Programme Director;
Speaker of the National Assembly, Honourable Max Sisulu;
Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces; Honourable Mninwa Mahlangu;
President of the European Union Parliament, His Excellency Martin Schultz;
Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Honourable Dr William Shija;
Presiding Officers and Members of various Legislatures;
Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corps;
Distinguished guests;
Ladies and gentlemen.
I am once again honoured to address this annual International Consultative Seminar of the South African Legislative Sector in collaboration with the European Union Parliament.
I wish to convey President Jacob Zuma's sincere regards and good wishes for a successful meeting. He could not join us due to other commitments. We wish to welcome all our international guests and trust that you are enjoying your stay with us.
Programme Director;
You are meeting under the theme of "Strengthening Democracy through Global Collaboration of Legislatures on Economic Development and Transformation.” The mutually enriching relationship between the European Union Parliament and the South African Legislative Sector is a good example of what can be achieved when Legislatures collaborate and share their knowledge and best practice in strengthening democracy, thus contributing to the development and transformation of society.
Legislatures have a responsibility to work collaboratively with the Executive to address some of the immediate challenges that relate to economic development and the transformation of the economy to ensure long-term prosperity.
This collaboration and deeper involvement is necessary for improving oversight and monitoring over the Executive in a mutually reinforcing way. As such, our Legislatures must grapple with the complex economic policy options that are available to assist in unlocking the country's growth potential.
Therefore, we cannot emphasise enough the overarching need for better training of Members. This task requires urgent intervention, and we hope the Seminar will debate this extensively and identify the optimal skills-sets needed.
Members of Parliament who are skilled and well informed are better able to fulfil their duties and responsibilities as public representatives and are more proactive in lobbying, networking and interacting with various sectors.
It is also necessary to improve the institutional capacity of Legislatures in the area of human resources; maximise the existing research capacity and strengthen the Legislature's ability to conduct in-depth investigations.
This will help to enhance the Legislatures' ability to exercise its authority independently and make it more accessible, thereby enabling it to make more meaningful contributions to economic policy.
Programme Director;
We are now beginning to see signs of economic recovery from the 2008 financial crisis.
Over the last six months, policy makers managed to defuse two of the largest short-term risks to global economic recovery - the threat of a breakup of the Eurozone, and a sharp fiscal contraction in the United States of America.
It is now much clearer that the United States, Europe and other countries are lifting themselves out of the recessions because of decisive and bold actions that were supported by Legislatures.
Similarly the South African Legislative Sector must effectively discharge its duty to facilitate consensus which will lead to synergies. As such, I am confident that working collaboratively with the Executive, Business, Civil Society and the general public we will be able to foster better economic development and transformation.
Ladies and gentlemen;
Our country is well renowned for its commitment to human rights and for having one of the most progressive Constitutions. However, these rights mean very little if we do not have a growing economy in which the people of South Africa are able to participate meaningfully.
Whilst successes have been achieved in reducing poverty in South Africa, especially through the social assistance programme, more needs to be done to enable people to lift themselves out of poverty and participate in the economy.
Statistics South Africa has recently announced an increase in official unemployment, with the rates having increased by 0, 3 of a percentage point to 25, 2% in the first quarter of 2013.
However, this increase is attributed to the number of new entrants like school leavers and university graduates seeking employment in the first quarter of the year.
Acutely aware of the need to improve these conditions, Government has adopted a range of strategies, which include, amongst others:
- Addressing the skills shortage and correcting problems in the education system;
- Addressing labour market constraints and improving employment;
- Building strategic socio-economic infrastructure;
- Providing regulatory certainty and
- Professionalising the public service to increase accountability.
We trust that you will discuss these and other programmes with the aim of improving and supporting what the Executive has already committed to. As defined in the Constitution, the National Assembly of Parliament is "elected to represent the people and to ensure government of the people under the Constitution.
It does this by, amongst others, providing a forum for public consideration of issues, by passing legislation and by scrutinising and overseeing executive action”. The Provincial Legislatures play a role similar to the National Assembly on a Provincial level of passing legislation on matters of provincial competence and scrutinising and overseeing provincial executive actions.
Similarly, the Constitution defines the National Council of Provinces as representing the provinces to ensure that provincial interests are taken into account in the national sphere of government.
It does this by participating in the national legislative process and providing a forum for public consideration of issues affecting the provinces. As such it is uniquely placed to co-ordinate legislative input from Provincial Legislatures as well as inputs from local government as this sphere has representation through organised local government.
I trust that this meeting will be discussing how the National Assembly can better become a forum for the public consideration of promoting economic development and transformation; how legislation to enhance economic development can be fine-tuned and how executive action on economic development can be scrutinised and overseen.
A similar role will also be played by Provincial Legislatures.
I hope that this Seminar takes this further by discussing the role of Legislatures in enhancing economic transformation, especially as it relates to implementation across the three spheres of Government.
Programme Director;
When our Constitution was finalised, the Constitutional Assembly envisaged a more active role for Parliament in the budgeting process and took the far reaching step of requiring that an Act of Parliament be passed, which provides for a procedure to amend money bills.
Although the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act was passed a few years ago, I am pleased that significant advances are being made in ensuring that it is fully implemented.
The most significant development so far has been the establishment of the Parliamentary Budget Office and I trust that it will enhance Parliament's role in promoting economic development and transformation.
In the context of these developments the work of Parliament has become more systematic, thus allowing for better consideration of departmental strategic plans and evaluation of annual reports.
However more could be done by Parliament to ensure a better co-ordination to avoid a "silo approach” and a narrow focus limited to the functions of individual departments.
As this is a Legislature sector dialogue not just between the different Legislatures on the Continent but also the European Union, I trust that your discussions will be enriched by the international inputs, particularly the European Parliament, which has representation from many Parliaments.
Programme Director;
I wish to conclude by thanking our development partners who have been with us in this journey since 1994, and whose contribution has been invaluable in the strengthening of our system of democracy.
The South African Legislatures are custodians of the values of equality, non-racialism, non-sexism, the supremacy of the Constitution and a multi-party system of democratic government.
We have an engaging Parliament that facilitates public involvement in the legislative and other processes and has strengthened co-operative and good governance. Overall, Legislatures are seen as key institutions of democracy that hold governments accountable; but they themselves are accountable to all South Africans.
With these few words, I wish you a successful and productive seminar and look forward to receiving feedback on your deliberations and resolutions.
I thank you.
