As elected representatives, individually and collectively, parliamentarians are both products of and custodians of, the democratic values enshrined in our Constitution. These values set the tone for the discussion of issues of national concern as they occur in our society, in all its glorious diversity. This House is positioned in the Constitution to lead these discussions.
Honourable Members,
The 2012 Inter Parliamentary Unions’ (IPU) Global Parliamentary Report, a peer review of member parliaments, reveals that our established practices on public participation, openness and transparency can be regarded as exemplary, a rare tribute indeed.
The Global Parliamentary Report however notes that the challenge facing all Parliaments is the need to continuously evolve to ensure that we respond strategically and effectively to our peoples’ changing and growing needs. The Report notes that there are three dominant pressures facing Parliaments worldwide, which are:
- a greater public desire for information and influence in parliamentary work;
- more accountability and responsiveness to parliamentary concerns; and
- service delivery to meet our peoples’ needs.
The occasion of Parliament’s annual budget vote is a crucial opportunity for us, as public representatives, to reflect on how we can and must continually improve on delivering our mandate. June is after all youth month and therefore, a potent reminder of the legacy that we must leave for our children.
Honourable Members,
Section 42 of the Constitution stipulates that Parliament is elected to represent the people and provide a national forum for the public consideration of national issues. Therefore, Parliament should hold debates on issues of national importance. It is important that political parties make use of this provision and more importantly, they must work harder to agree amongst themselves what are issues of national importance.
Honorable Members,
Noting the gaps in our oversight capacity, in 2009 we adopted an oversight and accountability model. Since then I have noted a more coordinated and enhanced approach to oversight by Committees. However the area of questions to the Executive has continuously proven to be a challenge. While it is acknowledged that the number of questions has increased, questions are an integral mechanism to hold the Executive accountable and the Executive must develop the means to reply within the time limits.
I have written to several Ministers to remind them of their constitutional obligations, but the improvement thus far has only been marginal. I have now directed members to table proposals at the National Assembly Rules Committee that will enhance and facilitate the questions process. I have also requested a meeting with the leader of government business so that together we can find a way to address this important matter. Until the rules have been changed, I urge that the rules be complied with.
To further enhance our oversight activities I urge that we prioritise the National Development Plan (NDP). The 9 challenges identified, are the most pressing and you will all agree that these provide us with an excellent framework to guide our oversight programme as they exemplify fundamental challenges of public policy that need to be critically examined and debated, in society and in Parliament.
Honourable Members,
I am concerned that more and more legislation is returned to the National Assembly for correction – either section 75 legislation which the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) has recommended that the Assembly amends to make it constitutional, or legislation that was found to be unconstitutional by the courts. This speaks both to the constitutionality of the legislation passed, as well as its quality.
Section 44(4) of the Constitution provides that “when exercising its legislative authority, Parliament is bound only by the Constitution, and must act in accordance with, and within the limits of, the Constitution”. Because we are a constitutional state, all laws must pass the test of constitutionality. In this regard we must ensure that at all times, the laws we make are in keeping with the letter and spirit of the Constitution.
The recent judgment of the Cape High Court in Director of Public Prosecutions, Western Cape versus Prins, highlights and reiterates that the legislation that we pass has a huge impact on our citizens. We must take the utmost care to ensure that the law shields and protects the most vulnerable in our society. In this judgement, it was held that as 29 sexual offences listed in the Sexual Offence Act did not contain a penalty clause, an accused found guilty of any of these offences, could not be sentenced. These 29 offences include various types of rape as well as many sexual offences against children.
The poor quality of legislation is often the consequence of inadequate scrutiny. As the subject matter of legislation becomes more sophisticated and highly technical, our Parliament and members must become more professional. This requires the necessary capacity both in terms of technical support by the officials and capacity building for Members. The Report of the Independent Panel Assessment of Parliament noted in this regard that Parliament did not have sufficient capacity when it came to drafting and amending legislation. The Constitutional and Legal Services Office was instructed to establish a legal drafting unit. A proposal has been approved and the process is now underway to staff the unit and get the ball rolling.
Honourable Members,
We have an abundance of willing and able stakeholders, including academia, research institutions, special interests groups and civil society who, on an ongoing basis, are able to ensure that we have access to independent resources of specialised knowledge and information. We should make maximum use of them.
Honourable Members,
In so far as public participation is concerned, Members of Parliament should take responsibility for safeguarding the integrity of the participation process, particularly for the poor and the marginalised.
The quality and effectiveness of public participation cannot rest on simply providing a space and an opportunity for submitting comments. Public participation can only be effective if inputs find expression in parliamentary processes.
A task team of the Joint Rules Committee is currently looking at creating a model to facilitate public participation in parliamentary processes. This project has been far too long in the making and concrete proposals need to come out of the endeavors of the task team, as a matter of urgency.
