KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Legislature Speaker Honourable Lydia Johnson today tabled a budget of more than R491 million at the provincial legislature chambers in Pietermaritzburg. This budget will be used to carry out the institution's constitutional mandate of law making, exercising oversight over the executive arm of government and promoting and facilitating public participation.
Johnson paid tribute to her predecessors for having laid a solid foundation and also hailed the role played by women in the liberation of this country saying "we are looking with pride on the achievements made by the ANC led government by passing legislation that improves the quality of life of women."
She added: "This is the month when we are reminded to accelerate the fight against the triple challenges of our economic state. The face of poverty is seen in women; the face of inequality manifests itself in women, the face and harshness of unemployment is reminiscent to women."
She said the Legislature will intensify its activities of law-making, oversight and public participation to speed-up service delivery by the provincial government.
"Our core business of law making, public participation and oversight serves as a precursor to determine our overall strategy. The KZN Legislature presents this budget fully cognisant of the fact that it ensured the smooth transition from the 4th democratic legislature to the 5th one," she said.
She said legislature was stronger now and thanked different political parties, including those who did not return to the legislature after the last elections, for their contributions.
In a nutshell Johnson reported the following:
- On Oversight: She reported that the institution's committees were much more structured following the implementation of the Sector Oversight Model (SOM) which was first piloted in 2012. SOM is a collection of best practices on oversight by all Legislatures of South Africa. It enhances the effectiveness of Legislatures in their different areas of competence to support service delivery; thereby improving the quality of life of all the people of South Africa.
- Law Making: She reported that in the previous term the Legislature processed six pieces of provincial legislation and 30 pieces of National Legislation through the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). This year the Legislature will prioritise the conclusion of the amendment of the Standing Rules.
- Public Participation: The institution remains committed to enhancing its constitutional mandate of engaging citizenry to interact with policy makers. Currently the legislature has a series of outreach programmes including Sectoral Parliaments, Taking Legislature to the People, Symposia, People's Assembly etc. In this regard, Johnson reported, the institution foresees a time when these programmes will give rise to informed citizens and engaging beyond basic needs to standards of service delivery - thus ensuring that their vote is working throughout the five year term.
- She also committed the institution to capacitation of Public Constituency Offices (PCOs) and Public Democracy Offices (PDOs).
"In this financial year, we will again seek to utilise the media as a key mechanism for reaching the masses and we will intensify our public participation efforts within the confines of the budget," said Johnson.
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