Committee on land fails to complete its work

PARLIAMENT has decided to reconstitute the committee on land expropriation as well as when it would be suitable to continue its work.

The work of the committee, whose term ends on Sunday, came to a halt mid-March when the state of disaster was declared. The committee still has to hold public hearings in Limpopo, Western Cape and the Northern Cape.

Yesterday, members discussed the matter before the National Assembly programme committee meeting. IFP MP Narend Singh was the first to propose that the committee be allowed to lapse and be reconstituted.

ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina meanwhile said the governing party fully supported the proposal that the committee be reconstituted at the earliest when Parliament holds a sitting in the next term.

EFF MP Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi said the decision was painful because her party’s position on the matter was well known.

“It talks to public hearings which are going to be difficult during Covid19,” she said.

“Even if we don’t support that, we have no choice because of public hearings that can’t take place during Covid-19 pandemic,” Mkhaliphi said.

DA chief whip Natasha Mazzone said it made sense to allow the committee to lapse.

“We have no idea yet the way the virus will work,” Mazzone said. “When reinstated, it will pick up from where it had left off,” she added.

National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise said: “Nobody is against allowing the committee to lapse and be reconstituted as and when it is suitable to finish its work.”

Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to reply to oral questions on June 18.

Ramaphosa’s inclusion on the parliamentary programme sparked interest among MPs on the whereabouts of his deputy, David Mabuza.

“What happened to the deputy president? We have questions for the deputy president, and they normally precede the president. What happened there,” asked Singh.

Mazzone said she was also worried about where Mabuza was and wanted to know when he was coming to answer questions.

“I think it’s important because he’s the leader of government business and there are certainly questions that he needs to answer about issues that are happening in government at the moment.

“I would like a schedule about when the deputy president would be allowed to answer questions,” she said.

Mkhaliphi said Mabuza had been the subject of discussion in the chief whip’s forum on Wednesday and at last week’s programme committee meeting.

“On the programme that has been tabled to us, there’s no deputy president, while last week we were told the deputy might come on the 24th,” said Mkhalipi.