It being an election year, the always-pressurised budget vote process is ratcheted up to stratospheric strain. With one week over the Freedom and Workers Day public holidays allocated to constituencies, it must all be done and dusted by 20 May so that parliamentarians can go on another “constituency period” until after the 3 August municipal poll.

Predictably, tempers and voices rose during Tuesday’s justice budget vote debate as Public Protector Thuli Madonsela and Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke looked on from the public gallery. At issue: an apology to the public protector over how Parliament treated her during the Nkandla saga, particularly as the Constitutional Court vindicated the binding nature of the remedial actions, and that the National Assembly, and President Jacob Zuma, failed in their constitutional duties.

“Zuma is corrupt. The public protector deserves an apology… Zuma is corrupt and you know it,” said Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP Mmabatho Mokause. “Those who must apologise, they (are those who) are making government not to work,” retorted ANC MP Moloko Maila in closing his speech. And ANC MP Bongani Bongo fingered the opposition for failing to talk to the justice budget vote, focusing instead on “peripheral issues”.

Different day, but the same old party-politicking. ANC MPs talked variations on the “radical transformation of the colonial-inherited justice system”, the opposition parties tackling various deficiencies of performance.

Just a few hours earlier, Justice Minister Michael Masutha was diplomatic when asked about the public protector, saying his office co-operated and worked with all constitutionally-established Chapter 9 institutions supporting democracy. In his budget speech, Masutha said the public protector received a 7% budget increase for the current 2016/17 financial year, and 15% next year, while the South African Human Rights Commission received a 6% and 13% budget hike respectively. The justice department itself receives a comparably miserly 4% more.

As MPs could not resist trading verbal and political barbs – most committee budget reports appear little more than departmental Powerpoint presentations as MPs sat in up to 10 hour-long sessions to plough through briefings – the spotlight on Tuesday fell on ministers and their traditional pre-budget vote briefings.

These are among the few non-stage-managed opportunities to question Cabinet ministers, regardless of how individual ministers may feel about having to field questions from journalists on issues not necessarily related to the departmental financial allocations.

There, for example, it emerged justice Director-General Nonkululeko Sindane is leaving later this year. Her five-year contract expired last year, but was renewed for one year, with the option to renew. The minister indicated the director-general had not taken up his offer and was “at liberty to withdraw her resignation”, while Sindane remained mum about her future, saying it was not protocol for her to say: “I’m leaving because it’s time for me to leave.”

And by June a revised redrafted Traditional Courts Bill (the name may also change) returns to Parliament, two years after the original version failed to receive support from all provinces. That original bill was sharply criticised for effectively establishing an unconstitutional two-tier legal system, giving those living in rural areas, particularly women, short shrift by limiting their access to justice to the traditional leader-dominated traditional courts.

Deputy Justice Minister John Jeffery said a series of engagements with traditional leaders and civil society were under way to forge a consensus. However, the tricky issue of legal representation in traditional courts, and whether justice through traditional courts would preclude access to the national court system, remains under discussion.

Traditional leaders also featured large in Mineral Resources Minister Mosebenzi Zwane’s briefing ahead of his maiden budget vote. The amendments to Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act are currently before the National House of Traditional Leaders, he confirmed. In January 2015 President Jacob Zuma returned the initial amendment legislation passed in Parliament in March 2014 back to the national legislature because it failed to meet constitutional muster. The finalisation of amendments, which set out a new mining regulatory framework, are key for investor confidence given the current weakened mining sector. Zuma since last year has promised its speedy finalisation.

But it was the minister Zwane’s comments on communities opposed to mining in their area that provided interesting and perhaps perturbing insights. The resources of South Africa belonged to everyone, he said, “not only to the communities that have an advantage of living close to mining”. Talking about “happy communities”, Zwane said mining was “in the interest of all” and must be allowed to go ahead once the majority agreed. And if the majority did not want mining, government would have to persuade them to see their point of view, the mineral resources minister said.

With regards to the recent killing of Xolobeni, Eastern Cape, anti-mining activist Sokhosiphi Rhadebe by people dressed as policemen, Zwane said mining was not the only issue, but so was taxi violence. “The noting (that) one person died because of opposition to mining (as) a fact should not be encouraged until investigations are finalised,” he said.

The minister said he and senior officials had been to Xolobeni, and noted that T-shirts were laid out for anti-mining activists. But government wanted to hear from its people, not from those paying for certain views. “Mining is going to create jobs, mining is going to open other avenues… People’s lives get better. Our people should be able to see that,” Zwane said.

A few hours later, Zwane delivered a budget speech that hit all the right political notes, but provided little substance beyond saying various issues were receiving attention.

It was his first ever budget speech as national minister so the former Free State MEC may be forgiven for saying he would not take a point of order because there was a question and answer session afterwards. There isn’t. Zwane ended his maiden budget speech expressing his “sincerest gratitude” to President Zuma, who appointed him to the Cabinet, his political party – “The ANC lives! The ANC leads!” – and thanked his mother and family for their support and prayers.

Tuesday’s done, nine days of budget votes to go before the annual marathon session to adopt the whole R1.4-trillion budget one departmental budget vote at a time. DM

Photo: President Jacob Zuma delivers the State of the Nation Address to a joint sitting of Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, 12 February 2015. (Photo: DoC)