ANC to get tough on absent MPs

11 March 2012 - 02:07 By THABO MOKONE
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ANC MPs and ministers will now be required to submit medical certificates if they are absent from crucial activities of parliament.

"We are going to be hard on discipline, so there will be nobody that is exempt from it. That will apply equally to the members of the executive," he said.

"We have a very good relationship with the leader of government business in the Presidency, and our office coordinates very well with those offices, so no one can tell us stories that they were busy with this or that, because we don't rely on individuals, we rely on the system."

The strict approach is likely to irk cabinet ministers, who often pull out of meetings of portfolio committees, citing "prior commitments related to government work".

The tough new line follows embarrassments suffered by the party on several occasions in the National Assembly last year, when it failed to pass important pieces of legislation because a majority of its MPs were absent and could not vote.

A document prepared by Motshekga's office spells out a new "protocol for good practice and conduct".

It states that MPs must get written permission to take time off.

"Such permission will be granted or rejected by the office of the chief whip depending on the reasons provided ... without written permission from the office of the chief whip, [comrades] will be reported to the disciplinary committee".

The document, which Motshekga said had been discussed by the national executive committee and would form part of the party's discussion document on legislature and governance, also seeks to bar chairmen of portfolio committees speaking to the media beyond their scope of work.

It also addresses "adversarial" relationships between ministers and chairmen of committees.

"To avoid an adversarial relationship between ministers and chairs of committees, there should be regular communication between the ministers and chairs, such that ministers get formal briefings from the chairs when they are not able to attend study groups and committee meetings."

High-profile clashes between ministers and committee chairmen made headlines a year ago, the most prominent being the acrimonious battle between Nyami Booi, the former defence committee chairman, and Minister of Defence Lindiwe Sisulu.

The document calls on ministers to refrain from providing poor answers to parliamentary questions and cautions MPs against using the legislature as a space to ridicule opposition parties.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe was forced to call ministers to order last year following complaints from opposition parties that they were ignoring parliamentary questions.

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