Parliament’s presiding officers satisfied with work done during first quarter

Parliament’s presiding officers on Sunday expressed their satisfaction with the work done during the first quarter of this year. Speaker of the National Assembly Thandi Modise and National Council of Provinces (NCOP) chairperson Amos Masondo said the efforts set a good foundation for accelerated delivery of parliamentary services to the people of South Africa.

The resilience of Parliament, its leadership, Members of Parliament and employees, triggered by the outbreak of Covid-19 and the national lockdown in 2020, continues to grow in 2021.

“The spirit that drove Parliament to hold its first virtual meeting of the portfolio committee on health on April 10, 2020, continued to permeate every facet of its being, as we appreciate the amount of work done in just over 60 days from January 26 to the time it went on recess in March 2021,” Modise and Masondo said.

They said they had no doubt that when they resumed work on May 3, they would begin from where they had left off.

Spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said in a statement that a report outlining Parliament’s work demonstrated a very busy programme, which epitomised Parliament’s resilience, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, in delivering on its mandate of law-making, executive oversight and promotion of public participation and involvement.

Mothapo said 10 bills were passed by the National Assembly and the NCOP.

Mothapo said apart from hosting the State of the Nation Address by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the NCOP held a ministerial briefing by Health Minister Zweli Mkhize on the vaccine roll-out strategy and acquisition plan.
The parliamentary committees of both Houses held 376 virtual meetings and produced 56 reports.

“Among the executive appointments that received consideration and are due for completion during the second quarter, is the filling of vacancies in the SABC and the Media Development and Diversity Agency boards,” he said.

Mothapo said the committees also undertook six oversight visits to get first-hand experience of the execution of government policy and the challenges faced, including to Koeberg power station and ArcelorMittal, where the deaths of three workers were registered.

In other news – Update: AKA’s fiancee Nelli Tembe has died

AKA’s newly engaged fiancee Nelli Tembe has reportedly died after allegedly jumping out of a building in the early hours of Sunday, 11 April.

Last month, congratulatory messages flooded social media platforms after rapper AKA announced that he taken a step to pay lobola for his 22-year-old fiancee. Learn more

Source: IOL

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