Johannesburg - The DA wants an investigation by Parliament into the “manipulation” of parliamentary questions for ministerial replies.
This call, and a request to meet Parliament’s presiding officers, followed the party’s own inquiries, which showed departments were given prior notice of questions in what was described as vetting.
Often departments given such notice proceed to edit the MP’s question, and then proceed to answer not the original, but the tailored version, without the agreement of the relevant MP.
Parliamentary questions are a tool to hold accountable ministers and their departments for their performance, and how they execute their power, alongside question-and-answer sessions with the president, deputy president and ministers in the House.
Parliamentary questions cover topics from the very local, like the closure of a particular school or levels of equipment at a particular police station, to broader issues of, among others, how much money is spent on travel and cars.
Often political prickly issues like the Nkandla saga are also raised.
DA chief whip John Steenhuisen on Wednesday said: “It could be a constitutional violation that the executive determines the shape of the question”.
And the quality of replies had declined since the new, post-May 2014 election, he added. “The executive is trying to creep and take over all aspects of the political scene.”
Steenhuisen said MPs also had to shape up and ensure they asked questions to solicit information, not a simple yes or no response.
The claims of manipulation of parliamentary questions come as Parliament’s rules sub-committee is discussing extending the deputy president’s question time every two weeks in the House to between one and three hours, with a broad national and international focus.
Steenhuisen said this would cut into ministerial question time, and was a sign the ANC appeared uncomfortable about having their ministers answer questions on the spot.
Each question, for which ministers can prepare ahead of time, is followed by up to four spontaneous supplementary questions from the benches.
Political Bureau