PRESENTATION
TO THE ASSESSMENT PANEL
12 February 2008
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES AND MECHANISMS AND RESOURCES ALLOCATED:
1994 - 1999: 1ST DEMOCRATIC PARLIAMENT
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:
·
ABOLISHMENT
OF APARTHEID LEGISLATION;
·
DEVELOPMENT
OF CONSTITUTION BY CONSTITUTIONAL ASSEMBLY;
·
ABOLISHMENT
OF SENATE AND ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES;
·
PRESIDENTIAL
REVIEW OF MINISTRIES AND RELATED REVIEW OF PARLIAMENT'S COMMITTEES;
·
RESTRUCTURING
OF THE ADMINISTRATION TO ALIGN WITH THE NEW REQUIREMENTS.
RESOURCE
ALLOCATION:
DIRECTING
AUTHORITY WAS VESTED IN THE SPEAKER OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AND THE PRESIDENT
OF THE SENATE AND LATER THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF PROVINCES.
UPON ADVICE
OF THE JOINT BUDGET COMMITTEE THE BUDGETS WERE DULY ALLOCATED TO THE STRATEGIC
PRIORITIES
AVERAGE
BUDGET
THE AVERAGE
BUDGET FOR THIS PARLIAMENT WAS APPROXIMATELY R300m per annum.
STRATEGIC
PRIORITIES AND MECHANISMS AND RESOURCES ALLOCATED 999 - 2004: 2ND DEMOCRATIC
PARLIAMENT
STRATEGIC
PRIORITIES:
·
ENHANCED
LEVELS OF PUBLIC & INTERNATIONAL PARTICIPATION
·
ENHANCED
OVERSIGHT ACTIVITIES DUE TO PFMA REFORMS;
·
INVESTMENT
IN ICT SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGIES.
RESOURCE
ALLOCATION:
·
JOINT
RULES COMMITTEE DIRECTS THE CONTROL OF SERVICES;
·
FUNDING
AND EXPENDITURE DECISIONS VESTED IN THE SPEAKER OF THE NA AND CHAIRPERSON OF
THE NCOP
AVERAGE
BUDGET:
·
THE
AVERAGE BUDGET FOR THIS PARLIAMENT WAS APPROXIMATELY R 464m per annum
STRATEGIC
PRIORITIES AND MECHANISMS AND RESOURCES ALLOCATED2004-20093rd
DEMOCRATIC PARLIAMENT
STRATEGIC PRIORITIES:
·
BUILD
A QUALITY PROCESS OF SCRUTINISING AND OVERSEEING GOVERNMENT ACTION;
·
BUILD
A PEOPLE'S PARLIAMENT THAT IS RESPONSIVE TO THE NEEDS OF ALL PEOPLE OF SOUTH
AFRICA;
·
BUILD
AN EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE INSTITUTION.
RESOURCE
ALLOCATION:
·
PARLIAMENTARY
OVERSIGHT AUTHORITY DIRECTS THE CONTROL OF SERVICES;
·
FUNDING
AND EXPENDITURE DECISIONS VESTED IN THE SPEAKER OF THE NA AND CHAIRPERSON OF
THE NCOP,
·
ACTING
JOINTLY AS OUR TREASURY (SEE S3(3) OF THE PFMA)
AVERAGE
BUDGET:
·
THE
AVERAGE BUDGET FOR THIS PARLIAMENT IS APPROXIMATELY R 984m per annum.
Decision
Making
·
Decision
making is effected through the Parliamentary Oversight Authority.
·
Accordingly
the Parliamentary Budget Forum prepares the parliamentary budget and recommends
to the Parliamentary Oversight Authority (the authority that interprets and
oversees the implementation of policy formulated by the policy-making authority
and determines the actual level of services).
How the
Rules of the Houses have evolved
·
The
mandate of the National Assembly is to choose the President; provide a national
forum for consideration of issues; pass legislation; and scrutinise and oversee
Executive action.
·
Rules
for the election of the President are the responsibility of the Chief Justice.
These rules are in place and available.
·
There
are various mechanisms in the Rules to consider matters of national interest –
these include Member's Statements; motions; debates on matters of public and
urgent public importance and statements by Ministers.
