That week in Parliament

It’s another week where Parliament’s schedule is dominated by Budget Vote Debates. These debates happen in the mini-plenary sittings of the National Assembly and are headlined by Ministers, their deputies, party leaders and senior MPs. This period is...

The Week Ahead: Budget Vote Debates Parliament will largely be consumed by Budget Vote debates this week. These debates provide an opportunity for Parliament to discuss and then formally adopt the budgets of government departments and entities. The...

The Sixth Parliament is now fully in swing! Chairpersons have been elected and Members are furiously busy scrutinizing performance plans and budgets. This would be a useful time to familiarize yourself  with some parliamentary parlance! We’ve all...

  Portfolio Committees will  begin their work this week. Committees are an important venue for parliamentary activities. It is the site where most of the legislature's business is organised.  It is typically the first place where legislative proposals...

The Week Ahead: SONA Debates The Sixth Parliament is slowing kicking into gear with four plenary sittings scheduled this week. The main events will be the joint debate on the State of the Nation Address on Tuesday  as well as the President’s reply...

While most of the public attention is directed at the main chambers, MPs spend most of their times in Committees. Committees are the site where the real, substantive work (law-making, oversight and budget allocation) happens. Committees have more time...

Chairpersons play a dominant role in organising the administrative affairs of a Committee and control its budget. In addition, he/she supervises the writing of the Committee's reports to the House (ensuring that the text presented in the House is the...

  1. What is the SONA? It is an annual address given by the President to a joint session of Parliament and marks the official opening of the legislature. It is designed to be a report on the economic and social state of the nation, and includes a...

  While all the attention is focused on the national legislature, it is easy to overlook the state of gender and youth representation in the 9 provincial legislatures. One province has achieved gender parity, while 4 have nearly reached this mark....

Becoming an MP can be a complex and difficult journey. In many respects, the job is viewed as one which requires experience and therefore suited to older people. Meanwhile, women face all sorts of hurdles when running for elected office. This includes...