OUT FOR THE COUNT
EFF’s overalls don’t stand for work in ‘engine room’ of committees
EFF MPs attend only about a third of parliamentary committee meetings, and a DA member holds the dubious honour of being the tardiest.
This is according to the Parliamentary Monitoring Group, which attends committee meetings and collates attendance figures.
The data the group compiled is available in an “attendance calculator” for all ANC, DA and EFF MPs for 2015 and 2016.
It records each MP’s attendance of committee meetings, what time they arrive and if they leave early.
The information shows the ANC has an average attendance rate of 75%, the DA 74% and the EFF 35%. It does not track smaller parties because their MPs serve on more than one committee at a time.
Between his study leave, party campaigning and a handful of suspensions due to removal from the National Assembly, EFF leader Julius Malema attended just 3% of the 33 meetings he should have been to in the period under review. EFF chief whip Floyd Shivambu fared slightly better, at 18% of 54 meetings.
Phillip Mhlongo, the EFF’s man on the police committee, might record 70% attendance, but he is the party’s tardiest member, arriving late at 30% of meetings.
EFF spokesman Mbuyiseni Ndlozi had not responded to requests for comment by the time of going to print.
DA MP Patrick Atkinson has a 100% attendance rate for committee meetings, but is the tardiest, running late for 43% of the seven he has attended so far this year.
Moloto Mothapo, spokesman for the ANC in parliament, said committees were “the engine room” of parliament, which was why the party was pushing hard for good attendance.
While the party did not have specific quotas like the DA, which insists on 75% attendance, it was expected that committees should form quorums without having to rely on opposition MPs, he said.
The ANC had also pushed for strict compliance with parliament’s attendance policy and rules to ensure all MPs were at work, and was looking forward to the implementation of the biometric monitoring system to track attendance of committee meetings with accurate data, he added.
DA chief whip John Steenhuisen said the party scored MPs on attendance at meetings. Anyone scoring below 65% was flagged.
James Selfe, chairman of the DA federal executive, scores among the lowest, at 28%, but Steenhuisen said this was because Selfe sits on the justice and correctional services committee — a merged body — and only attends correctional services meetings while other MPs attend the justice meetings.
The calculator also does not indicate the reasons for nonattendance, which could include legitimate reasons such as sick or study leave or party obligations.
ANC MP Winnie MadikizelaMandela has been ill for most of this year and has not attended any meetings. Several MPs of the three parties are also studying.
Backbenchers earn just above R1-million, while those chairing committees pocket more than R1.2-million a year. Malema earns R1.2-million while the DA’s Mmusi Maimane earns just under R1.5million. The highest-paid MPs are National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete and National Council of Provinces chairwoman Thandi Modise. Both earn R2.7-million a year.