Politics is likely to shift to the background this week as economic realities continue to dominate the domestic scene.
There will be the aftermath of the decision by credit ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service and the investment conference taking place in Johannesburg from Tuesday to Thursday.
More than 1,500 delegates from around the world are expected to attend the conference which will be presided over by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan is expected to make the long-awaited announcement of a new Eskom CEO to replace Jabu Mabuza who has been holding the positions of both chair and acting CEO for three months. A permanent CEO is seen as critical to stabilise the cash-strapped utility and to drive the strategy for its transformation.
The Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture will continue with its work on Wednesday.
The National Assembly will be occupied on Tuesday and Wednesday with the consideration of budgetary review and recommendation reports of numerous portfolio committees. These reports sum up the views of MPs on the budgets, delivery performance and effective use of resources by departments. The reports are in compliance with the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act.
On Tuesday, MPs in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) will put questions to the ministers of communications, transport and public works and infrastructure. Some of these questions focus on corruption and maladministration in the department of public works and the financial viability of the SABC.
Also on Tuesday, the communications portfolio committee will be briefed by the SA Post Office on the impairment of its investment, governance and operational challenges and the action plan to address the auditor-general’s concerns about its going-concern status. Parliament’s finance and appropriations committees will be briefed by the Financial and Fiscal Commission and the parliamentary budget office on the medium-term budget policy statement.
On Wednesday the justice and correctional services committee will be briefed on the International Crimes Bill which proposes to repeal the Implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Act. Jurisdiction over international crimes will be conferred to domestic courts. This bill precedes the likely withdrawal of SA from the Rome Statute. Parliament’s two finance committees will hold public hearings on the medium-term budget policy statement and the appropriations committee will be briefed on it by the Public Service Commission.
On Thursday, deputy president David Mabuza will answer questions in the NCOP, one of which deals with Eskom’s grid reliability and its ability to supply electricity to the nation. On Friday, the two finance committees will get feedback from the Treasury on the public submissions made on the medium term budget statement.
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