Ministers are named, shamed

2009-11-04 18:01

Cape Town - Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe told the National Assembly on Wednesday that he named and shamed ministers who failed to respond to parliamentary questions at Cabinet's fortnightly meetings.

"I do that religiously. I am quite confident we will arrive at a point where no question is outstanding," Motlanthe said in response to a question from the Democratic Alliance.

"That point was made even this morning in Cabinet."

DA chief whip Ian Davidson responded that in spite of Motlanthe's efforts, there were on Tuesday a record 510 questions still awaiting answers.

He said if the situation did not improve, ministers might have to be treated like schoolchildren.

Bid to make ministers reply

In August, Davidson's colleague Mike Ellis lamented a lack of meaningful debate in Parliament and said ministers failed to respect the tradition of parliamentary questions.

At the time, 488 questions were outstanding, some dating back to 2006.

Motlanthe said he would be happy to support a proposal by Ellis that if a minister failed to respond to a question within the required 10 days, he or she be made to stand up in the National Assembly and explain their reasons.

However, he said, to date the proposal has not been put to the legislature's rules committee.
 

- SAPA