Siyabonga Mkhwanazi
Deputy President David Mabuza is facing another day of questions in the National Council of Provinces, with delegates expected to ask him about Ukraine, water issues and moral regeneration.
The question on Ukraine comes a day after members of the National Assembly were debating it on Tuesday.
But in the question and answer session in the NCOP on Wednesday, Mabuza is asked by Cathlene Labuschagne of the DA on South Africa’s position on the Ukraine conflict.
The government has come under fire, from some opposition parties, for failing to condemn Russia for its action in Ukraine.
The conflict in Ukraine has been raging over the last three weeks since Russia sent its troops there.
In the National Assembly debate on Tuesday, DA leader John Steenhuisen led the charge against the ANC-led government for its position on Ukraine. He said the government remained neutral in the conflict when the world was condemning Ukraine. SA also abstained during the UN General Assembly vote against Russia.
But ANC Ministers, including Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu, deputy minister of finance David Masondo and deputy minister of international relations and cooperation Candith Mashego-Dlamini, defended the stance of the government. They called for a peaceful solution to the conflict in Ukraine.
EFF deputy leader Floyd Shivambu backed Russia for its action in Ukraine, saying this was to prevent the expansion of Nato to the east.
In the NCOP, EFF member Mmabatho Mokause asked Mabuza about the settlement of the land claims that were lodged before the first deadline of December 1998.
Thousands of land claims lodged by 1998 have not been settled.
During the second window of 2014 and 2016, when the Land Restitution Act was passed by Parliament and halted by the Constitutional Court after the judgement in 2016, more than 120 000 new claims had been lodged.
The state had done a study on land claims and found that it would cost it billions of rand to settle claims.
Mokause wants to know from Mabuza how much it would cost the state to settle all these claims.
The ANC has asked Mabuza about the economic recovery plan that was tabled by President Cyril Ramaphosa more than a year ago.
POLITICAL BUREAU