Ministers in the social services and governance cluster face questions in the second chamber of Parliament, the National Council of Provinces, on Tuesday afternoon — including one to the Communications Minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri about progress made in setting up a second national (SNO) operator.
African National Congress (ANC) MP Elliot Sibiya is to ask Matsepe-Casaburri when the SNO would become operational, whether the SNO had any plans to roll-out its own infrastructure and whether it would piggy-back off Telkom’s infrastructure.
Sibiya will also ask whether consumers can expect ”more and better services” and lower prices once the SNO became operational.
The communications minister will also be asked by African National Congress MP Nosipho Ntwanambi about what has been done to expedite the roll-out of an affordable broadband service in South Africa and what the timeframes and the social and economic implications would be.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is scheduled to answer a question from ANC MP Malesane Themba who asks whether living near a cellphone mast could have adverse consequences on a person’s health.
She will also ask whether there is a correlation between the prolonged usage of cellphones and brain tumours and ”what is the [government’s] position in this regard?”.
The Education Minister Naledi Pandor is to be asked by ANC MP NF Mazibuko how many learners have been fed through the school nutrition scheme at primary and secondary schools and what percentage of the budget had been utilised to feed the pupils.
ANC MP Kgoshi Mathupa Mokoena is to ask Provincial and Local Government Minister Sydney Mufamadi whether he would table a report on municipalities that had not appointed chief financial officers and the steps that were being taken by them to address the matter. He is also planning on asking the minister whether his department would review the paying of bonuses to managers in municipalities that fell under Project Consolidate.
Democratic Alliance MP Watty Watson is ask whether in light of the high-vacancy rate in psychiatrists’ posts in public hospitals, any plans had been formulated to attract psychiatrists from other countries to work in South Africa or employ psychiatrists working in the private sector to do short sessions in the public sector.
DA MP Helen Lamoela is scheduled to ask Pandor whether, in light of the growing need for social workers to manage the consequences of the HIV/Aids epidemic, it is required that degrees and diplomas for social work include a specific component on palliative care. – I-Net Bridge