Honourable Members,
Earlier this year, Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe asked us to consider whether we are accessible enough to the people we represent? He also asked us to use our constituency offices as spaces for dialogue and engagement. I agree, let us use our constituency periods and constituency offices more effectively and creatively.
In my discussions with the chief whips of political parties I will continue to encourage the implementation of more stringent reporting requirements on constituency work.
It will be recalled that the current set of rules of the National Assembly was agreed in 1996 when the Constitution came into effect. Since the adoption of the rules, Parliament has continued to develop and refine its structures, procedures and proceedings to ensure that they allow the legislature to discharge its responsibilities effectively. It has become increasingly evident that a comprehensive review of the rules is required to ensure that they do not hinder but help us in discharging our mandate and are in line with our Constitution.
Honourable Members,
The Report of the Joint Subcommittee on Delegated Legislation is a matter that has been outstanding for a considerable time.
I cannot emphasise enough the importance of this committee and the urgency we need to attach to its establishment. The work of the committee involves ensuring that the regulations passed by the Executive are in line with our Constitution and the objectives and intentions of the Acts, which provided for such regulations.
Honourable Members,
The enactment of the Financial Management of Parliament Act (FMPA) ensures the independence of Parliament. The only outstanding matter is the implementation of the oversight mechanism. The Parliamentary Oversight Authority currently performs some of the functions of the proposed oversight mechanism and as such there is a need for further discussion to avoid such duplications.
Honourable Members,
In 2009 the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act and the Financial Management of Parliament Act came into effect, giving Parliament the ability to amend the money Bills. Our study tours have revealed that we need to approach the establishment of the Budget Office with circumspection to ensure that the model implemented will respond to our circumstances and will deliver on what the Act has intended. We have established that there have been a number of failed budget offices in other parliaments primarily because they failed to support the work of Parliament.
In this regard Parliament’s presiding officers seconded Professor Mahommed Jahed from the Development Bank of South Africa to assist with the establishment of the Parliamentary Budget office. Professor Jahed, sitting in the Speaker’s Bay today, has worked with Parliament in the past two years conducting workshops on developing understanding and implementation of the Budget Office and was also part of the study tour to Japan and South Korea. Thank you Professor Jahed.
Honourable Members,
Since the promulgation of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, a number of challenges have been documented. These challenges relate mostly to the impractical time frames stipulated in the Act. The matter has been referred to the Standing Committee on Finance for it to draft appropriate amendments. We need to deal with the challenges so that the Budget office can be established as soon as possible.
Honourable Members,
As you all are aware Parliament’s budget enables us to fulfil our constitutional mandate, to assist political parties represented in Parliament to secure administrative support, service constituents and to provide members of Parliament with the necessary facilities.
For these purposes, our programmes are divided into five key areas. These are administration, legislation and oversight, public and international participation, members’ facilities and associated services i.e. financial support to political parties in parliament.
Specifically, our 4th Parliament has prioritised the strengthening of the oversight function, increased public participation, better cooperative government, the expansion of Parliament’s role in international relations, and the building of a truly people’s Parliament.
Honourable Members,
With respect to Parliament’s role in international relations, global interdependence also calls for more participation and accountability in global decision-making. Empowering people to influence decisions that affect their lives and hold their rulers accountable is no longer just a national issue. In an integrated world these democratic principles have a global dimension because global rules and actors often affect people’s lives as much as national ones.
As a Parliament we remain committed to working towards the consolidation of the African agenda through our participation in the regional and continental multilateral structures, in particular the Pan-African Parliament and the SADC Parliamentary Forum. The South African Parliament continues to participate in and support the programmes of the SADC Parliamentary forum including its election observer and monitoring missions. As you may know, Parliament sent a small team to Lesotho at the week-end to monitor the elections there.
Parliament co-hosted the Inter-Parliamentary Union - 17th Conference of Parties (COP), the Climate Change meeting on the margins of the United Nations’ COP17 Climate Change conference in Durban last December 2011. This concluded with a formal declaration by all IPU member Parliaments placing climate change issues at the centre of the work of Parliaments globally. It is important that we monitor the resolutions of the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention on Climate Change and the commitments made by our governments in that regard.
Honourable Members,
At a bilateral level Parliament has hosted delegations from the People’s Republic of China, Kenya, Vietnam, Botswana, Slovak Republic, Argentina, Syria, Indonesia, The Russian Federation and Japan, and most recently, the President of India, President Pratibha Devi Singh Patil, paid a courtesy call to our Parliament.
More engagements have been identified, for instance, in June, Parliament is sending a delegation to participate in the forthcoming World Symposium on Sustainable Development to be held in Rio de Janeiro.
With respect to the “greening” of Parliament we have established a committee to work on concrete proposals of how our carbon footprint can be reduced. Parliament should be an example to all government departments and society at large of why and how environmental concerns must be central to the way we work and do things.
