Defence and Military Veterans Minister Angie Motshekga while not 100% diligent when it comes to answering Parliamentary questions fares better than some of her colleagues in South Africa’s seventh administration Government of National Unity (GNU).
Since being sworn in as President Cyril Ramaphosa’s pick for the defence and military veterans portfolios on 3 July last year, Motshekga answered all nine oral questions put to her by either National Assembly (NA) or National Council of Provinces (NCOP) public representatives.
When it comes to written responses while being better than, for example, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu with 42 unanswered questions out of 194 (21%), Department of Defence (DoD), Department of Military Veterans (DMV), and SA National Defence Force (SANDF) senior personnel and officers haven’t provided answers to 18 out of 122 questions.
The response performance of other Cabinet ministers in the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security (JCPS) cluster is generally in similar vein with only Pieter Groenewald of Correctional Services having a 100% response to oral and written questions.
Home Affairs Minister Leon Schreiber responded to all eight oral questions he was asked and replied in writing to 24 of 114 questions – just on 22% – with Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi, parachuted in from Human Settlements in the wake of the Thembi Simelane corruption scandal. Between them, the pair replied to all eight oral questions asked and 14 of 74 – 19% – of written questions.
The Parliamentary question response performance is contained in a communication from Deputy President Paul Mashatile, Leader of Government Business in Parliament, made public on 27 December.
All told 2 477 questions were put to Cabinet ministers with 259 not answered. Written answers are, as per Parliamentary rules and regulations, supposed to be responded to within 10 working days of being posed.
