Policy conference to put ANC unity to test

The ANC will kick off its fifth national policy conference in Nasrec, Johannesburg, on Friday, which will take the party a step closer to its elective conference in December.

The meeting aims to adopt a road map for the December conference and review the party’s policies before a new leadership is elected. The policy conference will end on July 5.

And in Parliament, a series of meetings will be concluded before MPs take a break.

On Tuesday, it will become clear whether or not Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba will appear before Parliament’s portfolio committee on home affairs to explain his decision to grant naturalisation papers to the Gupta family when he was home affairs minister.

Also on Tuesday, the labour portfolio committee will receive a briefing from the department on the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration, the Supported Employment Enterprises and the Compensation Fund.

Parliament’s portfolio committee on police will be briefed by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate on its third and fourth quarterly performance for the 2016-17 financial year.

The committee will also receive an update from executive director Robert McBride on key investigations and the rocky working relationship he had with former police minister Nathi Nhleko and former acting national police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane.

The standing committee on finance will receive a briefing from South African Airways (SAA) regarding their quarterly report. This will be the first time the committee meets with SAA since it emerged that chairwoman Dudu Myeni may have misled Gigaba, when he was public enterprises minister, in a bid to halt the appointment of a new SAA CEO.

The select committee on land and mineral resources will commence with hearings on the contentious Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, starting on Tuesday afternoon. The select committee on social services will also consider and finalise the Refugees Amendment Bill.

On Wednesday, the portfolio committee on water and sanitation will receive a briefing from the department on its fourth-quarter progress report for the 2016-17 financial year.

These meetings follow cancellations by Minister Nomvula Mokonyane and Gigaba last week.

THE COMMITTEE WILL ALSO RECEIVE AN UPDATE FROM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ROBERT MCBRIDE ON KEY INVESTIGATIONS