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President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Wednesday appear before the National Assembly for his first oral question and answer session since Parliament elected him as President of the Republic of South Africa in February. Holding regular question and answer sessions is one way in which Parliament holds the President and the Executive to account.

The President's oral questions and answer session is the only item on the National Assembly plenary sitting’s agenda. Questions for oral reply to the President are scheduled for a question day at least once a quarter during session time within Parliament’s annual programme. Up to six questions about matters of national or international importance may be asked during the three-hour session. The three hours allotted cover the main questions and associated supplementary questions.

The National Council of Provinces will this week conduct report back sessions to the people of the Eastern Cape on the service delivery issues they raised with Parliament during the previous visits. The report back sessions will be carried out through Parliament's flagship programme, Taking Parliament to the People, and the areas to be visited are Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality and Alfred Nzo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape. Executive undertakings made about service delivery since the last Taking Parliament to the People programme in these areas will be gauged through this important oversight exercise through, among others, site visits and feedback from residents.

On Thursday, the National Assembly is scheduled to debate Human Rights Day: “Celebrating the centenary of NR Mandela by promoting and deepening a human rights culture across society”. The topic of the debate is consistent with Parliament's year-long commemoration of the 100 years of Nelson Mandela during 2018. This sitting will also consider the Division of Revenue Bill.

Tuesday’s plenary sitting of the Assembly features a subject for discussion, among other matters. The subject for discussion, proposed by Mr Narend Singh of the Inkatha Freedom Party, is: “The plight of foreign qualified medical doctors who find themselves ineligible to sit for the Health
Professions Council of South Africa board exams because of section 4 regulation contained in the
Health Professions Act of 1974”.

The latest committee schedule, which includes at least 41 committee meetings, lists a wide range of issues for this week. These include public hearings on Bills (Traditional Courts Bill and Carbon Tax Bill) and consideration of another seven Bills (National Environmental Management Laws Bill, National Credit Amendment Bill, draft Public Audit Act Amendment Bill, Critical Infrastructure Protection Bill, Financial Regulation Act, Public Investment Corporation Amendment Bills, Copyright Amendment Bill).

Inquiries into state capture allegations and corporate governance at state entities, payments of social grants, other matters of public interest and financial reports and programmes of government departments and entities are also scheduled for consideration.

Committee meetings scheduled for the week include:
Standing Committee on Public Accounts: Briefing from the Hawks on cases currently being handled (Tuesday morning)
2.     Standing Committee on Public Accounts: Inter-ministerial Committee update on South African Social Security Agency (SASSA) and South African Post Office regarding payment services (Tuesday evening)
3.     Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises: Inquiry into corporate governance - Minister Malusi Gigaba, Ms Dudu Myeni, Gupta brothers and associates (Tuesday)
4.     Standing Committee on Finance: South African Revenue Service - follow-up on issues from 5 December 2017 meeting including Makwakwa matter, KPMG report, illicit financial flows (Tuesday)
5.     Portfolio Committee on Justice and Correctional Services: Public hearings on Traditional Courts Bill (Tuesday, Wednesday)
6.     Portfolio Committee on Energy: Briefing from National Energy Regulator of SA on reasons for its decision on ESKOM’s revenue application for 2018/2019 (Tuesday)
7.     Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources: Discussion on terms of reference on allegations of state capture in organ of state involving former Minister of Mineral Resources Mr MJ Zwane (Wednesday)
8.     Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform: Briefing by Dr Aninka Claassens on recommendations of HLP (High Level Panel on Assessment of Key Legislation and Acceleration of Fundamental Change) on land reform and rural development (Wednesday)
9.     Portfolio Committee on Social Development: Progress report from SASSA on implementation of Constitutional Court judgment (Wednesday)
10.  Standing Committee on Finance: Financial Sector Regulation Act Regulations, Public Investment Corporation Amendment Bills (Friday)

These are among key matters scheduled to come before committees of Parliament this week. For the latest full schedule of committee meetings (updated daily), please click: https://www.parliament.gov.za/whatson

Issued by Parliament of The Republic of South Africa