LESS than a week after an intense debate in Parliament on state capture, President Jacob Zuma will be in the hot seat on Tuesday to answer questions on how the new Presidential State-Owned Companies Co-ordinating Council will interact with the existing Inter-Ministerial Committee on State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs).
The creation of the council, which will be headed by Zuma, sparked fears that he would assume more control over parastatals, which some say would compound problems at SAA, Denel and others. It was also seen as a power grab to neutralise Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who chairs the inter-ministerial committee.
Shortly after the Presidency announced the creation of the co-ordinating council, asset management company Futuregrowth said it would stop lending money to six of SA’s biggest state-owned companies.
Futuregrowth, which has since apologised for not engaging with the SOEs directly before going public, cited threats to the independence of the finance ministry and government infighting as the reasons behind its decision.
Also on Tuesday, Parliament will hold public hearings and submissions on the Border Management Authority Bill.
Last month, Parliament gave the Department of Home Affairs, the police ministry and Treasury until Tuesday to consult with each other and then make final submissions on the bill.
There had been concerns about the overlapping functions between the three departments.
The president will also be expected to respond to a question on the plan of action regarding a likely sovereign ratings downgrade later this year and its effect on the poor and on SA’s high unemployment rate.
Higher education will take centre stage in Parliament on Wednesday as the Portfolio Committee on Higher Education and Training briefs Parliament on the latest developments in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training and Community Education and Training sectors.
Last week, MPs debated the ongoing higher education funding crisis, with some political parties saying the government had done nothing to provide funding for 2017 and others saying there was money that could be reprioritised to fund students.
University of Johannesburg chancellor Prof Njabulo Ndebele will speak on protests and why fire has become the weapon of choice in recent protest action in SA, at the 10th Annual Helen Joseph Memorial Lecture at the university on Wednesday.
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On Thursday, the Department of Water and Sanitation will conduct a national public consultation session on the gazetted Climate Change and Hydropower Policies. It aims to collect comments on how policies can respond to water sector challenges.
SA is experiencing the worst drought in history and government and other stakeholders have been looking for better ways to deal with SA’s water-supply limits.
Wednesday marks the last day of the South African Human Rights Commission’s (SAHRC’s) hearing on the Underlying Socio-economic Challenges of Mining-Affected Communities in SA.
The sector has been shaken by strike and protest actions in the past few years, which the commission has attributed to growing discontent among miners, trade unions and mining communities over low wages and poor living conditions.
On Thursday the commission will launch a report of the National Investigative Hearing into the Impact of Protest-related Action on the Right to Basic Education in SA.
The commission said recent trends in protest-related action had increasingly had a negative effect on children’s attendance. The hearing’s purpose was to find solutions so that children’s right to a basic education was respected by all.
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