The Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature prides itself in reaching a milestone when 30 of its Members were among the first group of 158 Members of Parliament (MPs) and Members of Provincial Legislature (MPLs) to graduate with an NQF level 5 qualification from the Legislative Sector Capacity Building Programme through the University of South Africa (Unisa).
Tunyiswa explains that the Legislative Sector Capacity Building is a unique Members’ training and development programme sponsored by the European Union for the South African Legislative Sector under the leadership of the Speaker’s Forum. Out of 46 Members that registered for the first phase of the programme, 32 graduated during the graduation ceremony held at the University of South Africa two weeks ago.
“The purpose of the course is to enhance the performance of the Members to execute their constitutional responsibilities, as Legislators, more effectively,” said Tunyiswa.
1 and 2 December marked the launch of phase two of the programme. Tunyiswa elaborates that a two day workshop was therefore held at My Pond Hotel in Port Alfred. This saw Members academically orientated in preparation for the 2012 intake into the postgraduate certificate and Master’s Degree phases of the programme.
“It was not practical to get accommodation in line with the institution’s standard because the peak season has started. We therefore settled for My Pond Hotel because it is run by students and we regarded our support as a contribution to youth empowerment. To cut down on costs, some of our Members had to share chalets. I also wish to make it clear that the total cost of accommodation for Members at Port Alfred was far less compared to the amount that the Legislature would have paid elsewhere,” explained Tunyiswa.
The main objective of the event was to prepare the Members for the next phase of the programme. The programme ran concurrently with the end of the year function to save time and money. This was however communicated as a wasteful and unnecessary expenditure by the Daily Dispatch (as per article: December, 3, 2011: Bhisho 40 on three-day junket).
This was unfortunately supported by the opposition party’s honourable John Cupido who is a member of the Committee that was responsible for the preparations of the workshop. We feel that Cupido’s actions were driven by a political motive rather than stating the facts and decisions of the Committee.
“I am concerned about the on-going misrepresentation of the programmes and goals of this institution. It is equally disturbing to note that whenever the institution utilises the budget for its intended purpose, the Legislature is portrayed as an institution bent on wasting the Taxpayers money. There is a consistent trend of undermining and criticising everything the institution is doing including its unique achievement of a Clean Audit Opinion for 2010/11” added Tunyiswa.
We believe the Daily Dispatch is part of an agenda aimed at destroying the good name of the institution by constantly feeding the public with false, inaccurate and unverified information in order to portray the Legislature in a bad light, hence we felt it was important to write this letter. We wish to state that throughout the history of this institution, an end of the year function has always been hosted for the Members of the Provincial Legislature.
We cannot be apologetic for executing the agenda and objectives of this institution. We want to put the ears of the public at ease because the article that appeared in the Daily Dispatch was meant to put the name of the institution in disrepute. “In marking the year that was 2011, those at the helm of leadership in the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature including the members of the public have a lot to be proud of,” concluded Tunyiswa.
Enquiries:
Theo Fulani
Cell: 079 041 9537
E-mail: mfulani@ecleg.gov.za
Velisile Bukula
Cell: 083 989 4518
E-mail: VelisileBukula@gmail.com
Deputy Speaker, Bulelwa Tunyiswa gives clarity to the article published in the Daily Dispatch
Province
