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Since the start of Parliament’s annual session a total of 87 NCOP parliamentary questions remain unanswered; 58 of them questions put by the Democratic Alliance. All of them have been outstanding for longer than 10 working days.

Members of the NCOP have the right to ask questions of national government ministers in order to oversee executive action on behalf of their constituents. This is a critical parliamentary tool and ministers are guided to respond within ten working days.

Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) is the worst performing department with 28 outstanding questions, followed by the departments of Basic Education and Health, which each have eight unanswered questions.  COGTA’s poor performance is compounded by the fact that the NCOP’s select committee on COGTA has sat only three times during this annual session.

I will therefore be writing to the Minister of COGTA to inform him of the extremely poor performance of his department and request immediate action by the end of this month.  This department, in particular, must ensure that it works closely with the NCOP to support local government and the many struggling municipalities across the country.

I will also be writing to the Chairperson of the NCOP to request that he call on all departments to respect and comply with the rules of the NCOP by responding to the outstanding questions no later than the end of November 2012.