MPs clash over UK study tour on how to hold a president accountable

National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has defended parliament’s international study trip by MPs to the UK to learn more about holding the president to account.

A parliamentary delegation is scheduled to go to the UK in July on a study tour to benchmark the possibility of setting up a presidential oversight committee and to investigate whether there would be merit in parliament establishing such a body.

The study tour was initiated by the assembly’s rules committee after yet another request from opposition parties and a recommendation by the Zondo commission that parliament should establish a portfolio committee that will hold the president to account.

On Thursday, the EFF criticised the decision to undertake a benchmarking tour to the UK, saying there was no need for a study tour to learn how to hold a president accountable.

EFF MP Natasha Ntlangwini said it was a waste of money that could be used to address other problems in parliament.

“There are many platforms that we can take and do benchmarking in terms of the rules committee than go to a study tour in UK. Why not do benchmarking with other African countries? Why even go to do a benchmarking?” she asked.

“Right now, parliament is falling apart, and we want to take an excursion to the UK to learn about rules,” said Ntlangwini.

A number of ANC MPs in the rules committee defended the study tour, saying it had been agreed in the rules committee to do the benchmarking after attempts to do so remotely failed.

Mapisa-Nqakula said she was concerned “this kind of work can be perceived as an excursion”.

“It is something I’d like for us to do away with. We are creating a perception among South Africans that we do not know what we are doing.”

She said in motivating for the study tour, MPs had considered that the matter has been on the agenda of parliament for many years. The UK is also one of very few countries in the world where the prime minister appears before a parliamentary committee.

“It’s on that basis that a discussion was held and the agreement was taken that there should be this kind of trip. This matter has been on the table for a long time. We must finalise this matter now and we can’t move to the seventh parliament with this matter lingering on,” she said.

She said arrangements were at an advanced stage, “and we will proceed”.

“If a party feels uncomfortable with the trip and feels it’s a waste of money, the party may withdraw its member from the trip,” she said in response to the EFF.

“On this one, I am not backing down!”

We proceed on the basis of the decision of the rules committee, which was not imposed on the committee, we all agreed.”

In the final state capture report, chief justice Raymond Zondo recommended the establishment of a parliamentary committee to oversee the president and presidency.

Zondo said recent history has shown the president’s conduct is not always subject to adequate oversight by parliament’s portfolio committees.

Despite parliament having a constitutional obligation to hold the executive to account — and with the president being head of the national executive — the legislature has no portfolio committee to oversee the president.

The only mechanism for holding the president accountable is MPs questioning him for written or oral reply and, in terms of National Assembly rules, he appears before the House to answer such questions once every three months.

“However, in the commission’s view, it would probably be a good idea for parliament to establish a committee to exercise oversight over acts or omissions by the president (and the Presidency) which are not in any event subject to adequate oversight by other portfolio committees,” said Zondo.

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