E249, National Assembly Building)

TUESDAY, 22 JULY Extended Public Committees: (145) 10:00 – 12:25 Debate on Vote 28: Economic Development (Old Assembly Chamber) Debate on Vote 34: Science and Technology (E249, National Assembly Building) Debate on Vote 17: Higher Education and Training (Good Hope Chamber) 14:00 – ±17:45 PLENARY Debate on Vote No 2: Parliament (National Assembly Chamber) Extended Public Committees: (145) 18:10– 20:15 Debate on Vote 36: Trade and industry (Old Assembly Chamber) Debate on Vote 5: International Relations and Cooperation (Good Hope Chamber)

WEDNESDAY, 23 JULY Extended Public Committees: (145) 10:00 – 12:25 Debate on Vote 22: Defence and Military Veterans (Old Assembly Chamber) Debate on Vote 11: Public Enterprises (E249, National Assembly Building) Debate on Vote 16: Health (Good Hope Chamber) 14:00 – ±19:00 PLENARY Debate on Vote No 1: Presidency (National Assembly Chamber)

THURSDAY, 24 JULY 14:00 – ±15:00 PLENARY Resumption of debate on Vote No 1: The Presidency (Reply by President) (National Assembly Chamber)