DA questions if Parly has complete govt oversight without Presidency committee
The party’s chief whip, George Michalakis, said without a Presidency oversight committee, Parliament has no opportunity to scrutinise the policy direction the president gives to his government.
DA Chief Whip George Michalakis. Picture: EWN/Lindsay Dentlinger
CAPE TOWN - The Democratic Alliance (DA) has questioned whether Parliament has full oversight over the government if it has not established a committee to oversee the work of the Presidency.
A legacy hangover from the fifth administration and a recommendation of the Zondo Commission of Inquiry, the party’s chief whip, George Michalakis, said that without a Presidency oversight committee, Parliament has no opportunity to scrutinise the policy direction the president gives to his government.
Michalakis was debating the president’s budget vote address in the House on Wednesday night.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will return to the National Assembly on Thursday afternoon to respond to the seven-hour-long debate.
Michalakis said that while many parties have bemoaned the lack of a Presidency oversight committee in Parliament, only a handful have made submissions on how it should be established and how it would function.
Michalakis said the work of the Presidency needs more oversight than the president’s quarterly question time in the House, and through written parliamentary questions from political parties.
He said the director general of the Presidency is the only one across government that does not report to Parliament.
“The most senior civil servant in the country is wholly unaccountable to Parliament. Apart from that, Parliament has absolutely no opportunity to engage the president or his deputy on matters of national importance or public policy other than oral questions or the State of the Nation Address, which happens once a year.”
Michalakis said the intention is not to have the president before Parliament every other week, but that had such a committee been established years ago, when the African National Congress (ANC) routinely blocked the proposal, the Nkandla saga would have been picked up sooner.
“It is the continued lack of such a committee that will ensure that future presidents will be equally unaccountable, unless it’s set up.”
A rules subcommittee is currently considering proposals from parties on how such a committee should work.