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The tabling of the 2023 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) and President Cyril Ramaphosa’s final appearance for the year to give oral replies to questions in the National Assembly (NA) are among the key highlights in Parliament this week.
 
Other highlights on this week’s parliamentary calendar include Ministers in the Peace and Security Cluster giving oral replies to questions in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) and a meeting of the NA Programming Committee.
 
Finance Minister, Mr Enoch Godongwana, is scheduled to deliver the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement to the National Assembly at the Cape Town City Hall on Wednesday, 01 November 2023 at 14:00. On the same day, he will introduce several Section 77 (Money) bills, including the Adjustments Appropriation Bill, Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws Bill, Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, and Revenue Laws Amendment Bill.

The MTBPS plays a critical role in the overall budget process because it sets out the policy framework for the upcoming budget and provides the country and its elected representatives with an update on the National Treasury's assessment of the current economic climate and outlook.

The 2023 MTBPS will set out the policy framework for the 2024 Budget and indicate any adjustments that may be recommended to Parliament regarding the current year's expenditure plans. As a statement of government policy, it will also assess and explain the trade-offs and choices that must be made to ensure stable, balanced, and sustainable economic growth.

The MTBPS also enables Parliament and the public to engage with the government's budget plans several months ahead of the budget in February next year. For example, committees with oversight over specific government departments review these departments' delivery on specific departmental targets and the effectiveness and efficiency of their current use of available resources and future use of resources. The committees’ Budget Review and Recommendation Reports must be tabled in the National Assembly (NA) before the MTBPS is adopted.
 
Oral replies
 
Meanwhile, in their quest to hold the executive accountable, both Houses of Parliament will convene hybrid plenaries on Tuesday and Thursday to hold Questions for Oral Reply sessions with Members of the Executive.
 
On Thursday, President Ramaphosa will give oral replies to questions during a hybrid plenary session in the NA at 14:00.
 
In the NCOP, Peace and Security Cluster 1A ministers on Tuesday, and Cluster 1B on Thursday will both at 14:00, give oral responses to questions. Cluster 1A comprises ministers responsible for Police, Justice, and Correctional Services, while Cluster 1B includes the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans and the Minister in The Presidency responsible for State Security.

As stipulated in section 92(2) of the Constitution, oral question-and-answer sessions are one of a range of methods that Parliament uses to hold the executive accountable. Members of the Executive are accountable collectively and individually to Parliament for the exercises of their powers and performances of their functions.

The first plenary in the National Assembly for the week will be a hybrid sitting on Tuesday 31 October at 14:00 to, among others, consider the report of the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities. The report is on the National Council on Gender-Based Violence and Femicide Bill. The same sitting will also consider the recommendations of candidates to fill three vacancies in the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) Board and to fill a vacancy on the Council of Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA).
 
Scheduled committee meetings
 
There is a total of thirty-eight (38) committee meetings scheduled for this week, including:
 
Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence [CLOSED MEETING], Room 301, Third Floor, Africa House, 08:00-13:00
 
Portfolio Committee on Water and Sanitation, [Briefing by the Department of
Water and Sanitation on the Realignment of Water Boards; Briefing by the 

Department of Water and Sanitation on Water Boards Corporate/Business Plans 2023/24 Financial Year; Briefing by the Secretariat on processes to be followed on submissions on the National Water Resources Infrastructure Agency SOC Limited Bill (B24-2023) as introduced in the National Assembly (proposed section 75 bill), explanatory summary of Bill and prior notice of its introduction published in Government Gazette No. 49063 of 1 August 2023], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:00

Portfolio Committee on Sport, Arts and Culture, [Briefing by Boxing South Africa and the South African National Boxing Organisation (SANABO) on their 2022/2023 annual report and other pertinent issues; Consideration and adoption of Committee minutes], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:00-12:45
 
Portfolio Committee on Home Affairs, [Briefing by the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), the Border Management Authority (BMA) and the Government Printing Works (GPW) on their performance and expenditure for the second quarter of the 2023-24 financial year; Briefing by Hon A Lotriet on the Electoral Commission Amendment Bill [B15 – 2023] – Private Members Bill; Consideration and adoption of minutes], Committee Room M515, Fifth Floor, Marks Building, Parliament, 09:00-13:00
 
Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies,
[Deliberation/finalisation on the SAPO Amendment Bill [B11-2023]; Briefing by the Department on the South African Broadcasting Corporation SOC LTD Bill
[B32–2023]; Adoption of minutes], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:00-13:00
 
Select Committee on Trade and Industry, Economic Development, Small
Business Development, Tourism, Employment and Labour, [Briefing by the
Department of Small Business Development on its First and Second Quarterly
reports for the 2023/24 financial year; Consideration and adoption of minutes and Fourth Term Programme], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:00-13:00
 
Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry, [Deliberations on the Companies A/Bs], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:00-13:00
 
Select Committee on Health and Social Services, [Consideration of the Submissions on the NHI Bill [B11B-2019], sec 76 and the responses to submissions by the Department of Health; Consideration and Adoption of Committee Minutes], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:00-13:00
 
Portfolio Committee on Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development,
[Consideration of the Motion of Desirability on the Preservation and Development of Agricultural Land Bill [B8 – 2021]; and Deliberations on the Preservation and Development of Agricultural Bill [B8 – 2021], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:00-13:00
 
Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, [Consideration and Adoption of Draft Budget Review and Recommendation Report (BRRR) 2023; Briefing on Status Update on National School Nutrition Programme by: Department of Basic Education (DBE); KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education (KZNDOE); Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECDOE)], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:30-13:00
 
Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities,
[Responses by the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities to submissions received on the National Youth Development Agency Amendment Bill [B13-2022]; Consideration and adoption of minutes], Committee Room, S12A, Ground Floor, NCOP Building, Parliament, 09:30-13:00
 
Portfolio Committee on Public Service and Administration, [Briefing by the Parliamentary Legal Services on the constitutionality of the Bills; Briefing by National School of Government on their proposed amendments to the Public Administration Management Amendment Bill [B10 -2023]], Virtual Meeting Platform, 09:30-13:00
 
Select Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Water and Sanitation and Human Settlements, [Briefing KZN MEC of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on the Status of Section 139 interventions in Municipalities], Virtual Meeting Platform, 10:00
 
Portfolio Committee on Transport, [Consideration of draft Committee Legacy
Report; Consideration of draft Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report
(pending the tabling of the 2022/23 Annual Reports of the Department of Transport and its entities that have not yet tabled their reports); Consideration and adoption of draft minutes of proceedings], Virtual Meeting Platform, 10:00-13:00
 
Portfolio Committee on Tourism, [South African Tourism – Quarter 1 Report for the 2023/24 financial year; Consideration of minutes], Committee Room M201, Second Floor, Marks Building, Parliament, 10:00-13:00
 
Portfolio Committee on Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, [Consideration and adoption of the Committee Budgetary Review and Recommendation Report, 2023; Briefing by the Department on their First Quarterly Reports for 2023/24; and Briefing by the Department on the state of nurseries in South Africa], Virtual Meeting Platform, 10:00-13:00

Issued by Parliament of South Africa