Thread by @StateCaptureCom

Ms. Rantho says MP's on a portfolio committee generally have limited influence over the agendas for its meetings. There is an annual cycle of meetings for each committee which needs to be adhered to.#StateCaptureInquiry

She says e.g. over budgets for, or reports from, the departments/entities over which the committee has jurisdiction. #StateCaptureInquiry

Ms. Rantho says from the commencement of the Fifth Parliament, the PCPE exercised oversight over the Department of Public Enterprises #StateCaptureInquiry

She adds..(the Department) as well as the following entities: Eskom, Denel, Transnet, South African Airways (SAA), South African Express Airways, SAFCOL and Alexkor. #StateCaptureInquiry

She says during the course of the Fifth Parliament, SAA was moved to the oversight of the Treasury, and therefore to the oversight of a different portfolio committee). #StateCaptureInquiry

She adds that meetings needed to take place in respect of all these entities at different times of the year. #StateCaptureInquiry

Ms. Rantho says dates for meetings are generally set well in advance and the documentation to be considered at the meeting is supposed to be distributed in good time for it to be considered in advance. #StateCaptureInquiry

She says it is therefore unusual for MPs to be afforded an opportunity to probe allegations recently reported in the press relating to entities in respect of which they exercise oversight. #StateCaptureInquiry

She says frequently the overseen departments or entities only furnish the document or report to be considered at a meeting of a committee very shortly before, or sometimes even at, the meeting concerned. #StateCaptureInquiry

Ms. Rantho says this obviously makes it difficult to evaluate what is reported and to put probing questions. #StateCaptureInquiry

She says after completion of a presentation to a committee, members are usually afforded an opportunity to take turns to each ask questions which they wish to pose. #StateCaptureInquiry

She adds that after they have all posed their various questions, the presenter is usually afforded an opportunity to answer all the questions together. She says sometimes adequate time is not afforded to enable all questions to be answered. #StateCaptureInquiry

Rantho says the presenter is also sometimes afforded
leeway to determine which questions to really address and which to skirt over. She says when questions are directly addressed, there is sometimes not an adequate opportunity for probing follow up questions. #StateCaptureInquiry

She also says the net result is that. when difficult questions are raised, ordinary committee meetings do not always elicit satisfactory and complete answers. #StateCaptureInquiry