Parliament, Sunday 23 June 2019 – President Cyril Ramaphosa’s first State of the Nation Address to the sixth democratic Parliament will come under scrutiny this week as parliamentarians debate its content at a sitting of the two Houses of Parliament.
A nine-hour sitting has been set aside for this crucial debate on Tuesday, which will start from 10.00 to 13.00 and resume again from 14.00 to about 20.00.
The debate provides an opportunity for public representatives to explore and critique the commitments, including the priorities, which President Ramaphosa outlined in his address on Thursday evening.
On Wednesday 26 June, President Ramaphosa will reply to the debate – also at a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament – starting at 14.00 and ending at about 15.30.
The debate and the President’s reply are both scheduled to happen in the National Assembly Chamber.
On Thursday 27 July, the National Assembly will hold its first ordinary plenary sitting since its establishment. This sitting is scheduled to elect National Assembly House Chairpersons, to elect National Assembly members to the Pan-African Parliament, to designate members to serve in the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum and on the Judicial Services Commission and the Magistrates Commission.
Also scheduled for Thursday, is a meeting of the National Assembly Programme Committee, at 8.30, to further finalise dates for debating the Budget Votes of government departments and entities.
Budget Vote Debates have been provisionally scheduled to start on 9 July and will culminate in consideration of the Appropriation Bill. The Appropriation Bill, provisionally scheduled for consideration at a plenary sitting of the National Assembly on 23 July, allocates funds to specific entities of the state – including Parliament and the Presidency.
The National Council of Provinces is scheduled to hold its ordinary plenary sitting, the first since its establishment, on Wednesday at 12.00. The sitting will elect National Council of Provinces House Chairpersons.
Committees of the National Council of Provinces are also scheduled to hold their first meetings on Wednesday to elect their committee chairpersons.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
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