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Questions to the Deputy President and Governance Cluster Ministers, debates on the medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS) and World AIDS Day, are among the key items on Parliament’s agenda this week.

Deputy President Paul Mashatile will appear before the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) on Thursday at 14:00 for his last oral question-and-answer session this year. The Deputy President will answer questions on various matters, including government support for spaza shops to combat food poisoning incidents, whether the government has considered developing mechanisms to address the growing intergovernmental debt and whether any tangible steps have been taken thus far to fast-track land reform and coordinate agricultural support programmes.

On Tuesday at 14:00, Cluster 3B: Governance Ministers comprising the Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities and Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation will answer questions in the NCOP. The ministers will answer questions on various matters, including the monitoring of participation in the economy by people with disabilities, challenges faced by women and youth in the fight against unemployment in the country and whether all objectives of the National Strategic Plan on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide have been successful in alleviating the severity of gender-based violence crisis in the country.

Minister of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Ms Sindisiwe Chikunga, will deliver a Ministerial Statement on “Disability Rights Awareness Month” to the National Assembly (NA) sitting on Tuesday at 14:00. The House will also consider various committee reports, including the Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture’s report on a letter from Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture, Mr Geyton McKenzie, noting his rejection of the shortlist for the Pan South African Language Board.

On Wednesday at 14:00, the NCOP will debate World AIDS Day under the theme, “Taking Collective Action and Individual Responsibilities to Sustain and Accelerate the Fight against HIV and AIDS.” The House will also consider reports of the Select Committee on Finance on the Rates and Monetary Amounts Amendment Bill, the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill, the Rates and Monetary Amounts Amendment Bill, the Tax Administration Laws Amendment Bill, the Global Minimum Tax Administration Bill, and the Revenue Laws Amendment Bill.

During its last plenary sitting for the year on Thursday, the NA will consider the Standing Committee on Appropriations report on the Special Appropriation Bill, the 2024 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement and the Adjustments Appropriation Bill on Thursday. The House will end the plenary with farewell speeches before the NA members go on a constituency and leave period.

There are 21 committee meetings scheduled for this week to consider reports on bills and to conduct public hearings and oversight on various service delivery issues, as follows:

TUESDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2024 

Standing Committee on Appropriations: Consideration and adoption of the three Committee Reports: 2024 MTBPS; 2024 Adjustments Appropriation Bill; 2024, Special Appropriation Bill. Committee Room M514, Fifth Floor, Marks Building, Parliament, 09:30-12:00

Portfolio Committee on Forestry, Fisheries and Environment: Adoption of the minutes and consideration and adoption of the Committee Oversight Report to Mpumalanga and Gauteng provinces. Committee Room 2, Upper Ground Floor, 90 Plein Street Building, Parliament, 09:30-12:30

Portfolio Committee on Basic Education: Briefing on allegations of tender irregularities in the awarding of an IT Tender by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED), Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr (CDH) and SITA; Consideration and adoption of Draft Minutes of 26 November 2024. Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:30-12:30

Portfolio Committee on Agriculture: Briefing by the Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) Board on the Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Project, vaccine production and governance matters; Progress report by the Department of Agriculture (DoA) on the implementation of the Presidential Employment Stimulus Initiative (PESI) and Comprehensive update on the revitalisation of irrigation schemes; Consideration and adoption of the outstanding Committee minutes. Good Hope Chamber, Ground Floor, Good Hope Building, Parliament, 09:30-13:00

WEDNESDAY, 4 DECEMBER 2024

Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies: Adoption of minutes; Consideration and adoption of Oversight Report to Eastern Cape; Deliberation and consideration of the recommendation of the Subcommittee on the appointment of suitable candidates for the ICASA Council and adoption of the report recommending candidates for appointment to the Council. Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:00-10:30

Select Committee on Public Infrastructure and Minister in Presidency: Consideration of Oral and Written Submissions on the Marine Oil Pollution(Preparedness, Response and Cooperation) Bill of 2022. Venue to be confirmed, 09:00-13:00

Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training: Briefing by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) on 2022/23 Annual Report; Briefing by the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Sector Education and Training Authority on 2023/24 Annual Report. Committee Room M514, Fifth Floor, Marks Building, Parliament, 09:00-16:00

Portfolio Committee on Electricity and Energy, Briefing by the Minister of Electricity and Energy and Eskom on the following: Performance targets for 2024/25 and performance to date – both in terms of finances and key performance areas. Update and progress report on its separation into three distinct entities – Generation, Distribution and Transmission; an update on generation capacity, including explaining the difference between loadshedding and load reduction, the socio-economic impact of decommissioning, Eskom’s Summer Plan; Briefing by the Minister of Electricity and Energy and the National Transmission Company of SA (NTCSA) on its operations and the transmission development plan. Committee Room M314, Third Floor, Marks Building, Parliament, 09:00-17:00

FRIDAY, 6 DECEMBER 2024

Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training: Follow-up meeting with the National Skills Fund (NSF) on responses to the Annual Report 2023/24. Committee Room M514, Fifth Floor, Marks Building, Parliament, 09:00-13:00

Portfolio Committee on Public Works and Infrastructure: Briefing by the DPWI Governance Risk and Compliance Branch (GRC) with the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) on an update regarding all outstanding cases of alleged corruption; Consideration and adoption of the National Construction Summit report; Consideration and adoption of the 2024/25  first and second quarter report; Consideration and adoption of the 2024 Annual Report; Consideration and adoption of minutes of the previous meeting. Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:30-12:30

Select Committee on Appropriations: Public hearings on 2024 Adjustments Appropriation Bill and 2024 Special Appropriation Bill. Committee Room S12A, Ground Floor, NCOP Building, Parliament, 10:00-13:00.

Issued by Parliament