Honourable Deputy Chairperson
Honourable delegates
Fellow South Africans
1. Introduction
I appreciate the opportunity to present Parliament’s budget under this year’s theme celebrating the legacy of freedom through strengthening the link between Parliament and the people. This year’s budget is tabled just over a month after our people exercised their right, in a free society, to vote for their local government representatives. Their message was clear that government must do more and faster.
The budget is in furtherance of the policy imperatives that were the outcome of consultations with political parties at the beginning of this term. These policy imperatives informed the development of Parliament’s strategic plan for 2009-14, with its five strategic objectives which in short are:
- Strengthening the oversight function
- Increasing public involvement and participation
- Strengthening cooperative government
- Improving and widening the role of Parliament in international cooperation and participation
- Building an effective and efficient institution
Just over two years into the fourth Parliament, this budget presents an opportunity for us to assess the work we have done thus far.
Sigmund Freud (Austrian psychoanalyst) once said that “most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are (afraid) of responsibility.”
Our responsibility is to work for the realisation of the aspirations of our people, especially those of the calibre of the late Mama Albertina Sisulu who suffered, fought and paid dearly for the freedom that we enjoy today.
2. Parliament’s budget (2010/11)
Honourable Deputy Chairperson, to meet our responsibility to the electorate, resources were allocated in the last financial year to the tune of R1.59 billion to support the work of Parliament.
From this budget:
- Administration was allocated R346.2 million, to provide strategic leadership, institutional policy, administration and corporate services to support Members of Parliament.
- Member’s Facilities programme received a split of R168.6 million, to provide facilities and tools of trade for Members and R25.3 million for medical aid contributions for continuation of contributions to Members (Ex-Members of Parliament and the Legislatures) of PARMED.
- Legislation and Oversight was allocated R300 million, to enable Parliament to carry out its core functions.
- Public and International Participation was allocated R79.4 million, to carry out public participation projects and participate in international relations activities.
- Associated Services, a programme to provide financial support to political parties represented in Parliament, received R281.9 million.
Parliament spent 98.1% of its final budget allocation in the last financial year. This is a marked improvement when compared to the previous financial years.
However, it must be noted that the underspending on the budget relates to underspending on the statutory appropriation for members’ compensation. This amount is returned to National Treasury as per legislation.
Parliament also utilised R45.5 million of retained funds during the 2010/11 financial year to fund upgrading and improvements to committee rooms, offices and IT equipment and systems. These are funds which represent underspending of prior years and the interest earned on them. They have decreased significantly from R322.3 million in the 2006/07 financial year to R126.6 million in the 2010/11 financial year.
These funds will further decrease in the 2011/12 financial year as Parliament continues to upgrade and improve the resources which are being utilised. The effect of all of this is that the balance of retained funds will soon be depleted. This is a good sign as Parliament should not necessarily carry this type of funds but rather ensure that all voted funds are spent in the year as planned.
The 2010/11 budget was used, among other things, for the following work which is continuing:
2.1 Implementation of the Money Bills Amendment Procedures and Related Matters Act
Various provisions of the Act have been implemented. As part of preparations for the establishment of the budget office, Parliament undertook study tours led separately by the Speaker and myself in December 2010 and January 2011 to learn about the establishment and functioning of parliamentary budget offices as part of parliamentary oversight mechanism.
Subsequent to this visit, we convened a workshop to consider the report, and to deliberate on the way forward. A political task team, led by two House Chairpersons from the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, is putting together a report on possible options for our own home-grown model.
The National Treasury has approved funding for the establishment of the budget office from retained earnings.
2.2 Development of public participation model
We intend developing and implementing a model for public participation that will integrate with the Oversight and Accountability Model in order to make Parliament more responsive to the needs of the people. This will ensure that there are mechanisms and standards developed to ensure meaningful and broader participation by all the people. We are in the process of setting up a Joint Political Task Team to facilitate this work.
2.3 Establishment of a Unit on Chapter 9 institutions
The report of the Ad hoc Committee on the Review of Chapter 9 and Associated Institutions of July 2007, led by Professor Kader Asmal, which the National Assembly adopted on 21 November 2008, recommended the speedy establishment of a unit on constitutional institutions and other statutory bodies in the office of the Speaker to coordinate all interactions with these institutions. The unit has since been established. Processes are underway to establish how best to capacitate it to handle its tasks.
2.4 Strengthening international relations capacity
We are continuing to improve international relations support to members. As part of strengthening the support service the international relations section was elevated to the level of a division to lead transformation in this regard. The new Divisional Head was appointed and started work on 1 April 2011.
In our mission to strengthen regional and international institutions, we are proud to state that our Parliament provided assistance to the Pan-African Parliament in the development of the continental body’s strategic plan.
2.5 Implementation of the Financial Management of Parliament Act (FMPA)
Implementation of the Financial Management of Parliament Act commenced last year and was supported by the introduction of measures to support and enhance the financial management function and ensure that a financial management culture, consistent with the values of Parliament and the Act, is entrenched.
2.6 Review of the parliamentary service structure
Members had raised concerns regarding the service they get from the parliamentary administration. These related to, among others, the nature of the support, location, the role of Chairpersons of committees in securing this support, etc.
We are reviewing the structure of the parliamentary service and the nature of support provided to Members. We will in due course engage political parties regarding this process. The review must also ensure that the Executive Authority of Parliament is properly capacitated to discharge its duties as required by the law.
