B Mbete: Parliament Budget Vote 2006/07

6 June 2006

Madam Deputy Speaker
Members of the Executive
Honourable Members of Parliament
Ladies and gentleman

Introduction
This year, on 8 May 2006, we celebrated the 10th Anniversary of our
Constitution. The Constitution lays the foundation for a democratic and open
society in which government is based on the will of the people and where all
citizens have equal rights, and are equally protected by the law. The
Constitution, being the supreme law of the Republic helps us to establish a
society that strives to achieve EQUALITY.

It is in that spirit that Parliament has adopted “All shall have equal
rights” as the theme for this year.

Under this theme we have a campaign to review the impact of equality
legislation passed by Parliament. The campaign is focusing on gender and
disability. Through this we seek to examine what progress or otherwise we are
experiencing as a society on the basis of the legislation this parliament has
passed.

The campaign will help us know if there are legislative or other measures we
need to effect to improve the situation on the ground.

The Chairpersons of the following parliamentary committees have been central
in guiding the campaign:

* the Joint Monitoring Committee on improvement of quality of life the
status of Children, Youth and Persons with Disability
* the Joint Monitoring Committee on improvement of quality of life and status
of Women

In this year when we also mark 50 years of the women’s march for their
rights, it is important for Parliament to check what the realities of our Women
are and do whatever we need to do to deliver a better life for them and for
people living with disabilities.

1. Implementation of the vision of Parliament

The two Houses of Parliament adopted the new vision of Parliament in 2005,as
we reported in the past budget vote in 2005. The vision seeks to build an
effective people’s Parliament that is responsive to the needs of the people and
that is driven by the ideal of realising a better quality of life for all the
people of South Africa.

It builds a people's Parliament, which provides – as the constitution
enjoins - a national forum, involving the people of South Africa in its
processes and acting as their voice.

The budget tabled today, provides the necessary funding to enable Parliament
to continue on its quest to reach this vision.

In a nutshell the ongoing business of Parliament is a follows:

* to pass legislation
* to scrutinise and oversee executive action
* to facilitate public debate and involvement in the legislative and other
policy processes
* to facilitate co-operative government, and to take part in and facilitate
good international relations through the parliamentary domain.

Honourable Members, my speech will cover some of the work being done to
implement Parliament’s vision, to make ours more and more a people’s
Parliament. Secondly I wish to speak about the efforts to improve systems in
Parliament; thirdly I will turn to our work in the broader legislative sector
and lastly our international relations work.

1.1 Overseeing and scrutinising executive action

Building a democratic Parliament that is transparent and responsive to the
electorate, and that develops and follows a legislative agenda that is aimed at
accelerating the transformation of the South African society, has been
Parliament’s overriding policy and strategic objective since 1994.

Between 1994 and 2004 there was a sustained focus on repealing
discriminatory legislation and laying the foundations for a democratic and open
society based on the new constitution and laws of the new order.

Over 700 transformatory laws were passed in the first decade. The focus of
Parliament has since shifted to its oversight function to ensure that the ideal
of realising a better quality of life for all the people of South Africa will
come true.

In establishing an oversight model Parliament has focused on the following
areas:

* determining systems and human resource capacity required for the function
of oversight
* the necessary technical mechanisms and tools
* increase the research capacity of parliamentary committees
* to implement a system to manage information within the parliamentary
committees
* to develop a public participation model to ensure that inputs received
through public participation activities are channeled to appropriate
committees
* changes in parliamentary policy and or rules to accommodate the creation of
an integrated parliamentary oversight committee.
* continuous capacity development of members in terms of information
communication technology, budgeting practices and other skills required.
* training of staff in line with the oversight best practice guide and
* adopting a procedure for executive or government compliance

The Oversight and Accountability Task Team will hopefully table its final
report to the Joint Rules Committee on the 21 June 2006. This takes us closer
to some changes for the better which we will – no doubt- update this house
about next year. Apart from the creation of the Integrated Parliamentary
Oversight Committee to improve co-ordination in our work, the Task Team is also
working on the legislation provided for in Chapter 4 Section 77 (3) of the
Constitution.
It reads “An act of Parliament must provide for a procedure to amend money
Bills before Parliament”

1.2 Make Parliament responsive to the needs of all the people of South
Africa through public participation

Our participatory democracy puts our people at the center. Parliament is
elected by the people to represent them and to act as their voice. This is done
through the work of our freely elected representatives; through the access the
people have to their Parliament, its structures, processes and members.
Parliament facilitates the involvement of the public in lawmaking and other
parliamentary processes by nurturing an understanding of Parliament and its
work through educational, informational and direct engagement activities.

In enhancing its Public Participation Programme Parliament is implementing
the following interventions

1.2.1 Additional resources to help improve coordination of Constituency
Offices

In 2005/6 financial year, Parliamentary Political Parties were allocated R59
m and this financial year the allocation increased to R105,9 m, which
translates to 77% increase. This will improve the ability of political parties
to reach their members and the public at large.

