Political parties will be deeply involved in behind-closed-doors negotiations about coalitions this week after last week’s local government elections produced hung councils in more than 60 municipalities and metros.
Parties have drawn lines in the sand regarding who they will negotiate with but much will depend on local dynamics and surprises could be in store.
Political heavyweights spent the weekend applying their minds to what they will demand and their non-negotiables as well as to what they can offer to potential partners.
In terms of the Municipal Structures Act, parties have two weeks from the date the election result is announced to conclude the negotiations and elect a speaker of council and a mayor.
On Monday the Constitutional Court will hear arguments in a case brought by the Speaker of parliament and the DA challenging a judgment won by public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane who challenged aspects of the rules parliament adopted to govern the process of investigating her suitability to hold office.
The Western Cape High Court found fault with two of the rules adopted for the impeachment of the head of a Chapter 9 institution. The court found that the rules should be amended to allow legal representation for a Chapter 9 head when he/she appears before the dedicated parliamentary committee set up to consider the impeachment.
The court also found that it was unlawful for a judge — retired Constitutional Court judge Bess Nkabinde in this case — to head up the expert panel which was appointed by parliament to evaluate whether there was a prima facie case of impeachment against Mkhwebane. The panel found that there was such a case on the grounds of incompetence and misconduct which it believed justified her removal from office.
The matter is not the first to be heard by the apex court since the post of chief justice became officially vacant when Mogoeng Mogoeng retired in October but it is among the more politically loaded.
On Thursday, finance minister Enoch Godongwana will table the medium-term budget policy statement which will set out the National Treasury’s latest projections for revenue and economic growth and make adjustments to expenditure items. He will address the National Assembly on the document and brief parliament’s appropriations and finance committees on it on Friday.
With the local government elections now over parliamentary committees will recommence their work with most of them focusing on the 2020/2021 annual reports of departments and their entities which have been tabled in parliament. They will also be briefed by officials of the auditor-general’s office on audit outcomes.
On Tuesday, the finance committee will be briefed by the auditor-general’s office on the audit outcomes of the National Treasury and its entities and the SA Revenue Service (Sars) will brief MPs on its annual report.
The home affairs committee will be briefed by the Electoral Commission of SA on its 2020/2021 annual report and could give feedback on the local government election process.
The standing committee on public accounts will be briefed by the Treasury on expansions and deviations for national departments and its entities for the first two quarters of the 2020/2021 financial year.
The basic education committee will be briefed on exam readiness for 2021.
On Wednesday, the finance committee will get feedback from the Treasury and Sars on the Taxation Laws Amendment, Tax Administration Laws Amendment and the Rates and Monetary Amounts and Amendment of Revenue Laws bills.
The justice and correctional services committee on Wednesday will be briefed by the public protector on the organisation’s 2020/2021 annual report, expenditure to date in the current financial year and spending needs over the next three years. The National Prosecuting Authority will brief the committee on the same subjects on Friday.
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