Parliament's Chief Whips Forum has appointed a multiparty task team to investigate the establishment of a presidential portfolio committee.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) proposed on April 14 that such a committee be established to oversee the work of the Presidency.

DA Parliamentary leader Athol Trollip on Monday welcomed the task team's appointment.

"The serious consideration afforded to the DA's proposal... is an important victory in strengthening legislative oversight of [President Jacob] Zuma's administration," he said.

Following the investigation by the multiparty team, its findings would be referred to the Chief Whips Forum, who would make recommendations to the Joint Rules Committee on the establishment of a presidential portfolio committee.

"In the DA's original document, we suggested that with the creation of two new ministries, the expansion of the presidency's budget to almost three quarters of a billion rand (between 2006/7 and 2009/10, the budget of the Presidency increased at an average annual rate of 46%) and the concentration of power vested in this organ of state, this shortcoming has now become a substantial and serious blind spot."

The Presidency and its function formed a significant part of the work of the national government as a whole.

For it to exercise the vast power vested in it in an open and transparent manner, it should account to the legislature in the same way that every other national department was required to.

"The Presidency should not be exempt from this principle; indeed, it should epitomise it; and the President and the two ministers in the Presidency have a duty to lead in this regard," Trollip said.

"Significantly, we believe that the Presidency itself, either in the form of the President, the Deputy President or the director-general, should also report to that committee.

"It is not just about the two new ministries - indeed, as a proportion of the entire Presidency's budget, the two new ministries form a tiny component.

"After a year that has seen President Zuma directly undermine Parliament's critical oversight role - most notably through his failure to comply with the Executive Ethics Act and offer the House an explanation for his reasons for doing so - the establishment of a committee to oversee the Presidency will be an important step in restoring public faith in this crucial democratic institution," Trollip said.