African National Congress

Parliamentary Caucus

CAREERS

ANC STATEMENT ON THE RECOMMENDATION TO ESTABLISH YET ANOTHER PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON THE WORK OF THE PRESIDENCY

3 November 2024 

The African National Congress Caucus in Parliament has noted the article in the Sunday Times titled “ANC gets its first bloody GNU nose in Parliament”. The article is in reference to the decision of the Rules Committee of the National Assembly to recommend the establishment of a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on the Presidency and seems to suggest that the ANC is opposed to the establishment of such an oversight committee firstly and secondly, that such a Committee would be “an oversight committee to hold President Cyril Ramaphosa to account”.

On the contrary, the African National Congress remains fully committed to holding the President, the Deputy President and all Members of the Executive accountable to the people of South Africa through Parliament. It is a fact that the President and the Presidency have always accounted to Parliament in terms of the rules and structures in place.

The Rules of Parliament are prescriptive that the President of the Republic shall appear before the National Assembly at least four times per year and twice per year before the National Council of Provinces to respond to questions for oral reply. The President further responds to an unlimited number of questions for written reply from Members of Parliament. The President further tables the Budget Vote for Vote 1 (The Presidency) before the National Assembly once per annum and a debate held on this Vote over a period of two days.

All functions within the Department, The Presidency, and the broader Presidency family, are already accountable, through the delegated principals and the properly appointed Executive Authorities, to oversight committees as follows:

  • The Presidency: Portfolio Committee on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
  • GCIS: Portfolio Committee on Communications and Digital Technologies
  • Statistics SA: Portfolio Committee on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
  • State Security: Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence
  • DPME: Portfolio Committee on Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation
  • DWYPwD: Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
  • ⁠SIU Proclamations and Reports:  Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) 

The Minister in the Presidency is the delegated Executive Authority of the Presidency and the Chief Operations Officer in the Presidency is the Accounting Officer, and not the Director-General as is the case with other departments. There is therefore no merit in the argument demanding the appearance of the Director-General in the Presidency and Secretary to Cabinet.

The ANC reiterates and reaffirms its position – which was the point of contention in the Rules Committee – there is no value to be gained by establishing yet another oversight mechanism on the Presidency when functional and robust mechanisms already exist. The Report of the Judicial Commission into Allegations of State Capture said “it is therefore recommended that Parliament should consider whether it is appropriate for it to establish a committee whose function is, or includes, oversight over acts or omissions by the President and the Presidency, which are not overseen by existing portfolio committees”. To date, the Democratic Alliance and its allies the MK Party, the EFF and others, have failed to provide a cogent response to which areas are not overseen by existing portfolio committees and where defects, if any, in the current oversight instruments lie.

The African National Congress thus maintains that no argument has been advanced to date by any of the opposition parties setting out what weaknesses exist in the current arrangement nor has a constructive solution been proposed as to how to strengthen the existing mechanism should the current committees have been found to be defective. The ANC further holds as  its considered view that this decision to establish yet another Portfolio Committee on the Presidency being advanced by the Democratic Alliance and its allies the MK Party, the EFF and others, is yet again nothing but political posturing and point scoring. 

ISSUED BY THE CHIEF OF WHIP OF THE ANC PARLIAMENTARY CAUCUS, CDE MDUMISENI NTULI

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