2.7 Business continuity disaster recovery system (including IT) and upgrade of ICT infrastructure
Parliament is highly dependent on ICT systems being always available in order to perform its functions. As the business of Parliament becomes more reliant on IT systems, it will become vital to have a system that replicates data off-site so that the information cannot be destroyed or lost, especially during times of disaster.
Phases 1 and 2 of this project have been completed and phase 3 is now being planned.
ICT infrastructure has also been upgraded to ensure that the network is stable, 100% available and performs at high speed to meet the needs of a 21st century parliament.
2.8 Chamber upgrade (NA and NCOP)
The NA and NCOP Chambers are crucial for conducting Parliament’s business. We want to equip the Chambers with appropriate infrastructure so that members can be integrated from those venues into the technology infrastructure of Parliament. The revamp of the NCOP Chamber, which is intended to improve the quality of sound and acoustics, is underway and scheduled for completion soon, and work in the NA Chamber is planned to start soon.
2.9 Integrated budgeting, performance and reporting systems
Parliament needs to enhance its planning, budgeting, performance management and reporting systems that will integrate with the enterprise resource planning solution first implemented in the third Parliament. The process to integrate these key functions is underway.
2.10 Questions to the Executive (NCOP)
Critical in our oversight work as this House is the mechanism of questions to the Executive. As at the end of March this year, 540 questions for written reply and 88 for oral reply were put to the Executive. In total there were 628 questions to the Executive. Out of the 628, a total of 62 questions were not replied to. While we continue to encourage the Executive to answer all the questions from Members of this House, it is encouraging that 566 questions were replied to during the year under review.
2.11 Bills passed (NCOP)
With regard to legislation, we passed a total of 23 Bills (15 section 75, 5 section 76 and 3 section 77 Bills).
2.12 Provincial Week and Taking Parliament to the People
Last September permanent delegates went back to their respective provinces for oversight and public participation purposes as part of the Provincial Week programme. In November, this House embarked on the most successful Taking Parliament to the People programme ever at the Thabo Mofutsanyana District, Free State.
We continue to follow up on the work of these programmes and the additional time being given to committees for oversight activities in the next quarter bears testimony to this.
We intend visiting one other province before the end of this year under the Taking Parliament to the People programme, which is an important vehicle in deepening democracy by ensuring participation and accountability.
2.13 Cooperative government and IGR portfolio (NCOP)
Last year we reconfigured the portfolios of our two House Chairpersons in the NCOP resulting in the creation of a new portfolio on cooperative government and intergovernmental relations. The House Chairperson: Cooperative Government and Intergovernmental Relations, Honourable N Magadla, is engaging with provinces for purposes of exposing the work of this new portfolio and how to improve our performance in this area.
2.14 NCOP communication strategy
The NCOP is in the process of finalising the consideration of a communication strategy so as to ensure that we are able to properly project the important work we do. The strategy will also assist us in deepening our engagements with relevant roleplayers and stakeholders.
3. This year’s budget (2011/12)
In furtherance of the work I have outlined and more, Parliament has been allocated a budget of R1.674 billion for the current financial year. This allocation indicates a 5.3% increase from the allocation of 2010/11 financial year. Following the strategic objectives of Parliament, the allocated budget has again been divided into five programmes: Administration, Legislation and Oversight, Public and International Participation, Members’ Facilities, and Associated Services.
- The allocation for legislation and oversight is R296 million, of this R50 million goes to committees which represents a R5 million increase for this financial year.
- The allocation for public and international participation is R109 million.
- The allocation for Members’ facilities is R222 million.
- The allocation for financial support to political parties totals R288 million.
- Members’ remuneration, which is a direct charge against the National Revenue Fund, amounts to R410 million.
The 2011/12 budget will be used to further pursue the strategic objectives of the fourth Parliament.
3.1 Space utilisation project
One of the important tasks going forward is to address the challenge of space and lack of adequate facilities for the proper functioning of Parliament. Funding for this work will be provided partly from retained earnings while the rest will come through the budget of the Department of Public Works.
Demolition started two weeks ago.
3.2 Sector parliaments
We have resumed the programme of sector parliaments (i.e. Youth Parliament, Women’s Parliament and People’s Assembly) which are directed by the Deputy Speaker and the Deputy Chairperson. Together with Africa Day programme, these will give us an opportunity to strengthen the link between Parliament and the people.
3.3 Conference on Climate Change
As Members are aware, South Africa will be hosting the 17th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 17) in Durban later this year.
These deliberations in our country and continent are important, especially given that environmental sustainability is one of the Millennium Development Goals. Also, our government has identified the green economy as a potential growth area for purposes of job creation. As MPs, we need to be ready to participate in and follow discussions on climate diplomacy leading up to this important conference.
4. Conclusion
Honourable Deputy Chairperson, as we celebrate the legacy of freedom we must remember the words of former US President, Dwight Eisenhower, when he said: “Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed - else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die.”
Our icon, former President Nelson Mandela, understood this responsibility very well when he said: “I have walked that long road to freedom. I have tried not to falter; I have made missteps along the way. . . . But I can only rest for a moment, for with freedom come responsibilities, and I dare not linger, for my long walk is not ended."
Indeed the long walk to freedom has not ended and former President Nelson Mandela has passed the baton to us to continue the walk. The responsibility is now upon us to ensure that this freedom that we enjoy today never dies. On behalf of the millions of South Africans, whom we have the privilege to represent, I commend the budget of Parliament totalling R1.674 billion.
I would like to thank Members of Parliament and political parties for supporting us as Presiding Officers. I also thank the officials for dedicated service. Together we can ensure that the aspirations of our people are realised.
Thank you.
Source: Parliament of South Africa
