That week in Parliament

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...