The Democratic Alliance (DA) will push Parliament’s rules committee to introduce measures to make President Jacob Zuma and his ministers more accountable to questions from Members of Parliament.
Deputy chief whip Mike Ellis said at a press conference in Cape Town on Thursday that the party would push for a proposal for “specific consequences” when ministers do not respond to questions in the allotted time frame in the National Assembly.
“Considering the manner in which Ministers shy away from their responsibilities in the House, it is clear that the oversight mechanisms are not at all effective to ensure that Parliament fulfills its mandate,” Ellis said.
“As ministers do not answer written questions, delay responses and at times do not even attend sittings, they are systematically undermining the oversight function of Parliament by harming the integrity of the institution.
“It is for this reason that these mechanisms need to be amended as to align with Parliament’s mandate.”
Replies to questions
Ellis said the party had drafted a document identifying how the “shortcomings” can be rectified.
“This included specific consequences whenever members do not respond to written questions within the allotted time frame, more frequent opportunities for each oral question cluster and the reinstatement of government interpolations [mini debates].”
DA Parliamentary leader Athol Trollip said the party had submitted 3557, or 76%, of all written questions in the National Assembly in 2010 — an average of around 40 questions a member.
“All other parties submitted a total of 867 questions, averaging 12 per member,” he said.
“The continuous effort of the DA in pursuing certain issues has had a direct impact on public policy.” — Sapa