Parties across divide reiterate decade-long call for better Presidency parliamentary oversight

CAPE TOWN - Political parties across the divide have reiterated a decade-long call for better parliamentary oversight over The Presidency.

They said an ever-expanding Presidency with several portfolios housed within it makes this even more urgent.

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The demand is a hangover from the previous administration as parties now in the Government of National Unity (GNU) are making the same call.

ActionSA’s Athol Trollip said quarterly question time with the president is insufficient to maintain effective oversight over The Presidency.

“Why is The Presidency so averse to direct, inclusive oversight? Is it because your office has become a bloated, super department with multiple ministries and deputy ministries?”

The Freedom Front (FF) Plus’s Corne Mulder said Parliament will need to come up with a unique, homegrown mechanism, and not a portfolio committee, to hold the president accountable.

“Let’s be clear, the purpose of that mechanism cannot be to settle personal scores or to launch attacks on the president as an individual.”

RISE Mzansi leader Songezo Zibi added his voice to the chorus, saying South Africans perceived government leaders to be unaccountable, and the president should also be more engaging with the media.

“The growth of The Presidency and its work is not being matched by efforts to ensure that the many issues that previously fell under ministries that are subject to parliamentary oversight continue to be so.”

President Cyril Ramaphosa will respond to the debate on Wednesday afternoon.