National Assembly speaker Thandi Modise has called for an extraordinary extended debate on the unrest, looting and destruction of property in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng earlier this month.

Modise wrote to political parties represented in the National Assembly, proposing that the debate be held as soon as parliament reconvenes next month.

Parliament is on its winter break and is scheduled to reconvene on August 16.

“She also recommends that reports of committees already involved in oversight activities on the unrest inform the proposed extraordinary extended National Assembly debate.

“This means these committees should prioritise their engagements, confer if necessary and report to the National Assembly as soon as possible before the house reconvenes,” parliament spokesperson Moloto Mothapo said on Thursday.

He said deliberations on these reports during the proposed extraordinary debate may lead to further enquiries.

Modise has also proposed that the next term of parliament be extended by a week or two to provide for more committee deliberations and more opportunities for questions to cabinet ministers, especially questions to ministers whose portfolios are dealing with the unrest.

DA chief whip Natasha Mazzone wrote to Modise last week requesting her to reconvene parliament as a matter of urgency.

“The whole of South Africa needs to see its public representatives work together to stabilise the situation and quell the destruction to people’s lives and livelihoods.

“South Africans have witnessed the wave of carnage on every imaginable platform and while people lost their lives and businesses were stripped bare and burnt down, the ANC government has been missing in action,” she said.

Mazzone said parliament needed to reconvene urgently so that the agriculture, police, state security, transport, and trade and industry portfolios could meet to find and implement viable solutions to ensure that the country does not descend into further anarchy.

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