1.2.2 Establishing Parliamentary Democracy Offices (PDO) in all
provinces

The purpose of these offices is:

* to increase the points of contact where people can access Parliament and
inform its work and direction
* to create an immediate parliamentary presence in the provinces
* to ensure a greater level of efficiency in accessing communities and
providing ground support for parliamentary programmes.

These Parliamentary Democracy Offices will be established in all nine
provinces and they will eventually be supported by a fleet of mobile offices
that will be equipped to take Parliament even further into rural areas.

1.2.3 The People’s Assembly

This programme uses technology to enable Parliament to directly engage with
the public across the length and breadth of the country on issues affecting the
people. It is conducted in cooperation with the Provincial Legislatures and
Civil Society. This groundbreaking programme was the first of its kind that
enabled the public from across all nine provinces, to interact in real time
with their public representatives

This year’s People’s Assembly will be held on 14-15 September in Oudtshoorn
in the Western Cape. We are hoping to arrange for all of us to travel by train
to the People’s Assembly. The topics for discussion will be informed by the
outcomes of the Equality Review Campaign I mentioned earlier.

1.2.4 The Youth Parliament

This year our country celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the Youth Day – 16
June - in recognition of the contribution made by youth in the realisation of a
democratic society in South Africa.

Parliament, in partnership with youth formations and Provincial Legislatures
will be holding a Youth Parliament on 28 and 29 June 2006. The theme for the
Youth Parliament is “All shall have equal rights” and the sub-themes are on the
following clusters:
a) youth and economic participation and
b) socio economic development.

1.2.5 Women’s Parliament

The 2006 Women’s Parliament’s theme will be “Combating the trafficking of
women and girl children”.

In this context, we intend to reach out to women in a focussed manner in
order to provide them with an opportunity to exchange information on the theme
and be empowered.

We are in the process of approaching the Departments of Social Development
and Home Affairs to work together with us where necessary. We are aware that
Parliament needs to look at the legislative measures needed in this regard.

Our country – for some years now - is used as a transit facility or
destination for victims of this horrible crime. One of the points made in the
recent International Women’s Conference which dealt – among others – with this
matter is that human trafficking needs to be viewed from a supply and demand
perspective.

We need to look at the phenomenon as it occurs in and affects our society.
Socio-economic factors like poverty, unemployment and lack of education make
many women and children vulnerable and lead to their human rights being
severely violated.

It is important to note that international solidarity and networking is
essential for effectively dealing with this international crime. We – in that
regard – welcome the attention of the United Nations (UN) Committee on the
Status of Women to this matter

Parliamentarians should lobby the African Union (AU), Pan-African Parliament
(PAP) and/or the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) to
institutionalise Anti-Trafficking Desks which can deal with this issue
collectively on a continental basis.

Honourable Members, these projects – People’s Assembly, the Youth and
Women’s Parliaments – provide opportunities for citizens to meaningfully engage
directly with Members of Parliament on issues that affect them. 

Most importantly the activities start in the provinces where there are
workshops on the chosen themes. The deliberations culminate in provincial
forums where delegates are elected to come to the national events. At the
national level the first day is used for the provincial delegates to hold
workshops with members of the Portfolio Committees working on the themes of
those forums.

This year’s Women’s Parliament will be held on 3 and 4 August in
Parliament.

2. Systems improvements

2.1 Building an effective and efficient institution

Madame Deputy Speaker, Honourable Members, it is not an exaggeration to
state that, Parliament, has undergone unprecedented transformation on both the
political and administrative levels. New rules, procedures, mechanisms and
capacities were needed to effect the work of the Parliament of the present.

In improving its efficiencies, Parliament commissioned the development of an
Information Technology Strategy.

A key system for managing the administrative functions of Parliament
efficiently is called Marang, which means sunrays or sunlight. Marang
integrates parliament’s Human Resources, Payroll, Financial and Procurement
systems.

Benefits to Parliament
Marang provides the following benefits to Parliament
* operations of Parliament are now streamlined and in line with best
practice.
* removes of duplication
* reduction of manual tasks and provides more automation
* all transactions are auditable
* policies of Parliament are included in the system for checks &
balances

2.2 New travel system

The Auditor-General’s report of 2003/04 highlighted areas of weakness in
parliament’s financial and administrative systems. Under the supervision of the
Parliamentary Oversight Authority, the specific issues have been addressed and
I will not get into details.

On 1 April 2006, Parliament successfully implemented a new travel system for
Members and their dependants. The new travel system addresses significant
shortcomings in the previous travel procurement process.

Problems with the old system

There was no central storage of data and data was not accessible to
Parliament. Entitlements were controlled manually through the issuing of paper
vouchers. Travel statements and procurement data were not immediately available
to members.

