More than 30 committee meetings sit on Parliament’s diary between Tuesday and Friday, a fiscal agenda that puts spending bills, state-owned entity accounts and the public finances behind them under direct scrutiny. Members of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces return from constituency period on Tuesday, 10 November. The economic questioning begins almost immediately.
The capital-intensive centrepiece belongs to the Standing Committee on Appropriations. On Tuesday morning it receives a briefing from the Parliamentary Budget Office on the 2026 Division of Revenue Amendment Bill, the 2026 Adjustments Appropriation Bill and the 2026 Special Appropriation Bill for the 2026/27 financial year. On Wednesday the Financial and Fiscal Commission presents its input on the same two bills, alongside a submission from the Public Service Commission on the 2026 MTBPS. By Friday the committee holds public hearings on both measures, the stage at which revenue and expenditure choices are tested before outside interests.
Money flows to provinces and delivery entities also dominate the water and sanitation committee’s Tuesday sessions. The Department of Water and Sanitation presents an overview of water boards’ business plans for 2026 to 2031, with Magalies Water and Rand Water appearing in the morning and Lepelle Northern Water, Amatola Water and Overberg Water in the afternoon. These corporate plans set the investment pipelines for bulk water infrastructure over the next five years.
Transport is another heavy ledger on the table. On Tuesday the Auditor-General of South Africa briefs the transport committee on Transnet’s 2025/26 annual report, followed by Transnet itself and then the department’s entities: the Railway Safety Regulator, the South African Maritime Safety Authority and Air Traffic and Navigation Services. On Wednesday PRASA presents its own 2025/26 annual report. A separate select committee hears the Department of Transport’s 2025/26 annual report and its 2026/27 mid-year financial and performance monitoring report, with an update due on the Public Transport Subsidy Policy, the Devolution Strategy and a multi-sectoral scholar transport plan.
The most politically charged economic questions arrive on Thursday, when President Cyril Ramaphosa answers questions before a hybrid NCOP plenary sitting at 14:00. Delegates will press him on the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention’s progress in the 2026/27 financial year in connecting young people to sustainable work and earning opportunities. They will also ask about the government’s engagement with the United States over South Africa’s eligibility under the African Growth and Opportunity Act beyond the current extension, and about reducing the 30% tariff on South African exports, both matters bearing directly on the competitiveness of the country’s export base.
Trade-related bodies fill the committee programme as well. The trade, industry and competition committee hears the Industrial Development Corporation and the National Lotteries Commission on their 2025/26 annual reports on Tuesday, then the South African Bureau of Standards and the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications on Wednesday.
Market structure and household costs feature elsewhere. The health committee follows up with the Council for Medical Schemes on the implementation of the Health Market Inquiry, Section 59 reforms, evergreen contracts and market concentration, and receives a briefing from the Government Employees Medical Scheme on its operations and member services. The basic education committee examines the BELA Act rollout in detail, including a fiscal breakdown of MTEF allocations, estimated infrastructure costs and personnel budgets earmarked for implementation, plus each province’s resources and challenges. Higher education gets two sessions: one on department and TVET college recruitment, college council appointments and outstanding payments to lecturers, and a Friday follow-up with the University of the Western Cape on issues raised during a May oversight visit.
Meanwhile, other finance-adjacent items include the Select Committee on Finance considering and adopting its report on the 2026 Revised Fiscal Framework and Revenue Proposals across Tuesday and Wednesday; public service accountability sessions on lifestyle audits across several departments; a briefing from the Council for the Built Environment on construction site safety standards and regulatory reform; defence and military veterans matters covering pension benefit implementation and 2026/27 funding; and a Friday briefing on Parliament’s own 2026/27 second-quarter and mid-year performance reports.
The NCOP holds two plenary sittings, on Tuesday to debate the August Provincial Week report and on Thursday for the President’s appearance. The National Assembly Programme Committee meets at 08:30 on Tuesday to plan House business. Parliament also pays tribute this week to Advocate Modibedi Eric Phindela, Secretary to the NCOP, at a memorial service in Cape Town, with the funeral scheduled for the weekend. Enquiries: Moloto Mothapo.
How the public hearings on Friday shape the final passage of the Appropriations Bills remains the open question for the week.