The Democratic Alliance (DA) condemns the decision by the ANC, with the support of the Patriotic Alliance, to convert today’s final sitting of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) into a fully virtual sitting, simply because ANC members wanted to leave Cape Town early.
This is not an administrative inconvenience. It is a direct assault on Parliament’s constitutional responsibility.
Today’s sitting was scheduled as a three-line whip requiring Members to be physically present in the Chamber to consider and pass the Appropriation Bill. Legislation that authorises hundreds of billions of rands in public expenditure, together with several departmental schedules that determine how taxpayers’ money will be allocated across government.
Such decisions deserve the highest level of parliamentary scrutiny, debate, and accountability.
Instead, the ANC chose convenience over constitutional duty.
The decision was never properly adopted through the appropriate parliamentary processes. Despite objections from the DA Whips, no formal resolution was taken in the Whips’ Forum. The ANC Chief Whip undertook to refer the matter to the NCOP Presidium before the Programming Committee met less than 24 hours before the sitting.
Yet, when the matter surfaced in the Programming Committee, ANC members simply declared that the decision had already been taken in the previous Whips’ meeting. The Patriotic Alliance representative supported the move, stating that he was tired and wanted to go home.
That is an astonishing justification for undermining one of Parliament’s most important constitutional responsibilities.
Virtual sittings remain a useful contingency mechanism, but are a poor substitute when Members are required to vote on legislation of national importance. Technical failures, connectivity problems, and reduced opportunities for intervention diminish the quality, transparency, and integrity of parliamentary proceedings. There is no substitute for Members being physically present in the House when authorising the expenditure of public funds.
Adding insult to injury, DA Members honoured the official programme, travelled to Parliament and reported to the NCOP Chamber for what was scheduled as an in-person sitting, only to find the Chamber locked.
Parliament is not a workplace that closes early because the majority party wants an early weekend. Members are elected and paid to represent the people of South Africa until the House adjourns, not until the ANC’s travel arrangements begin.
The DA will continue to oppose any attempt to erode parliamentary accountability through procedural shortcuts that place political convenience ahead of constitutional responsibility.