Government leaves South Africa hanging
Written or oral parliamentary questions are important mechanisms used to hold the country’s executive to account. However, a major issue plaguing South Africa’s legislative authority is that the executive leaves many questions posed to them unanswered.
This case was especially true in 2023, with National Assembly (NA) speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula writing to and organising a meeting with deputy president Paul Mashatile in his capacity as the leader of government business to address the issue.
The speaker said that a meeting has been set up “to ensure that Cabinet members comply with Rule 143(1) for oral questions and Rule 145(5) for written questions specifying response times.”
In response, Mashatile said that “there will be consequences if members of the executive don’t respond to questions.”
According to a report published by the Daily Maverick, as of 19 December 2023 (when parliament had closed), the following executives had unanswered questions for the year:
| Executive | Department | Unanswered Questions |
| Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma | Women, Youth and People with Disabilities | 23 |
| Ronald Lamola | Justice and Correctional Services | 18 |
| Pravin Gordhan | Public Enterprises | 17 |
| Noxolo Kiviet | Public Service and Administration | 17 |
| Khumbuzo Ntshavheni | Presidency | 17 |
| Patricia de Lille | Tourism | 14 |
| Kgosientsho Ramokgopa | Electricity | 12 |
| Bheki Cele | Police | 12 |
| Enoch Godongwana | Finance | 12 |
| Zizi Kodwa | Sports, Arts and Culture | 12 |
| Angie Motshekga | Basic Education | 12 |
| Mondli Gungubele | Communications and Digital Technologies | 12 |
| Sihle Zikalala | Public Works and Infrastructure | 11 |
| Thandi Modise | Defence and Military Veterans | 10 |
| Thoko Didiza | Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development | 10 |
| Ebrahim Patel | Trade, Industry and Competition | 10 |
| Maropene Ramokgopa | Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation | 7 |
| Cyril Ramaphosa | President | 2 |
“It’s worth noting that questions left unanswered after 9 January 2024 will lapse according to NA Rule 135” said parliament in its 2023 year-end statement. This means that after this date, members of the executive will no longer be obliged to answer the questions.
According to parliament’s 2023 year-end statement, a total of 4,226 written and 380 oral questions were directed at the executive by the NA, making the total number of questions posed in the by members of parliament (MPs) in the NA 4,606. By 7 December, the members of the executive had responded to 3,671 written questions (86.9% response rate) and 320 oral questions (84.2%) .
Of this, the DA asked 47% of the total, the EFF 27%, the IFP 16%, the FF+ 4% and the ANC 3% (up to 11 December).
In the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), MPs submitted 845 questions (both written and oral), the bulk of them from the DA (48%) and the EFF (40%) – for which 17 await replies.
Parliament has not reopened since.
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