Please find attached soundbite by DA Shadow Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies, Phumzile Van Damme MP.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes the scheduling of a full programme of virtual committee meetings to enable the Communications and Digital Technologies committee to continue its oversight work while the country is in lockdown.
The committee is the first to put together a full programme of virtual meetings, which are due to commence on 28 April 2020.
Important meetings scheduled include:
- Briefing by the Department and entities on COVID-19 activities;
- Briefing by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) on its 2020/21 Annual Performance Plan and Budget;
- Adoption of the Budget Vote Report of the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies;
- Interview of the remaining candidate for the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) Council; and
- Shortlisting and interviews for the Media Development and Diversity Agency (MDDA) Board
The DA has since the inclusion of “Digital Technologies” in the department and committee’s mandate, pushed for the committee to lead the way in adopting technological innovation to improve the work Parliament does.
The lockdown has provided an opportunity for Parliament to test remote working as a mode of doing business. Remote working – where feasible – could result in a reduction of costs for Parliament and the availing of budget for it to reach more people than it currently does.
The DA looks forward to participating in the virtual meetings to ensure that Parliament does not continue to be mere spectators while our country deals with its gravest crisis since the dawn of democracy.
We are similarly looking forward to a process that could help define what a post-Covid-19 “new normal” could be for the work that Parliament does, key to which, will be setting out the technological innovations that could be adopted.