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The statement released by the ANC on Tuesday accusing the DA in the provincial parliament of ‘cancelling’ the 4 May Sitting of the House is the latest in a string of examples of how the party will stoop to blatant lies in order to remain relevant.

The Sitting was not ‘cancelled’ as the ANC claims but rescheduled to 25 May after the legislature’s constituency period between 6 and 19 May.

This change comes after the provincial parliament was informed of the provincial cabinet’s outreach week in the Overstrand municipality. The 25 May Sitting will be an extended format which will include a debate, questions to the Premier without notice, interpellations, oral questions, motions and member statements. The ANC is well aware of this fact as it was discussed in the legislature’s Programming Authority meeting on Tuesday morning.

This means that members of the legislature will still have an opportunity to duly perform oversight of the cabinet. Meaning that at no point has the cabinet been given a ‘free pass’ as the ANC has claimed.

So desperate is the ANC for relevance in the Western Cape, that they continue to resort to making baseless and misleading claims about the work of the provincial parliament. These statements cannot go unchecked.

Furthermore, the ANC’s argument that the cabinet outreach is an ‘electioneering jaunt’ is also false. For the past decade, the Western Cape government has conducted regular cabinet outreaches in order to directly engage with communities.

While the ANC in the National Assembly and provincial legislatures suppress oversight and accountability where they govern, the DA will continue to foster multilateral engagement and oversight in the Western Cape legislature.

The DA takes its oversight role seriously and we will continue to work towards ensuring that the provincial legislature is a true example of a parliament that operates without fear or favour.

Issued by Wendy Kaizer-Philander MPP - Chief Whip of the DA in Western Cape Provincial Parliament