News
Below are all the news items published on our website.
New Provincial Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport
Ms Anroux Marais has been appointed as new Provincial Minister of Cultural Affairs and Sport, a vacancy occasioned by the recent resignation of Mr Theuns Botha.
Ms Marais was elected to the Western Cape Provincial Parliament in 2004, and served a full term on the Standing Committee on Cultural Affairs and Sport, and more recently as chairperson of the Standing Committee on Health and Social Development.
She also serves as the chair of the provincial caucus of the Democratic Alliance, recently elected to a second term.
Taking Parliament to the People
The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) will be hosting the Taking Parliament to the People programme in Oudtshoorn, Western Cape, at Bridgton Sports Grounds from 13 to 17 April 2015.
The programme theme is “20 years of a Democratic Parliament”. Initiated in 2002, the programme enables the NCOP to exercise its constitutional obligation of overseeing the executive. The programme also gives citizens an opportunity to engage their elected public representatives on issues affecting them.
Provincial budget for 2015/16
From 19 to 26 March, the budgets of all Western Cape Government departments, 14 votes in total, will be debated in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament.
On 19 March the WCPP will consider the principle of the 2015 Western Cape Additional Adjustments Appropriation Bill and the 2015 Western Cape Estimates Bill. On 24 and 25 March, the Ministers responsible for the various votes, will open the debates, after which Members will deliberate the specific budgets. The process will culminate on 26 March, when Members will finalise the budget.
Parliamentary programme:
State of the Province Address
To download the Premier's State of the Province Address, tabled on 20 February, click here.
Courtesy visit by Vice President of German Bundestag
The Vice President (Deputy Speaker) of the German Bundestag, Hon Ulla Schmidt, accompanied by the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Group on SADC States and the Standing Committee on Sport, Hon Dagmar Freitag, together with the German Consul General, Dr Bernd Rinnert, met with Speaker Sharna Fernandez and Deputy Speaker Piet Pretorius on 19 February. Matters of general mutual interest were discussed as well as comparing and exchanging experiences with regards to presiding over House proceedings.
Official Opening and SOPA
The official opening ceremony of the WCPP will take place on Friday, 20 February 2015. This important event on the WCPP calendar, will, as in the past, be a stylish but low-key event. Approximately 250 guests are expected to attend the proceedings, including members of the Consular Corps, religious leaders, as well as municipal speakers and mayors.
Standing Committee oversight in the West Coast
MPP, Rodney Lentit, Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Environmental Affairs and Development Planning, together with the members of the committee, will conduct an oversight visit to nature reserves in the West Coast region to discuss pertinent biodiversity and conservation issues that have an impact on economic growth and tourism in the region. One of the desired outcomes of this visit is to highlight and showcase the facilities and outdoor activities that CapeNature has to offer that can be enjoyed by tourists and the people of the Western Cape.
WCPP appoints new Secretary
The Western Cape Provincial Parliament appointed Ms Hamida Fakira as its new Secretary and Accounting Officer with effect from February 2015. Ms Fakira served as a Deputy Director General in the public sector for the past 10 years in the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Transport and, most recently, as advisor in the Ministry of Transport.
Official Opening of the Second Session of the Fifth Parliament
The official opening ceremony of the WCPP will take place on Friday, 20 February 2015. The Premier will deliver her State of the Province Address during the sitting at 10:30. Approximately 250 guests are expected to attend the proceedings, including members of the Consular Corps, religious leaders, as well as municipal speakers and mayors. Both these events are important annual highlights on the WCPP calendar, but, as in the past, the occasion will be low-key and cause no inconvenience to the residents or motorists of Cape Town.
Programme highlights:
Standing Committee engages with Minister
The Standing Committee on Economic Opportunities, Tourism and Agriculture held fruitful discussions with the Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Malusi Gigaba, on the implications and consequences of the amended visa regulations (Immigration Regulations, 2014), in terms of Section 7 of the Immigration Act, 2002 (Act no 13 of 2002) on 4 November 2014. The standing committee committed to sending a copy of their report on the public hearings held from 25 to 26 September, to the minister’s office.
