Why has government not created jobs - and can Ramaphosa cut food prices?

President Cyril Ramaphosa will appear before the National Assembly for about three hours on Wednesday afternoon to answers questions about his government's performance on key issues.

The session starts at 3pm.

Six questions are scheduled for reply.

Julius Malema of the Economic Freedom Fighters is scheduled to ask Ramaphosa: "Why did the Government rush to sign the Independent Power Producers (IPP) agreements when Eskom has the electricity capacity available at a cheaper price?"

Mmusi Maimane‚ the leader of the Democratic Alliance‚ will ask the president: "Considering that Statistics South Africa’s most recent Quarterly Labour Force Survey revealed the highest unemployment figures in the country’s history with a staggering 9‚634 million people now being without work and a broad unemployment rate of over 37%‚ what has he found to be the reasons for the failure of the Government’s plans to reduce unemployment and create jobs?"

Maimane also wants to know: "Whether the Government supports the commitment of the governing African National Congress to (a) amend section 25 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa‚ 1996‚ and (b) delineate proposed conditions under which expropriation without compensation can be affected without allowing the Joint Constitutional Review Committee’s public participation process to be concluded; if not‚ what is the Government’s position in this regard; if so‚ what are the relevant details?"

From the ANC ranks‚ Ms N.N. Mafu will ask: "In view of the need that the Government transforms the urban space economy through the development of land and property and that the expropriation of urban land and property is therefore an imperative to achieve this objective‚ what is the Government’s position on achieving radical socio-economic spatial transformation in towns and cities through expropriation of urban land and property."

Furthermore‚ she wants to know‚ "Will the social compact that he had outlined in his state of the nation address on 16 February 2018‚ include ensuring that private partners fund and finance the development of housing and human settlements with the objective of achieving radical spatial transformation‚ that includes the integration of race‚ income and class?"

Mr A.F. Mahlalela (ANC) plans to ask: "(1) In view of the 10th BRICS Summit that was hosted by the Republic under the theme BRICS in Africa: Collaboration for Inclusive Growth and Shared Prosperity in the 4th Industrial Revolution and the looming threats‚ epitomised by the raising of tariffs on some exports to the United States of America‚ to the multilateral‚ rules-based trading system which the BRICS partners have affirmed‚ how will South Africa’s membership of BRICS help to shield the local economy from the impact of the tariffs imposed by the United States of America on our steel and aluminium exports; (2) what are the full details of how the BRICS bloc intends to build a fairer global trade regime to forge strong‚ sustainable‚ balanced and inclusive growth?"

And Mr D.H. Khosa (ANC) will ask: "(a) In view of the review of the list of zero-rated value-added tax (VAT) items to mitigate the impact of the VAT increase‚ what is the outcome of the Independent Panel of Experts that was appointed by the Minister of Finance to review the current list of zero-rated VAT items and (b) has he found that it will be able to address the concerns to mitigate costs of food and other essential items on the poor?"

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