When Speaker Baleka Mbete returned the matter to the committee in February 2018, following Steenhuisen’s second letter calling for its expedition, the politicking continued to unfold.
There are reasons for this high-pressure situation. In 2018 Parliament added about three months’ extra constituency periods, officially for MPs to be in their assigned constituencies, but really to hit the electioneering campaign trail. In 2017 much of the attention of, particularly, the governing ANC MPs were focused on the factional jockeying and positioning in a hard-fought run-up to the Nasrec ANC national conference.
Amid the regular dollop of electioneering from the House Speaker’s podium regardless of the matter at hand, it’s also been time for some bizarre developments, such as DA leader Mmusi Maimane not being on the Speaker’s list for the topic under discussion in his name: “Solutions to address job losses in South Africa and the gross domestic product growth forecast decline for 2019”.
Curiously, the Expropriation Bill, the key to give effect in law to the push to a constitutional amendment to make expropriation without compensation expressly possible, has not yet surfaced in Parliament. Given the public consultations in both Houses, it’s clear it will have to be the post-elections Parliament that will deal with that legislation.
marianne_merten Shame...poor Busi....to tread water daily just to keep your head above the waves must be tiring...she is totally out of her depth...recycle her back to DHA where Fever Tree consultants did all her work anyway.
marianne_merten I remember when it was Thuli doing the most you used to say the public protectors' findings are binding and her office should be respected... What has changed under uBusi?