Kubayi refutes EFF claims over outstanding parliamentary questions

Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi has refuted claims by the EFF that her department failed to respond to 17 parliamentary questions posed by MPs last year.

The EFF, in a statement on Monday, accused President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Cabinet of evading accountability in Parliament by failing to answer questions from MPs.

The Red Berets lambasted the president and Cabinet saying their failure to answer questions was tantamount to “a direct attack and violation of the constitution”.

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The party claimed that, in terms of the outstanding parliamentary questions from 2021, the Presidency and Cabinet did not answer a total of 175 questions for written reply, 57 of which came from the EFF benches.

“It is high time that Ramaphosa and his Cabinet respect the constitutional principle of accountability. Parliament is the central constitutional mechanism for holding the executive accountable; refusal to answer its questions is outright disloyalty to the constitution,” said EFF national spokesperson Vuyani Pambo.

Below is a breakdown of outstanding parliamentary questions, per department, as claimed by the EFF:

‘Inaccurate information’

Responding to the EFF’s claims, Kubayi disputed the party’s accusations against her department, saying the information that the EFF was relying on was inaccurate.

The minister took to Twitter to state that her department had no outstanding parliamentary questions after verifying with the National Assembly’s question office.

Kubayi cautioned the EFF against sharing false information with the public without verifying it with Parliament first.

“I suggest before issuing a statement on outstanding questions, you should have verified it with the questions office in Parliament as the custodian of the information. Your information on outstanding bill questions is inaccurate,” she tweeted.

National Assembly Question Office has confirmed that there is no outstanding question from Human settlements.
NCOP has indicate they have one outstanding question that we are still verifying with them. Our records indicate all questions have been answered.

— Mmamoloko Nkhensani Kubayi (@mmkubayi) January 24, 2022

Kubayi said her department remained committed to accounting to Parliament.

“We have committed to accounting to Parliament and we understand that questions are an important tool for accountability. We have consistently ensured that we comply with deadlines and answer the questions.

“I hope you will request the questions office in Parliament to assist you with accurate information.”

Setting the record straight

According to Parliament’s internal question paper on outstanding questions from 2021, dated 11 January 2022, the Department of Human Settlements had no lapsed questions from last year.

Only 11 government departments had outstanding questions that were yet to be responded to. These included the departments of Basic Education (1), Communications and Digital Technologies (8), Defence and Military Veterans (25), Finance (7), Mineral Resources and Energy (3), Police (2), Public Service and Administration (1), Tourism (12), Transport (3), Minister in the Presidency (5) and Water and Sanitation (3).

Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe

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