National Assembly
1Min
South Africa
Oct 30, 2025
Deputy President Paul Mashatile will appear before the National Assembly this afternoon, answering questions from MPs on rising gang violence, faltering municipal service delivery and the acceleration of land‑reform programmes. Also up for discussion are the mounting municipal debts owed to Eskom and efforts to boost agricultural support
Deputy President Paul Mashatile is set to face a grilling in the National Assembly as members of Parliament shift their focus to three major fault‑lines in government performance. Under the spotlight are crime, municipal service delivery and land reform, all areas where public frustration has been mounting.
On the crime front, MPs will probe the state’s response to escalating gang violence and the effectiveness of recent inter‑agency operations. Mashatile is expected to outline how national coordination is being strengthened and how resources are being marshalled to support provincial and local policing efforts. According to the report, “gangsterism and poor service delivery in particular have been under growing scrutiny.”
Service delivery will be another critical arena. The government’s performance in municipalities, particularly those burdened by ageing infrastructure, debt and capacity constraints, will come under examination. Parliament will question how oversight has been tightened, what remedial plans are in place and how citizens’ lived experience of basic services is being improved. The deputy president is likely to emphasise measures aimed at faster turnaround, while also acknowledging structural challenges.
Land reform is the third central theme of the session. The parliamentarians will press for details on how the government plans to expedite redistribution, secure title deeds, and support beneficiaries so that land receival does not become another unfulfilled promise. With agricultural support also on the agenda, MPs will ask what frameworks are in place to ensure that land reform translates into productive use, rather than mere symbolic transfers.
Beyond these headline topics, the parliamentary session will also cover the mounting debt many municipalities owe to Eskom, and how the electrical utility is managing these obligations in its wider service‑delivery context. The ministerial oversight hearing thus promises to be broad in scope.
