Parliament, Sunday 08 September 2019 – A debate on an urgent matter of national importance focusing on the recent incidents of violence and criminality in the country, including those affecting foreign nationals as well as oral questions to the Deputy President are among the activities in Parliament’s programme for this week.

The debate, which is scheduled in the National Assembly (NA) on Tuesday, follows a week of a spate of attacks of foreign nationals and the killings of women and children which caused a national stir in some parts of the country. Also on Tuesday’s NA sitting, Government’s proposal to introduce a regime of prescribed assets in South Africa, which threatens the pension savings of millions of South Africans will be the subject of discussion in the NA. The Social Services Cluster Ministers will appear before the National Assembly for replies to oral questions on Wednesday.

The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on the other hand, is on Tuesday scheduled to hold questions for oral reply by the Social Cluster – by the Departments of Health, Human Settlements, Water and Sanitation and Social Development followed by the Deputy President oral reply to questions on Wednesday.

Furthermore, the NCOP will hold a one-day workshop on Thursday, 12 September to prepare permanent delegates for their return to their various provinces to conduct oversight as part of the NCOP Provincial Week which is scheduled from 16 - 20 September 2019.

From Thursday, the National Assembly will hold a two-day Parliament Strategy Planning Session - till Friday, 13 September 2019.

Among the parliamentary committees scheduled for this week is the Joint Standing Committee on the Financial Management of Parliament which will receive a briefing by the Executive Authority, on Tuesday, on the outcome of the Public Service Commission inquiry into the tragic death of Mr L Garane.

The South African Express will appear before the Select Committee on Public Enterprises and Communication on Wednesday to brief the committee about the airline’s financial challenges, fleet maintenance and the implementation of the airline’s turn-around strategy.

 THERE ARE 36 COMMITTEE MEETINGS SCHEDULED THIS WEEK:

Tuesday, 10 September 2019

Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs: Briefing by the Provincial Managers of the North West, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal on the state of the provinces for the 2018/19 financial year.
Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy: Briefing by Central Energy Fund (CEF) and its subsidiaries on the turnaround strategy and current state of the entity.
Joint Meeting: Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, Portfolio Committee on Police and Portfolio Committee on Social Development: Briefing on safety and security in schools by the Departments of Basic Education, South African Police Services, and Social Development.
Portfolio Committee on Communications: Briefing by the Special Investigating Unit on the investigations at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) as well as the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) on its 2019/20 first-quarter performance and expenditure report, and an update on the signing of contracts.

Wednesday, 11 September 2019

 Joint Meeting: Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure and Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Report by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure and the Property Management Trading Entity on leases that show costs incurred to the private sector, client departments that do not pay on time, legal costs to recover outstanding debt from client departments, and government’s debt to municipalities for rates and services.
Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry: The Department of Trade and Industry will give an overview of existing trade relations and agreements, ongoing trade negotiations, as well as the status report on negotiations and implementation of all Trade Agreements including the Brexit negotiations.
Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration: The Department of Public Service and Administration will give a briefing on the present and prospective state of the public service staff complement after the reconfiguration of government. The briefing will also cover early retirements, severance packages and migrations. Also scheduled to brief the committee is the Public Service Commission (PSC) on the evaluation of the effectiveness of the Performance Management and Development System in the Public Service. Other agenda items include the consideration and adoption of Committee Programme, advert for the PSC Commissioner vacancy, as well as nomination of the sub-committee members to shortlist and interview candidates.
Joint Meeting: Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy and Portfolio Committee on Public Enterprises: The Department of Minerals and Energy together with Eskom, will brief the joint meeting on progress made in implementing the turnaround strategy and in advancing developmental objectives of the institutions that include the electrification programme.
Select Committee on Transport, Public Service and Administration, Public Works and Infrastructure: Briefing by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) on its Strategic Plan and Annual Performance Plan.

Thursday, 12 September 2019

 Portfolio Committee on Police: Briefing by the Minister of Police and SAPS on the 2019 Annual Crime Statistics
Joint Standing Committee on Defence: Briefing by SA Navy on its sea hours and capacity to effectively utilise naval assets as well as a briefing by the SA Air Force on its flying-hours and capacity constraints to the effective utilisation of air assets.

Friday, 13 September 2019

Portfolio Committee on Higher Education, Science and Technology: Colloquium on the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)
Portfolio Committee on Environment, Forestry and Fisheries: Briefing by the Department of Environmental Affairs on the status of air quality in South Africa and a briefing by the Department on the roadmap for the eradication of asbestos waste disposal
Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy: Briefing by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) on current and possible court cases for both Mineral Resources and Energy; Briefing by DMRE on its legislative programme.

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

The link to the voice clip on Happening in Parliament This Week: https://wetransfer.com/downloads/48aced2fa98f2848689ac732727bace420190908084244/94902d

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