Benefits of the new travel system are:

The travel data is now stored centrally using an electronic platform through
which members and service providers request travel and authorisation occurs.
Travel profiles are maintained electronically ensuring stricter adherence to
travel policy. All data is available in real time to both Parliament and
members. There are multiple ways to use the system that allows members to
procure and authorise their travel irrespective of their location. 

The system allows Members to make their bookings and authorize them
irrespective of their location in the country.

Further completed projects include;

* The upgrading of our Information Technology networks
* The implementation of the digital recording system for Hansard.

All these and other projects, will lead the way in realizing our vision that
seeks to build an effective people’s Parliament that is responsive to the needs
of the people and that is driven by the ideal of realizing a better quality of
life for all the people of South Africa.

3. Work in legislative sector

3.1 Background: European Union Legislature Support Programme (EULSP)

The EULSP provides financial assistance to Parliament and Provincial
Legislatures that enable them to better fulfil their functions. To this end as
previously reported the European Union has made 10 million Euros over three
years available to the legislative sector. That period will end this coming
December.

3.2 key areas of work done by speakers’ forum (empowering POs)

The Speakers’ Forum has attended to a number of matters aimed at providing a
strategic basis of work for the legislative sector among which the
following:

* Development and acceptance of Gender Strategy for the Legislative Sector.
Implementation will take place pending the development of action plans per
institution.
* Development of a draft Public Participation Framework for the Legislative
Sector. A national workshop is planned for discussion of the framework
document.
* The Speakers’ Forum in conjunction with the LSP will also be working towards
the development of a sector-wide Oversight Model. This will be done in close
cooperation with the Parliamentary Task Team on Oversight.
* A Presiding Officers’ Workshop was held during April 2006 covering all
aspects relating to a Presiding Officer’s responsibilities.

3.3 Important projects expediting parliamentary democracy in SA 

The following projects funded by the LSP and implemented throughout the
legislative sector have been major contributors to the enhancement of democracy
in SA:

* approximately R1.6 million contributed to People’s Assembly celebrations
during June 2005
* large portion of EULSP funding assisting with capacity building initiatives
throughout the legislative sector
* funding the video–conferencing system for Parliament and the nine Provincial
Legislatures,

3.4   Challenges (current situation)

The following are just a few of the challenges to be met:

* the installation of the video-conferencing system for Parliament and the 9
Provincial Legislatures will be finalised in this financial year.
* liaison with tertiary institutions to develop courses for members as
identified in the Members’ Needs Assessment.
* the development of a Human Resource Development strategy framework for the
Legislative Sector.

3.5   Engagement with the EU on future funding

The Speakers’ Forum and the European Commission in South Africa recently met
and agreed to discuss possible future programmes pertaining to the legislative
sector.

A delegation from Parliament will be visiting the European Commission and
the European Parliament next week to continue the engagement.

4. International work
4.1 Task Team on International Relations

We have made significant progress towards the adoption of an International
Relations Policy. It is due to be tabled at the Joint Rules Committee this
month.

4.2 Hosting international events

During the next three years, Parliament will host a number of international
events including:
* the Southern Africa Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC-PF) at
the end of November, 2006
* the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Africa Region Conference in
2007, and
* the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly in 2008.

The largest of these conferences is the IPU Assembly with over one hundred
and forty national parliaments currently affiliated to the IPU.

4.3   DRC Election Observer Mission

Parliament will be sending a thirty-person contingent that will form part of
a South African Election Observer Mission to the DRC for the pre-election,
election and post-election phases.

The vastness of the country presents an enormous logistical challenge for
any election observation team hence South Africans need to be tightly
coordinated. We trust that we will be able to play the important role expected
of us in ensuring that the elections are free and fair.

4.4   Pan African Parliament (PAP)

Many critical issues were processed during the last session of the PAP
earlier in May. I wish to confine myself to some security concerns in the
main.

There was unanimity on the fact that Africa will not be able to achieve
growth and development if issues around peace and security continue to plague
the continent. This seemed to be the overall sentiment shared by many Members
of Parliament following a report by the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security
as well as the Chairperson of the PAP permanent Committee on Co-operation,
International Relations, and Conflict Resolution on peace and security in
Africa.

4.5 Second World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments

One hundred and fifty Speakers of Parliaments and the Presiding Officers
gathered in New York on the eve of the High-Level Meeting of Heads of States
and Governments in September 2005. A declaration was adopted in which they
examined how they could provide more support for international co-operation and
the United Nations, and thus help bridge the democracy gap in international
relations.

The Presiding Officers stated, “The United Nations must remain the
cornerstone of global co-operation. The United Nations Secretary-General should
therefore be encouraged to pursue the current reform process
vigorously.” 

5. CONCLUSION:

Madame Deputy Speaker, Honourable Members, Parliament will tirelessly pursue
its constitutionally based mandate to create a just South Africa where all
shall have equal rights. It is in that spirit that I hereby table Vote 2 of
Parliament for the implementation of our strategic vision and a better working
environment for all Members

I thank you.

Issued by: South African Parliament
6 June 2006