·
A
large part of the Rules deal with the detail of passing legislation as required
by the Constitution. The regulatory framework established by the Rules provides
details of the passage of different types of legislation through Parliament.
·
The
Rules also contain various mechanisms to hold the Executive accountable.
Committees may call any Minister to account; the House regularly calls
Ministers to answer questions, to respond to member's statements and issues
raised in debates.
INTERNAL
COMMITTEES
Internal
committees which existed up to 2004 were subcommittees of the Joint Rules
Committee. With the adoption and implementation of the new governance model,
these functions have now been assigned to House Chairpersons.
Mechanisms developed over time to improve quality of debate: NA
·
There
are various mechanisms available to initiate debate - these include motions,
debates agreed to, by the programme committee (eg IPU), debates to acknowledge
national or international days (Youth Day, Women's Day), debates on committee
reports, 1st and 2nd reading debates on Bills, debates on
matters of public importance and urgent public importance.
·
Topics
for debates are in practice agreed to by the multi-party Chief Whips Forum
before being brought to the Programming Committee. However debates on matters
of urgent public importance are requested by a party or a member and are
considered by the Speaker, as the very nature of these debates means that they
override the Parliamentary Programme.
·
In
June 2002 the entire Rules on the Question system were revised in an effort to
improve the quality of debates. The system of supplementary questions was
introduced to afford members an opportunity to engage with replies given by
Ministers. In addition the President is required to answer questions in the
National Assembly once every quarter.
Mechanisms
developed over time to improve quality of debate: NCOP
·
The
National Council of Provinces (NCOP) has attempted to ensure that in its
debates, motions, questions, subjects for discussion, the focus is on bringing
to the fore the issue of provincial interests. The emphasis is on the Schedule
4 matters (Le. the functional areas of concurrent national and provincial
legislative competence) such as Housing, Health Services, Education,
Agriculture, Cultural matters and Public Transport.
MECHANISMS
DEVELOPED TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF DEBATE
·
There
have been a number of initiatives that have contributed to the improvement of the
quality of debate in the NCOP. Firstly, there have been a number of workshops
and capacity-building programmes, legal, procedural and technical assistance to
NCOP Members and the "Handbook for Permanent Delegates".
·
Secondly,
the NCOP has been innovative in the way in which it has structured its annual
programme. It has for example ensured that Provincial Weeks are scheduled to
take place at least twice per year. The programmes of the Provincial Weeks are
also prepared and coordinated with the Provincial Legislatures in an increasingly
structured and focussed manner.
·
The
NCOP's very successful programme of "Taking Parliament to the People"
has provided an opportunity for its Members to acquire first -hand knowledge of
the conditions faced by communities (particularly in rural areas) on a daily
basis. The programme usually includes site visits to Health Centres, Schools
and Farming Projects. Armed with this information, the Members are able to
frame their speeches in debates, their motions, their questions to the
Executive with reference to actual circumstances "on the ground" and
highlighting the provincial interest. This serves to enhance the quality of
debate.
MECHANISMS
DEVELOPED TO IMPROVE QUESTION TIME
NCOP
Rules for the eriod 1997 – 2001
·
During
the early years of the NCOP, the Rules provided that the time allocated to Questions
(for oral reply) was only twenty minutes. Furthermore, the Rules indicated that
the time for a reply to a question for oral reply could not exceed 3 minutes.
·
In
practice this meant that all Ministers who were required to respond to
questions in the House, were to be in attendance in the House, but because
there was only a very limited twenty-minute period, there was no guarantee that
they would all receive an opportunity to respond to their questions.
NCOP
Rules (for the period 2001 – 2005)
·
In
terms of the NCOP Rules that had been adopted as at 28 March 2001, the rules relating
to questions had been amended so that the time allocated to Questions had been
increased from twenty minutes to one hour (60 minutes). The time for reply to questions
was still limited to 3 minutes per reply.
