Cape Town - After addressing the government’s official Youth Day event in Tshwane on Tuesday, President Jacob Zuma is expected to answer questions in the House, where the EFF has promised not to let the Nkandla saga rest.
Among the six questions to Zuma, is the ACDP’s on government support to Chapter 9 institutions supporting democracy, including the public protector.
The other presidential questions include two from the ANC on the Freedom Charter – one asks how the government intends ensuring South Africans “make it part of their lives as we seek to advance the further liberation of all who live in South Africa” – one from the DA on action on unemployment and the youth, and the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) on presidential pardons for prisoners from the liberation formations, a reference to the more than 100 Apla soldiers in jail.
Parliament’s Nkandla ad hoc committee could meet again, amid tensions over a final decision on who should appear before it when it finalises its programme to deal with Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko’s report.
At its first meeting last week, ANC and opposition MPs clashed over whether the public protector and others should be called in addition to the ministers of police and public works.
Released last month, Nhleko’s report absolved Zuma from having to repay any of the R215 million spent on security upgrades at his Nkandla homestead. In contrast to the public protector, Nhleko found the swimming pool, cattle kraal, chicken run, amphitheatre and visitors’ centre were indeed necessary security features and therefore did not incur any presidential liability.
The parliamentary spotlight falls on Eskom, which re-started load shedding last week, when the appropriations committee on Friday holds public hearings on the R23 billion earmarked to support the troubled financial power utility.
However, MPs last week decided to support the cash injection, as the “collapse of Eskom could not be allowed”, said a statement following the joint meeting of the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces’ appropriations committees.
Described as a “bail-out” by opposition parties, the R23bn for Eskom was announced in February’s State of the Nation Address. Subsequently, it emerged the first slice should be paid over to Eskom by the end of this month, and the remainder by year end. Parliament is thus running hard against time as it has scheduled a debate on this “special appropriation” for next week.
The Eskom cash injection comes as the power utility is set to hear from the National Energy Regulator (Nersa) whether its application for a further 25 percent tariff hike is approved.
In the House on Wednesday, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davis will make a statement on negotiations, largely on the poultry industry, related to the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) recently passed in the US. Agoa, which was up for renewal this year, allows several South African exports, including light vehicles, duty-free access to US markets.
Also on Wednesday, the National Assembly will vote on the Bill to amend the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act, which seeks to decriminalise consensual sexual acts among teenagers following two Constitutional Court rulings which gave Parliament time to fix the defects.
Pitfalls of the original 2007 law, which effectively also criminalised consensual kissing, cuddling and petting among teenagers, emerged with the 2010 Jules High School sex saga. After a video of teenagers filming themselves having consensual sex went viral, a 15-year-old girl and two boys aged 14 and 16 were charged with statutory rape under this law. The charges were eventually dropped in 2011, after the teenagers underwent a diversion programme.
The amendment Bill does not affect legal provisions on rape, including statutory rape of a minor by an adult.
Political Bureau