The week-long induction programme for Members of the seventh Parliament started yesterday at the Century City Convention Centre in Cape Town, where the new Speaker of the National Assembly (NA), Ms Thoko Dididza explained that the induction programme aims to familiarise MPs with Parliament, its mandate and its role in society, and to help them understand all Parliament’s structures and their responsibilities.
Ms Didiza went on to say that Parliament’s mandate includes passing the laws that create an enabling atmosphere for the judiciary to eliminate tensions and resolve disputes in society. These laws should also address the legacies of the past and allows Parliament to pass the national budget.
She also spoke about Parliament’s oversight over the executive, another part of the institution’s mandate. Ms Didiza mentioned several ways in which oversight over the executive is applied. For example, Parliament is able to demand accountability from government departments on their budgets and annual performance plans.
Parliament’s mandate also calls on the institution to promote public involvement in its affairs hence its meetings are open to the public, that it facilitates cooperative governance and maintains relationships with international parliamentary organisations. In this way, Parliament plays a role in the building of an inclusive nonracial and nonsexist country, Ms Didiza said.
MPs in this Parliament will be called upon to use all their skills of negotiation and persuasion, Ms Didiza said, to narrow the gap between them to deliver laws that eradicate poverty and close the widening gap of inequality.
The Secretary to Parliament (STP), Mr Xolile George, described the induction programme as the second phase of the establishment of the seventh Parliament. The first phase was the inaugural sittings of the NA and the National Council of Provinces on 14 and 15 June. The third phase will be the establishment of parliamentary committees in both houses of Parliament.
Mr George then went on to explain each governance structure to the MPs in Parliament, including its executive authority, oversight mechanisms, accountability officer and audit committee. He also gave an overview of the work of the sixth Parliament and its policy priorities, and mentioned that 1 468 laws have been passed from the first to the sixth Parliament.
During interactions between MPs and the STP, MPs asked whether any measures had been put in place to strengthen important parliamentary operations, such as the Bills Office and the Parliamentary Budget Office. In response, the STP assured the new MPs that capacity in the Bills Office is under review, as it requires specialised skills to improve the service it provides. In addition, further plans are in place to strengthen other units in Parliament.
During other exchanges between MPs and the parliamentary executive, MPs mentioned that Parliament’s oversight over the executive in the sixth Parliament had been weak. In addition, they claimed that the Speaker’s Office was slow to respond to reported failures in government departments and their entities. MPs also demanded assurance from the STP and the Speaker that they will receive adequate support in the seventh Parliament when they are working in their constituencies.
According to the observations of the MPs who served in previous parliaments, Parliament needs to strengthen its oversight at both the inbound and outbound fronts. Inbound is when a government department appears before Parliament or before a parliamentary committee at Parliament, and outbound accountability is when a parliamentary committee goes outside Parliament on an oversight visit to assess the performance of a government service delivery site.
Responding to these concerns, the STP assured MPs about the strength of the House Chairpersons, the rules committees and the leader of government business to ensure that the executive accounts to Parliament.
MPs also raised other concerns during day one of the induction programme about changing the Mace and the Black Rod, fiscal challenges, and the rebuilding of Parliament project. In response to these issues, the Speaker said they can be discussed at another time and at another level.
Mava Lukani
3 July 2024
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