NCOP
Rules for the period 2005 to date)
·
On
18 November 2005, the Programme Committee of the NCOP decided on a new approach
to Questions. The new approach essentially meant that Questions would be dealt
with in terms of clusters of Ministers as follows:
·
Cluster
1 (Peace and Security)
·
Cluster
2 (Social Services and Governance)
·
Cluster
3 (Economics)
·
In
terms of the cluster approach to questions, each Question Day (or session) is
focussed on one Cluster only. There is no longer the situation where all
Ministers are required to be in attendance to answer questions. The NCOP has
adopted the cluster approach together with the guidelines for its
implementation.
·
In
terms of the current Rules
·
Rule
247 increases the time allocation for replies to five minutes for supplementary questions of not longer than four
minutes.
MANNER IN
WHCH TOPICS ARE SELECTED FOR DEBATES OF NATIONAL IMPORTANCE
Matters of public importance are provided for in NCOP Rule 84 subsections (1)
to (5). The Rules indicate that a member may on any sitting day of the Council
request the Chairperson of the Council in writing to allow a matter of public
importance to be discussed by the Council.
If the matter affects one or more of the provinces, the Chairperson may grant
the request and -
·
place
the matter on the Order Paper, or if it is an urgent matter and the Council is sitting,
allow the discussion to take place on the day the request is made after having considered
the availability of special delegates to participate in the debate;
·
allocate
a period of time for the discussion; and
·
arrange
for a Cabinet member, a Deputy Minister, a member of a provincial executive or
other person to reply to the debate.
·
In
practice the Chairperson of the NCOP would usually bring to the attention of the
NCOP Programme Committee any requests for debates of national importance that
had been received. The Committee meets on a weekly basis. It is chaired by the
Chairperson of the NCOP and is attended by the Chief Whip of the NCOP, the
Programming Whip, all Provincial Whips and Party Whips and Party
Representatives. The Office of the Leader of Government Business is also
represented at the meeting and that usually assists in facilitating the
attendance and participation of Members of the Executive in the debates, if
required.
·
Once
there is a decision on the holding of the debate, the Chairperson of the NCOP
would also send written correspondence to all provincial Speakers and Premiers
inviting the legislatures to send special delegates in terms of section 61 (4)
of the Constitution to attend and participate in the debate. The Chairperson
also sends written correspondence to the Chairperson of the South African Local
Government Association (SALGA) inviting organised local government to send
representatives to attend and participate in the debate in terms of section 67
of the Constitution.
·
In
terms of the speakers' list for the debate, all provinces and organised local
government would be allocated the same amount of speaking time and political
parties would be allocated speaking time on the basis of the party
"strength" within the NCOP.
·
Depending
on the subject matter that is being debated, there have been instances where
the debate has been followed by a member of the Council (such as the Chairperson
of the NCOP or Chief Whip of the NCOP) moving a motion without notice or a
draft resolution related to the subject matter, for adoption by the House in
terms of section 65 of the Constitution.
MECHANISMS
FOR OBTAINING PROVINCIAL MANDATES
·
In
order to facilitate communication between the provinces and the National
Council of Provinces, a unit has been established in the NCOP called
"Municipal and Liaison Section" with the sole objective of ensuring
that there is a two way flow of information between provinces and the NCOP.
·
One
of the instruments used by the NCOP to facilitate information and to ensure
that the Council receives provincial mandates on time is the "NCOP
Online". The site carries information on bills that are before committees
and when such bills will be before the House for debate and adoption.
·
The
website has proven to be an effective tool of communication with provinces, as they are in a position to track the bills that
are before committees of Parliament.
·
Draft
legislation on Mandates in compliance with section 65(2) of the Constitution
has been compiled, which provides that "[a]n Act of Parliament, enacted in
accordance with the procedure established by either subsection (1) or
subsection (2) of section 76, must provide for a uniform procedure in terms of
which provincial legislatures confer authority on their delegations to cast
votes on their behalf. "
·
This
legislation was passed by the NCOP on 22 November 2007, and referred to the
National Assembly for concurrence. The objective of the legislation is to
provide for a uniform procedure in terms of which provincial legislatures
confer mandates on their delegations for purposes of passing legislation.
·
The
drafting and adoption of the rule on Mandates has been effected. In particular
rule 73 of the Council rules, which provides that;
"
(1) Mandates in respect of proposed legislation before the Council must be-
- official communications from the provincial legislature to its delegation; in
writing, which may include electronically transmitted print; and
- in a uniform format as may be prescribed by the Secretary after consultation
with the Rules Committee.