Honourable Members,
Chapter three of our Constitution requires us to work cooperatively with different spheres of government. As you know provincial Speakers meet with the Presiding Officers regularly within the Speaker’s forum.
In March, Parliament hosted a very successful international consultative seminar which is an annual event of the South Africa legislative sector and the European Union (EU) aimed at advancing our strategic partnership by sharing perspectives and best practices.
Honourable Members,
In this month the Presiding Officers also met with the Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng to discuss matters of mutual interest and areas of cooperation. We have agreed to meet once a year and as and when urgent matters arise.
Honourable Members,
I would like to take this opportunity, before turning to the actual allocation for 2012-2013, to report on the matter of the Secretary to Parliament and the Chief Financial Officer. As Members are aware, the Secretary and the Chief Financial Officer were placed on special leave to allow the investigation by the Auditor-General into the salary advance payment to the Secretary to Parliament with regard to the construction of a perimeter wall at his residence.
The report of the Auditor General was received and tabled at a special meeting of the Parliamentary Oversight Authority (POA). The POA considered and accepted the report and the recommendations by the Auditor-General.
In this regard, Parliament will formally engage with Mr Dingani and the Chief Finance Office, Mr Leslie Mondo, regarding the processes to follow. Both Mr Dingani and Mr Mondo have been on special leave since March 26. The Deputy Secretary, Mr Michael Coetzee, has been acting as Secretary to Parliament.
We will report to the House once the processes have been completed.
Honourable Members,
With respect to annual expenditure, Parliament’s budget allocation for the 2012/13 financial year is R1.763 billion.
As you are aware, this budget is divided into five programme areas.
- The allocation for Programme 1 - Administration is R392 million, an increase of 6.5% over the R368 million of 2011/12.
- The allocation for Programme 2 - Legislation and oversight is R311 million, an increase of 4.3% over the R298 million of 2011/12. R55 million of the R 311 million is allocated to committees, an increase of R5 million or 10% for the financial year.
- The allocation for Programme 3 - Public and international participation is R118 million, an increase of 8.2% over the R109 million for 2011/12.
- The allocation for Programme 4 - Members’ Facilities is R200 million.
- The allocation for Programme 5 – Associated services providing financial support to political parties totals R311 million, an increase of 4.3% over the R 298 million of 2011/12.
Honourable Members,
For the past 3 years Parliament has received unqualified reports from the Auditor-General. With respect to the specific findings of the report of 2010/2011, the Presiding Officers, deemed it necessary to implement an accelerated programme to improve the financial management environment of Parliament. The most visible and immediate accomplishment of the project was to reduce the number of Auditor-General’s findings from 115 in 2010 to fewer than 10 in 2011. We continuously endeavour to improve the performance of our systems of financial control.
Honourable Members,
Since the 1st Parliament, the Rules Committee has been discussing the issue of the absence of members from the sittings of the House and its committees. On a number of occasions, I have expressed concern about the lack of a policy on members’ attendance and enjoined parties to speed up the process to finalise the matter. Attendance affects the core business of Parliament, as many a time the business of the House cannot proceed without a quorum, and a solution has to be found. There should be an implementable policy governing members’ attendance, otherwise the wrong signal will continue to be sent to the public, which is that there are no consequences for members who do not attend the proceedings of Parliament.
Two years ago a draft attendance policy was referred by the Parliamentary Oversight Authority to the Chief Whips’ Forum for processing. After I strongly raised my concerns at the last two Joint Rules Committee meetings, it has been agreed that the matter will be finalised at the next meeting on 31 July 2012.
Honourable Members,
I want to conclude with the most urgent and pressing issue in our country today – that is the condition of our children. The United Nations Children Fund released a report last week in which it offers detailed insight into unnecessary deaths and devastating living conditions of South Africa’s (SA) children and demands that government take immediate action.
With 11.5 million of the country's 19 million children living in poverty - and 7 million living in 20% of the poorest households - the report shows poor children are 17 times more likely to experience hunger and three times less likely to complete school than children from wealthier backgrounds. The report, titled "A Programme of Cooperation between government and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) 2013 to 2017", shows just how far South Africa still needs to travel as the homes of 1.4 million children rely on streams for drinking water, 1.5 million children live in houses with no flushing toilets and 1.7 million live in shacks."
This week government has identified as “Child Protection Week”. We have heard and witnessed many harrowing and disturbing stories of abuse of children in our communities. The question that we need to ask is what Parliament, and Members, can and should do, to ensure the quality of life and protection of our children. We should remember that we are here to make a big difference to their lives.
Notwithstanding our many achievements, former President Mandela also reminded us that “Apartheid continues to live with us in the leaking roofs and corrugated walls of shacks, in the bulging stomach of hungry children, in the darkness of homes without electricity, and in the heavy pales of dirty water that rural women carry for long distances and to quench their thirst.”
Amilcar Cabral reminds us that “We must preserve for our children the best that we have learned, they are the flowers of our struggle.”
I thank you!
