By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has expressed concern over cabinet ministers who ignore written parliamentary questions.
The ministers include Mineral Resources and Energy minister Gwede Mantashe, Defence Minister Thandi Modise, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande, Justice Minister Ronald Lamola, and Small Business Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams.
Mapisa-Nqakula says she has since written a letter to the deputy president as leader of government business.
“Since the National Assembly adopted a system to monitor and report on questions that have been endorsed as unanswered on question paper, letters have been directed to affected members of cabinet on a quarterly basis requesting their reasons for unanswered questions.
“This includes regular report to the deputy president as leader of government business, however unacceptable high number of unanswered of questions lapsed at the end of the term.”
The Department of Cooperative Governance accounts to 12 outstanding questions, while Defence has 27, six for Health, five for Justice, three for Small Business Development, nine for Tourism and 18 for Transport.
Meanwhile Mapisa-Nqakula, will lead a South African parliamentary delegation to the 146th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Manama, Bahrain.
The five-day session of the 133-year-old multilateral organisation will take place at the Exhibition World Bahrain from 11 to 15 March 2023.
The multilateral organisation of 178 Parliaments is scheduled to be attended by representatives of 110 Parliaments, including delegations from countries in conflict situations.
The Assembly will be held under the theme, ‘Promoting peaceful coexistence and inclusive societies: Fighting intolerance’.
The theme is informed by evidence that the world is at its lowest ebb of peacefulness in over 15 years because of a series of conflicts, including the War in Ukraine.