Module 4 • Organising your business


Activity 7 Read the article below, follow the instructions and answer the questions below:


Scopa blasts evasive officials Cape Town – Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) on Tuesday had stern words for officials who give evasive answers and arrive unprepared for important briefings.


Chairperson Themba Godi said the committee had experienced unacceptable behaviour twice in two weeks, first from the police and subsequently from officials responsible for a Cape Town housing project. “We would like to indicate that we are serious about our oversight as Parliamentarians and do not take kindly to the fact that departmental heads come to meetings unprepared,” he told a hearing in Parliament.


Settlements “As a committee we are not going to accept evasive responses from officials on issues that they should be accountable for.” Godi said the national and provincial departments of human settlements and the City of Cape Town spent much time blaming one another for problems in a report by the Auditor General on the N2 Gateway housing project. “Throughout the hearing, the departments and the city failed to answer questions from MPs emanating from the report,” Godi said. “Because of this failure to respond sufficiently to questions put to them, the committee deemed it necessary to postpone the meeting to August 5”.


Worrying


He said the committee encountered the same behaviour last week from police when it questioned its officials about the Auditor General’s report on the performance of police stations and 10111 call centres. “The committee is unhappy about this behavior. In fact, this is becoming a worrying feature every time departments appear before Parliament.”This behaviour cannot be accepted as it trivialises the whole process of oversight,” Godi said. Parliamentary rules stipulate that a parliamentary committee has the power to summon any person to appear before it to give evidence under oath, or to produce documents.


Questions: 1. Who is Scopa and what is their role in our democracy? To find the answers, do an internet search.


2. The Chairperson of Scopa is not part of the ruling party and for a very specific reason. What is that reason?


3. Scopa’s is task to attend to one of the three phases of delegation. Which phase is it? 4. Who is then performing the other two phases? 5. The article suggests that something went wrong during the delegation process. Explain what went wrong.


6. Give your own example of a recent situation where problems occurred due to a lack of understanding of the delegation process.


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