Cape Town – Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa on Tuesday hailed 2016 as the “year of successful engagements” between the executive and the legislature.
Ramaphosa, the leader of government business, praised the sharp growth in parliamentary questions directed at members of the executive.
He lauded Parliament's selection of new Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane as evidence of the transparency and accountability with which government responded to the hopes and aspirations of the electorate.
Ramaphosa again said there had been significant improvements in the quality of ministers’ responses to written and oral questions.
"Members of the executive are acutely aware of the importance of Parliament's oversight of the exercise of national executive authority and of any organ of state, and the role that tools such as parliamentary questions play in such oversight.”
This was consistently raised and discussed in Cabinet meetings, he said.