The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have expressed concerns over the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) by government officials to answer questions in Parliament, after Social Development Deputy Minister Ganief Hendricks appeared to rely on AI for his response to a question.
This issue came to light during a recent National Assembly session, where the Deputy Minister’s handling of a question about gambling programs raised several points of contention.
Deputy Minister Hendricks was asked about the government’s approach to addressing gambling-related issues, to which he responded, "We have supported the programs of the Gambling Board" and mentioned that banning digital gambling could help mitigate social ills.
However, his response was quickly challenged by EFF Member of Parliament (MP) Ompile Maotwe, who raised a point of order.
“How did he anticipate that that was going to be the follow-up? No, he’s reading,” Maotwe said, accusing Hendricks of reading pre-prepared answers and questioning his method of responding.
Umkhonto weSizwe's Party (MKP) MP Visvin Reddy also joined the criticism, noting: “The rules say that you cannot cast aspersions on other members and the Member is doing that. It’s either he brings a substantive motion to the House, or he withdraws the statement that he made just now.”
Despite this, the deputy speaker ruled that there were no grounds to uphold the point of order, stating that no aspersions had been cast according to Rule 85.
EFF members continued to express their dissatisfaction with the Deputy Minister’s handling of the issue.
EFF spokesperson Sinawo Tambo emphasised the importance of direct accountability in Parliament, criticising the use of AI to address questions regarding the department.
“A Minister can’t tell us confidently that he’s using artificial intelligence to answer questions about his Department… it should be a shame, and we must develop rules around that,” said Tambo.
Furthermore, Maotwe also raised concerns about ministers failing to properly address questions, urging that if they are unable to fulfill their responsibilities, they should resign.
“The comrade is earning a salary of being a Deputy Minister. How do you get paid and not do the work?” Maotwe asked, adding, “That’s cheating.” It's unacceptable. He must resign if he doesn't want to be held accountable.
EFF MP Natasha Ntlangwini also expressed frustration with the ongoing trend of ministers not answering questions effectively, highlighting the need for parliamentary reforms.
“Ministers don’t even attempt to answer questions,” Ntlangwini said, criticising Hendricks for not directly addressing the issue of gambling addiction in South Africa. She called for stronger oversight to ensure ministers and deputy ministers remain accountable.
''MPs take time to conclude on these questions. For you to rule that the minister has answered when he didn't even attempt to answer, even with the so-called Google answer that he has tried to use, is unacceptable. He didn't attempt to answer,” Ntlangwini said.
Hendricks defended his position, stating: "We’re moving to a digital economy and a digital Government." He suggested that the use of technology in answering questions was part of this transition. However, his explanation did little to quell the anger of EFF members, who continued to demand more substantive responses.
In light of the growing frustration, Reddy called for the deputy minister to provide written responses to the questions, arguing that the current answers were inadequate.
“This question session is critical. We are here to hold the Executive accountable. And it is not right that you come here and say that, that flimsy AI answer, Google answer, is what we and the people of South Africa expect,” said Reddy.
The issue of ministers and deputy ministers failing to adequately answer questions has been an ongoing problem in Parliament said the deputy speaker. Calls for reform have intensified, with many EFF members pushing for clearer guidelines in the Rules Committee to ensure that ministers are properly held accountable to the public and Parliament.
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