Ntuli rates ANC Parly caucus performance so far in seventh administration a 7/10

CAPE TOWN - African National Congress (ANC)’s chief whip in Parliament, Mdumiseni Ntuli, said he rates the performance of his caucus so far in the seventh administration as a six or seven out of ten.  

The caucus is holding its lekgotla on Sunday after two days of induction to give members of Parliament (MPs) a better understanding of the implementation of key legislation that is expected to take centre stage in 2025, including the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Act and the National Health Insurance (NHI) Act.  

Ntuli said MPs’ induction into the work of Parliament was particularly demanding after the recess owing to the May elections.  

“It may very well be that because of the demand of that work, we may have appeared as though some of our colleagues were not yet ready to get into the work. But my own sense, if I were to rate the performance of our MPs out of ten, I would say a six or seven out of ten, in terms of their attendance to work, in terms of their readiness when they go to portfolio committees.”  

Ntuli said the caucus is also still finding its feet in the complex environment of engaging with its Government of National Unity (GNU) partners, having lost the outright majority the party previously enjoyed in Parliament.  

“At times, they may not agree with us because of ideological differences. I think there’s been a good adaptation of our members in this new environment, but there’s still more that we need to do and that’s the reason why we are in this planning session - to look at those weaknesses and to position ourselves to better proceed to discharge our responsibilities.”