Parliament, Sunday 08 March 2020 – Public Hearings of the Ad Hoc Committee to initiate and Introduce Legislation Amending Section 25 of the Constitution in order to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation continue this week in the Eastern Cape and Gauteng Provinces.

A delegation of the Ad Hoc Committee will today conclude the North West and KwaZulu Natal series of public hearings. The North West delegation will hold its hearings at Mandela Banquet Hall, Potchefstroom at 11:00 while the KwaZulu-Natal delegation will be at Kokstad Town Hall at 11:00.

So far four provinces have been visited, Free State, Mpumalanga, North West and KwaZulu-Natal. Eastern Cape and Gauteng are scheduled to be visited from Thursday 12 March to Sunday 15 March.

Also on the programme of Parliament are plenary sittings of the National Assembly (NA) and National Council of Provinces (NCOP), including a joint sitting, Oral Questions to Deputy President Mr David Mabuza, questions to the Executive and Committee Meetings.

The NA plenary sitting on Tuesday, 10 March will consider the National Land Transport Amendment Bill and the Defence Amendment Bill while the NCOP at their sitting will consider the Minimum Wage Amendment Bill. Both sittings start at 14:00.

The National Land Transport Amendment Bill was considered by the Portfolio Committee on Transport in the 5th Parliament. The Bill was considered and passed by both the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces and was returned for concurrence to the National Assembly. It was not considered by the Committee at the time because the term had ended.

Scheduled for Wednesday, 11 March in the NA is Oral Questions to the Social Cluster, and on Thursday questions for oral reply by Deputy President David Mabuza. Social Cluster Ministers involves – Basic Education, Health, Higher Education, Science and Technology, Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation Social Development Sports and Arts and Culture. Posing regular questions and answers sessions is one of Parliament's oversight mechanism of holding the executive accountable to the electorate.

Meanwhile, the NCOP plenary sittings on Wednesday and Thursday will consider various Select Committee reports. These include committee reports of the Select Committee on Finance on Fiscal Framework and Revenue Proposals, Select Committee on Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Water and Sanitation and Human Settlements and Joint Standing Committee on the Financial Management of Parliament on the: Parliament of the Republic of South Africa’s 2018/19 Annual Report.

A debate on an issue of national importance, tuberculosis, themed “United in the fight to end TB: A challenge to all South Africans”, is scheduled for a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament, the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces on Friday. The sitting will start at 10:00.

There are 46 committee meetings this week.

TUESDAY, 10 MARCH 2020

Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development: Briefing by the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development on the Presidential Advisory Panel Report on Land Reform and Agriculture; Progress report by DALRRD on the implementation of the Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act.

Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs: Briefing by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), the City of Cape Town, the Provincial Joints Committee (Provjoints), the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the situation of the refugees in Cape Town who are demanding to be resettled to a third country.

Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation: Presentation on the implications of the State of the Nation for the respective sectors

Portfolio Committee on Basic Education: Consideration of outstanding draft minutes and draft reports; Briefing on an Update on the Programmes for Improving the Foundational Skills of Literacy and Numeracy.

Select Committee on Trade and Industry, Economic Development, Small Business Development, Tourism, Employment and Labour: Consideration and adoption of minutes and oversight report; Briefing by the Small Enterprise Development Agency on its 2018/19 Annual Report

Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry: Briefing by NLC on the distribution of funds from the National Lotteries Distribution Trust Fund, including proactive funding, as well as a brief overview of the 3rd quarter performance; Consideration of Minutes

WEDNESDAY, 11 MARCH 2020

Standing Committee on Public Accounts: Non-tabling of the Department of Water and Sanitation annual report and financial statement hearing;

Portfolio Committee on Employment and Labour: Briefing by Department of Employment and Labour (DEL) on the 2nd Quarterly Performance of the following entities: Nedlac; and PSA; Consideration for adoption of the Draft Minutes of the orientation workshop held on 4 & 5 February 2020

Select Committee on Petitions and Executive Undertakings: Overseeing and scrutinising the implementation of the executive undertakings: Made by the Minister of Higher Education and Training (at sitting on 29 May 2018); Minister of Basic Education (at sitting on 14 June 2018)],

Portfolio Committee on Health: Briefing by the Competition Commissioner on the Healthcare Market Inquiry Report

Select Committee on Transport, Public Service and Administration, Public Works and Infrastructure, Briefing by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RMTC) on its Annual Report;

Select Committee on Public Enterprises and Communication: Briefing by the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies on the spectrum policy with specific reference to completion (including SMMEs), licensing conditions, low data costs and socio-economic impact; Consideration of outstanding minutes

Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence: (National Assembly and National Council of Provinces), [CLOSED MEETING],

Joint Committee on Ethics and Members’ Interests, (National Assembly and National Council of Provinces), [Adoption of minutes and consideration of reports – CLOSED MEETING

THURSDAY, 12 MARCH 2020

Standing Committee on Appropriations: (National Assembly), [Briefing by National Treasury on 2020 Division of Revenue Bill], Committee Room M46, Ground Floor, Marks Building, 12:30-14:00

FRIDAY, 13 MARCH 2020

Standing Committee on Appropriations: Public Hearings on the 2020 Division of Revenue; Comment by SALGA on the 2020 Division of Revenue Bill;

Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation: Consideration and adoption of oversight report to Limpopo and Gauteng.

PUBLIC HEARINGS THIS WEEK:

Ad Hoc Committee to Initiate and Introduce Legislation Amending Section 25 of the Constitution in order to allow for the expropriation of land without compensation will hold its third round of public hearings in Eastern Cape and Gauteng from Thursday 12 to Sunday 15 March.

For a full list of the Committees, visit Parliament’s website www.parliament.gov.za

ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMUNICATION SERVICES

Enquiries: Moloto Mothapo