The new mayors elected last week are expected to announce the members of their mayoral committees this week. The executive in hung municipalities will probably consist of people from a mix of parties, especially in places where the majority party (the ANC or DA) had to make deals with smaller parties to gain the mayoral seat.
Parliament will move towards the finalisation of its business before MPs head home in 10 days for the December/January recess.
On Tuesday, the Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) will update the communications committee on the much-delayed and much-contested spectrum auction. This follows Icasa’s recent success in persuading Telkom, MTN and Vodacom to drop their impending lawsuits over the spectrum allocation.
Also on Tuesday, the mineral resources & energy committee will hold public hearings on the Gas Amendment Bill, which seeks to promote the development of the fledgling gas industry and BEE; provide for new developments and changing technologies in the sector; and facilitate infrastructure development and investment. Environmental lobby groups opposed to the use of gas as an energy source and the expansion of the gas infrastructure on the grounds of its greenhouse gas emissions are likely to be vocal participants at the hearings, which will continue on Friday.
The National Assembly will debate a series of tax laws emanating from the 2021 budget, and in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), the ministers of health and social development will answer questions from MPs.
On Wednesday, an NCOP select committee will be briefed by the department of public works & infrastructure on the progress made with SA’s infrastructure investment plan, which consists of 62 projects from all three spheres of government, state-owned enterprises and the private sector.
Also on Wednesday, a parliamentary legal adviser will give the police committee a legal opinion on the terms of reference for the parliamentary inquiry into the serious lapses in the ability and capacity of the SA Police Service (SAPS) to deal with the violence and unrest that gripped KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng in July. There has been sharp criticism of the inaction of the police and the defence force in the face of the looting and destruction, which is estimated to have caused economic damage of R50bn.
The finance committee will decide on the desirability of the DA’s Pension Funds Amendment Bill, which would allow those in financial need to access their retirement savings. The proposal is opposed by Treasury, which has its own plans to reform the retirement fund industry in a way that would give contributors access to a portion of their savings.
The higher education portfolio committee will be briefed by the department of higher education & training, National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS), universities and students on preparations for the 2022 academic year.
The defence & military veterans committee will get a presentation from the department of defence on the findings of the ministerial task team on the department’s procurement of Heberon Interferon-Alpha-2B, an unregistered and unproven drug ostensibly for Covid-19 from Cuba. In August, SA’s outstanding debt to Cuba for the drug was R180m.
The ministers in the social services cluster will answer questions in the National Assembly and the ministers of sports, arts & culture, human settlements and water & sanitation will answer questions in the NCOP.
On Friday, the SAPS will brief a joint meeting of the higher education and police committee on police involvement during student protests.
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