(2) The head of a provincial delegation is responsible to communicate the
official mandate of the province to the Council."
- The NCOP
rules have also been amended to make provision for the six-week legislative
cycle in order to afford provinces sufficient time to consider legislation and to
confer mandates on their provincial delegates.
In particular
rule 240 of the Council rules, which provides that;
" (1) All section 76 or 74(1)(2) and (3) Bills should be dealt with in a
manner that will ensure that provinces have sufficient time to consider the
Bill and confer mandates.
(2) Depending on the substance of the Bill, the period may not exceed six
weeks.
(3) In the event that the substance of the Bill requires sufficient time beyond
the six- weeks period, the cycle may be extended with the approval of the
Chairperson of the Council. "
FUNCTIONING OF THE COMMITTEE SYSTEM
Some of the
work of committees includes matters referred by the Presiding Officers for:
-
Information
- Consideration and report
·
Other
work is initiated by committees themselves.
Programmes
of Committees
·
Each
Committee compiles a programme for the year. These programmes are approved by
the office of the House Chairperson for Committees. Once approved, each
Committee starts to implement the programme, guided by the Parliamentary
Programme.
·
If
a committee wants to do any activity that is not in its approved programme, it
should apply for political approval from the office of the House Chairperson
for Committees.
·
Committees
meet according to their grouping (A-Tuesday; B- Wednesday; C Tuesday, Wednesday
& Friday; D- Friday)
FUNCTIONING
OF THE COMMITTEE SYSTEM
Processing Legislation
·
Parliament
sets deadlines for the Executive to introduce legislation in Parliament. There
are also deadlines that are given to committees to process legislation referred
to it. Each Committee reports weekly on legislation before it.
·
When
processing legislation Committees facilitate public participation by inviting
views of the public. Public hearings are held in or outside Parliament.
FUNCTIONING
OF THE COMMITTEE SYSTEM
Oversight work
Committees perform
oversight over the Executive action on behalf of the House. The committees use
the following tools:
·
Committee
meetings and public hearings to consider and scrutinise:
- Annual
Reports and Strategic Plans of Departments;
- State of
the Nation Address;
- Budget
votes;
·
Site
Visits
·
Provincial
week (NCDP Committees)
·
As
a component of the Taking Parliament to the People (NCDP Committees)
·
As
a component of the sectoral assemblies such as People's Assembly, Women's
Parliament, Youth Parliament etc.
STAFF
SUPPORT PROVIDED TO COMMITTEES
Each
committee is provided with the following support staff:
·
Committee
Secretary: to provide procedural and administrative support;
·
Committee
Assistant: logistical arrangements and documentation;
·
Researcher:
research work for the committee
·
Content
Advisor: to provide strategic advice on content and analysis. This is a new
development. Recruitment is in progress.
·
Secretary
to Chairperson: Administrative support in the office of the Chairperson.
DETERMINATION
OF BUDGETS ALLOCATED TO COMMITTEES
The Parliamentary Oversight Authority allocates budget to committees. They
allocate a round figure to all committees. Then the amount is divided among all
committees in consultation with the Chairpersons of Committees.
CHANGES IN THE AREA OF OVERALL RESEARCH AND INFORMATION SUPPORT SINCE 1994
To date,
out of the 73 positions, the Research Unit has filled the following:
·
1
Chief Researcher
·
7
Senior Researchers (1 vacancy)
·
50
Researchers (4 vacancies)
·
10
Administrative Assistants
·
Each
researcher is allocated to a specific committee, with each committee in the NA
and the NCOP having at least one researcher.
The
Enhanced Support to Committees project has also made it possible for the
appointment of a second researcher to the following committees:
- PC on Justice (this position is currently being filled)
- SC on Finance
- Standing Committee on Public Accounts
- SC on Security and Constitutional Affairs
- Joint Budget Committee
CHANGES IN THE AREA OF OVERALL RESEARCH AND INFORMATION SUPPORT SINCE 1994
·
Members
of Parliament and Committees have had access to a fully functional special
library (the Library of Parliament) including a full reference service,
inter-library loans, specialised news clippings service, electronic and
hard-copy journal subscriptions, comprehensive law section focusing on South
African law, processing and indexing, acquisitions and special services. Since
2005, the Library has increased its acquisition of electronic sources of
information and the provision of electronic information products such as blogs.
