Parliament, Sunday, 01 July 2018 – The two Houses of Parliament, the National Assembly (NA) and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), will both be on constituency period starting this week. The NA's constituency programme started on 18 June and will conclude on 13 August while that of the NCOP kicks off tomorrow until 30 July. Constituency work is an important part of the programme of Parliament. It affords Members of Parliament an opportunity to interact with their constituents, report to them on the business of Parliament, as well as intervene and facilitate resolutions to challenges facing communities.
Notwithstanding the Constituency period, the business of certain parliamentary committees will, however, continue.
The Joint Constitutional Review Committee and the Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform are continuing with their public hearings at various sites across the country this week.
After its successful conclusion of its hearing in Limpopo and Northern Cape last week, the Joint Constitutional Review Committee is taking its public hearings on the possible review of Section 25 of the Constitution to Mpumalanga (Mbombela, Ermelo and Middleburg) and the Free State (Botshabelo, Welkom and Phuthaditjhaba) this week.
The decision to hold public hearings follows a mandate by the NA and the NCOP to ascertain whether a review of Section 25 of the Constitution and other clauses are necessary, to make it possible for the state to expropriate land in the public interest without compensation, and propose the necessary constitutional amendments where necessary.
The Portfolio Committee on Rural Development and Land Reform is moving its last leg of the public hearings on the Restitution of Land Rights Amendment Bill to the Western Cape (Mossel Bay and Worcester on Monday and Tuesday, respectively) this week.
The decision to hold extensive public hearings follows a Constitutional Court ruling which instructed Parliament to strengthen public participation on the Bill. The Committee has thus undertaken nationwide hearings to supplement those held in the initial phase.
The aim of the Bill is to amongst others, to develop and keep a National Land Restitution Register as well as to reopen the process for the lodgement of land claims for those that missed the initial deadline. On conclusion of these public hearings, various stakeholders such as non-governmental organisations, trade unions and community-based organisations will be invited to Parliament for further engagement.
Two Committees are scheduled to meet at Parliament this week, as follows:
On Tuesday, the Portfolio Committee on Police will meet to deliberate on the written and oral submissions on the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) Amendment Bill.
On Wednesday, the Portfolio Committee on Social Development will be briefed by the Department of Social Development, the South African Human Rights Commission and the Commission for Gender Equality on the interventions taken to deal with the escalating statistics of rape and kidnapping of children. The Committee is also scheduled to be briefed by the South African Social Services Agency on reasons for long queues at pay points and a strategy to deal with this challenge.
On Thursday, the Portfolio Committee on Police will meet to finalise and adopt the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) Amendment Bill.
For the full schedule of committee meetings (updated daily), please click: https://www.parliament.gov.za/whatson
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