Several South African MPs missed most meetings without apology

Several South African Members of Parliament (MPs) have missed most meetings without apology since the start of the seventh administration, with one not attending a single one.

At the beginning of every administration, a caucus of parties meets to assign MPs to committees based on factors such as representation and committee size.

These MPs then attend committee meetings, plenary sessions when the entire National Assembly or Council of Provinces meets, and joint sessions when both Houses meet.

ParliMeter’s Attendance Tracker, which aims to enhance the quality and availability of parliamentary data in South Africa, tracks the attendance of MPs at these meetings and sessions.

The data is broken down into meetings attended, attended but departed early, attended but arrived late, absent, and absent with apologies.

For instance, Ronald Lamola attended two of the possible 16 meetings on International Relations. However, he is serving as the Minister of that department.

Therefore, all of his missed meetings are recorded as “absent with apologies.” Considering this, the comparison will look at the rate of absenteeism without apology.

According to the site’s data, Al Jama-ah’s Imraan Ismail-Moosa has not attended one of the five possible meetings his committee memberships have required. He also did not apologise for missing any of these meetings.

Siphosethu Ngcobo, currently serving as the IFP’s Secretary General, has attended 15 meetings. He serves on six committees and has only attended 23% of the 64 possible meetings.

He has apologised for missing three meetings, giving him the second-highest absenteeism rate without apologies (72%), behind Ismail-Moosa.

The FF+’s Chief Whip and recently-elected party leader, Corne Mulder, is part of five committees, giving him 37 possible meetings he could have attended.

According to ParliMeter he has missed 24 without apology (65%). However, Mulder told Newsday that he withdrew for all committees except one after being appointed FF+ leader on 22 February.

“I still serve on the Constitutional Review Committee. It is scheduled to meet from time to time on Friday’s but have not done so often because of clashes for its members with other engagements,” he said.

Mulder was the only MP mentioned in this article that responded to Newsday’s request for comment.

Dr. John Hlophe, serving as the Deputy President of uMkhonto weSizwe and its leader in Parliament, has attended 10 of the possible 45 meetings so far (22%), 

He has been marked as “absent” in 28 (62%) of these meetings and seven as “absent with apologies” (16%).

The EFF’s Chief Whip, Nontando Nolutshungu, is ranked fifth by rate of meetings missed without apologies at 55%, or 24 of the possible 44 meetings. She has missed another nine but apologised for being absent.

On the other side of the spectrum, 49 MPs have attended every possible meeting required by their respective committees, most of which are part of the DA and ANC. 

While some have only been required to attend fewer than ten meetings, others, like Mikateko Mahlaule (ANC) and Alexandra Abrahams (DA), have been required to attend over 40.

Attendance by party and committee

ParliMeter also provides the attendance of MPs by party, with all having a minimum attendance rate of 50%.

The party with the highest absenteeism rate without apology is the National Coloured Congress at 41%, followed by Build One South Africa (34%), and the United Democratic Movement (30%).

These parties have two, two, and four members, respectively.

The parties with the highest attendance rates are the DA (86%), Rise Mzansi (82%), and the ANC (81%), with 97, 2, and 183 members, respectively.

As for committee attendance, the Rules of the National Assembly Committee currently has the highest attendance rate at 94%, a 2% decline from last year. However, it has only had three meetings this year so far.

As for portfolio committees, the Committee on Small Business Development has the highest attendance at 87%, having held 19 meetings.

This is followed by the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth, and Persons with Disabilities (85%), Committee on Health (85%), and Committee on Water and Sanitation (84%), which were measured across 21, 23, and 20 meetings, respectively.

All of these attendance rates have improved relative to 2024, except the Committee on Health, which decreased by 1%.

The other end of the spectrum is not as convincing, with the Portfolio Committee on Digital Communications and Technologies reporting the lowest attendance rate at 68% across 31 meetings.

This Committee has deliberated over pressing matters such as the 2G and 3G switch-off, the analogue switch-off, and the financial positions of entities such as the Post Office and SABC.

While this committee has held significantly more meetings than those recorded in the top five, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) has held 37 meetings with an attendance rate of 84%.