ANC in Parliament questions DA’s presidency committee pitch
The ANC insisted having a committee to oversee the presidency was unnecessary, adding fuel to an already tense relationship between the party and the DA in Parliament.
An African National Congress (ANC) flag flies outside a polling station in Langa, near Cape Town, on 1 November 2021. Picture: AFP
CAPE TOWN - The African National Congress (ANC) in Parliament is fuming over the Democratic Alliance’s (DA) proposal to establish a committee that will oversee the presidency, calling the move political posturing and point-scoring.
Although a recommendation from the Zondo Commission of Inquiry, the ANC insists it’s not necessary, and that portfolios housed within the presidency are already being monitored by other parliamentary portfolio committees.
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The DA’s proposal for a presidency committee narrowly passed by a single vote during last week’s Rules Committee meeting, with both the Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) Party and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) backing the move.
The situation added fuel to an already tense relationship between the ANC and DA in Parliament, especially over sharing leadership positions on joint committees.
Following last week’s Rules Committee meeting, the ANC caucus stated it believed there was no value in establishing another oversight mechanism on the presidency.
The ANC maintained that functional and robust mechanisms already existed, such as written and oral questions to the president, and a three-day budget debate.
ANC Chief Whip Mdumiseni Ntuli said the DA, along with the MK and EFF - whom he called the DA’s allies - failed to show how existing portfolio committees, such as Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, were falling short in exercising oversight over portfolios within the presidency.
Ntuli argued that some parties were under the mistaken impression that if a presidency committee was established, MPs would be able to directly question the president, who is not a member of Parliament.
"What is it that makes us believe that, even if those matters are referred to a particular portfolio committee in the presidency, they will still not be accounted for?"
The Rules Committee resolved to form a sub-committee to determine the most appropriate mechanism to exercise oversight over the presidency and the president, as well as how it would work.