Questions Zuma will face in his last Q&A for 2016

President Jacob Zuma is set to appear in the National Assembly on Wednesday afternoon for his last oral question-and-answer session for the year. Picture: Sumaya Hisham/EPA

President Jacob Zuma is set to appear in the National Assembly on Wednesday afternoon for his last oral question-and-answer session for the year. Picture: Sumaya Hisham/EPA

Published Nov 23, 2016

Share

Cape Town - President Jacob Zuma is set to appear in the National Assembly on Wednesday afternoon for his last oral question-and-answer session for the year.

Zuma is expected to address:

* the global economic challenges and potential growth of the economy;

* government efforts at satisfying the concerns expressed by sovereign ratings agencies;

* South Africa’s participation in global institutions such as the G20 and Brics;

* fees for university and college students for 2017;

* the closure of the accounts of the Guptas’ main holding company, Oakbay Investments,

* and the release of the Public Protector’s State of Capture report.

DA leader Mmusi Maimane’s question to Zuma on Wednesday will be “whether he and/or his legal team instructed (a) the Minister of Mineral Resources, Mr M J Zwane and/or (b) the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Mr D D D van Rooyen, to lodge applications to interdict the release of the Public Protector’s report, entitled State of Capture, due to the specified persons’ alleged relationships with the Gupta family; if not, in each case, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the reasons in each case?”

The president is also expected to reply to the following questions:

* IFP MP Professor C T Msimang will ask: “With reference to the registration of university students in 2017, (a) has the government reached consensus with students on whether there must be no tuition fees or that there shall be no increases in tuition fees and (b) what is the government’s position and response to the demand that there must be no tuition fees, that is fees must fall?”

* Bantu Holomisa of the UDM’s question is: “Whether, with reference to the reply of the Minister of Mineral Resources to an urgent oral question 205 on 7 September 2016, he has applied his mind to the proposal of the Inter-Ministerial Committee, which was chaired by the Minister, to look into the closure of the accounts of Oakbay Investments (Pty) Ltd by major banks; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what has been his decision in this regard?”

* The ANC’s BA Radebe will ask: “In light of the implications of taking political decisions on matters that have economic consequences as witnessed with the Brexit decision which is a global phenomenon and that we have little control over countries that engage in this kind of political decision-making that has economic consequences, what, therefore, will the nature of our economic diplomacy be over the next decade?”

* The ACDP’s SN Swart to ask the president: “Whether he has found that sufficient steps have been taken by the government to satisfy the concerns expressed by sovereign ratings agencies earlier in 2016 in order to avoid a sovereign ratings downgrade in their next review?”

* ANC MP EM Coleman’s question to Zuma will be: “How does the government characterise its strategy going forward in the diplomatic, trade and security arenas, with reference to the annual South African Heads of Mission Conference that was held in October 2016, where the matter of geopolitical developments and their impact on the Republic’s diplomatic, trade and security status was discussed, and in view of the observation by the World Economic Forum that South Africa has shown progress in 10 of the 12 indicators measured in respect of global competitiveness, the country nevertheless faces an unstable geopolitical global environment?”

IOL

Related Topics: