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Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa has the final word in the National Assembly this afternoon before members of Parliament deliver their farewell speeches to mark the closure of the rambunctious house till next year.
Ramaphosa will respond to the customary six prepared questions for oral replies, with the opportunity for MPs to fire off supplementary questions.
The proposed R3 500 national minimum wage is high on the agenda.
Ramaphosa will reply to United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa’s question about whether it would also cover exploited foreign nationals.
If it does not, Holomisa would like to know how to avoid loss of employment by South African citizens in favour of foreign nationals.
Ramaphosa will also respond to African Christian Democratic Party leader Kenneth Meshoe’s question about affordability and inequality among employers, in other words, between a corporate entity versus a private person
The deputy president will respond to Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane’s question on building a stronger relationship between the executive and legislature amid ongoing criticism that ministers are all too often unaccountable and absent from the house for oral replies.
The ANC, as the majority party, is allocated half of the six questions.
MP Millicent Manana has asked Ramaphosa about efforts by both government and the business sector to promote investor confidence, and Deborah Raphuti wants to know whether, after his recent trip to Southeast Asia, there was a possibility that South African youth could be sent to Vietnam for skill training in shipbuilding.
In the last question by Phumzile Bhengu-Kombe, Ramaphosa will respond to the high levels of HIV infection – and also unacceptable levels of violence – among adolescent girls and young women.
After Ramaphosa leaves the podium, there will be 72 minutes of farewell speeches, where fatigued MPs traditionally lighten up and ease off on the verbal exchange of blows, and sometimes even kiss and make up – till next year.
Down the corridor in the National Council of Provinces, members continue with a packed schedule on Thursday and Friday.
» Parliament resumes on January 24, with constituency periods next week and also between January 9 and 20, when MPs are obliged to reach out to their assigned communities. President Jacob Zuma’s state of the nation address is scheduled for February 9. Some parliamentary business will continue after the house rises, including the inquiry into the SABC.
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