Cape Town - National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete has been given another ultimatum to get President Jacob Zuma to account and answer questions in Parliament, but this time from the DA.
Its parliamentary leader, Mmusi Maimane, wants Mbete to set aside five “concrete dates” for Zuma to answer questions in the National Assembly.
The party also distanced itself from EFF plans to disrupt the State of the Nation address, saying it won’t be part of any disorder on February 12. The EFF had wanted Mbete to convene a special sitting before the address.
The Presidency on Thursday also joined the discussions around the programme, saying Zuma’s annual calendar always includes “parliamentary work” and that has been the case since his first term in 2009.
Maimane said the DA would request the five dates when the programme committee, which is chaired by Mbete, holds its first meeting.
“The Speaker has a constitutional responsibility to do this. She should be protecting Parliament’s mandate and not that of the president.”
The five dates are to be made up of the four appearances in Parliament as required by the rules, and the fifth date would be a continuation of last year’s abandoned August 21 sitting.
Maimane said from political interference in the Hawks to the “politically driven purges” of senior management at the SA Revenue Service, to a “leaderless” National Prosecuting Authority, South Africans are witnessing “the capture of our institutions by powerful political interests”.
Mbete’s spokeswoman, Mandlakazi Sigcawu, confirmed that the Speaker had received a letter from the DA chief whip asking her to schedule an urgent programme committee meeting.
Presidency spokesman Mac Maharaj said discussions around Zuma’s programme and “parliamentary work” were noted.
Maharaj said the annual calendar of the president included the following:
* Joint sittings of Parliament.
* Budget speeches in February and October by the minister of Finance.
* The Budget vote debate of the Presidency.
* Oral questions in the National Assembly four times a year.
* Oral questions in the National Council of Provinces once a year.
* Delivery of the annual address to the National Council of Provinces in November of each year and the debate.
* Questions for written reply which are responded to whenever sent by members of Parliament during the year.
Political Bureau