The Secretary to Parliament, Mr Xolile George, has assured National Assembly (NA) portfolio committee chairpersons that efforts are being made to strengthening the services provided by Parliament’s languages unit to ensure that debates in the House are interpreted to a high standard. The Secretary made these remarks during an induction programme for chairpersons currently underway in Sandton, Gauteng.
“The general capacitation of critical units in Parliament that offer support for Members of Parliament is currently under consideration. This includes vacancies in the legal unit, content advisors and interpretation services to ensure that we offer effective support to the Members. I have given authorisation of 14 vacancies in the languages’ unit be filled to capacitate the language unit,” Mr George said.
This assurance followed questions raised by chairpersons that Parliament must strengthen its capacity to ensure MPs receive adequate support.
In line with efforts to capacitate Parliament to ensure effective oversight, the Secretary acknowledged that there are weaknesses with the process to consider petitions from the public. This includes tracking the petition, as well as constant report backs to the petitioner on the progress of the petition. “This area requires strengthening, as it is currently weak and, as the administration, we must find mechanisms to improve and ensure a seamless process,” Mr George emphasised.
Also speaking during the induction programme, the House Chairperson: Committees, Oversight and Public Participation, Mr Cedric Frolick, also emphasised the importance of strengthening the petitions process, particularly in light of the decision of the sixth Parliament to send petitions to line-item committees, which has proved ineffective and which is now being reconsidered.
“The problem with petitions has been that we don’t have a dedicated petitions committee in the National Assembly because the idea previously was to give that responsibility to the line-item committee. But the challenge has been that those committees also have competing issues that they must process, hence petitions took a back seat. There is a proposal that such a committee is set up to ensure that petitions receive urgent attention,” Mr Frolick emphasised.
Mr Frolick also assured chairpersons that the question of establishing an oversight committee for the Presidency is currently under consideration by the sub-committee on rules, which will take into consideration the report on the study tour to the UK Parliament. “There are clear proposals before the subcommittee on rules and we are waiting for a report from that committee,” Mr Frolick said.
The two-day induction programme is an important step in empowering the new chairpersons with the knowledge and skills necessary to lead their committees effectively.
Malatswa Molepo
7 August 2024
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