The Library catalogue is also available to members and staff electronically through
Parliament's website.
·
The
enhanced support to Committees project also includes the appointment of subject
specialist librarians per cluster. This is intended to improve the quality and
relevance of information resources and products provided by the Library of
Parliament. Subject specialist librarians will also be required to provide
proactive, customised information to Members and Committees in the specific
areas of interest. Due to financial constraints, the appointment of subject
specialist librarians has been held in abeyance until sufficient resources can
be secured in the budget.
CHANGES
IN THE AREA OF OVERALL RESEARCH AND INFORMATION
SUPPORT SINCE 1994
Committee Support Services
The growth in this area is illustrated by the following
budgetary allocation:
Service |
2005/6 |
2006/7 |
2007/8 |
Research
& Library |
18,100,630 |
19,409,511 |
24,131,935 |
Committees
and staff |
51,191,393 |
56,051,268 |
62,868,065 |
CHANGES IN HANSARD REPORTING SINCE 1994
From Xywrite to Ms Word
·
Until
1998, Hansard was produced using an antiquated software known as Xywrite.
From
Analogue to Digital
·
In
2003, language services acquired a digital recording and transcription system
known as PRISM. This revolutionized the production of Hansard in a number of
ways:
·
Recorders
(loggers) no longer had to produce cue sheets manually.
·
Reporters
no longer had to go into the Hansard bay to obtain their takes on audio tapes.
These are now sent electronically.
·
Takes
are no longer sent form reporter to checker by messenger service.
·
This
is now done electronically.
·
The
Presiding Officers no longer have to wait for a day or so before getting
Hansard transcripts when they need to make rulings. This is now available
within 30 minutes
CHANGES
IN HANSARD REPORTING SINCE 1994
·
Although
transcripts of members' speeches are now available hours after delivery, they
cannot be sent to the Members immediately because the majority of the reporters
are second and even third language speakers of English. There is therefore a
need for them to be checked by qualified sub-editors and editors.
·
In
2006,33 Senior Language Practitioner posts were created to address this
deficiency. The Senior Language Practitioners assumed duty in June 2007. They
are currently being trained. Once they are able to perform the function of
quality control efficiently, Members' speeches will be available to them within
24 hours of delivery.
IMPACT
OF THE NEW LANGUAGE POLICY
From two
Languages to Twelve Languages
·
In
2003 Parliament adopted a language policy. There was previously no language
policy in Parliament. There was, however, a "gentlemen's agreement"
that allowed Members to use any of the 11 official languages in the Houses of
Parliament. This did not extend to committee meetings, where Members were
compelled to use English.
·
A
fully-fledged interpreting unit is in place. Members' Speeches are interpreted
simultaneously from floor language to English and consecutively from English to
all other languages including Sign Language.
·
With
the new language policy, plans are at an advanced stage to hire sessional
interpreters who will provide interpreting services to committees. The
selection process for the first batch of 60 interpreters has been completed and
recommendations for appointment made. However, due to budget constraints, there
has been a slight delay in appointing them.
·
Sign
language interpreting was available only to the single Member of Parliament who
needed the service. It is now available to the visitors' galleries as well. It
will soon be incorporated in all parliamentary TV broadcasts. Plans in this
regard are at advances stage.
SYSTEMS
TO MONITOR THE TABLING AND CONSIDERATION OF ANNUAL REPORTS BY COMMITTEES
·
The
Presiding Officers refer the reports to the relevant Committee for consideration
and report. The committee considers the annual report and report to the House.
The House Chairperson monitors this process. Committee Section submits progress
report to the House Chairperson for Committees.
·
The
challenge is that some departments do not table the reports on time. Some
committees do not consider the annual reports.
PARLIAMENTARY
DEMOCRACY OFFICES
BACKGROUND
·
The
project was approved in 2005 and is aimed at establishing Parliamentary Democracy
Offices in all nine provinces
THE
OBJECTIVE IS:
·
To
expand Parliament's access & opportunity to directly engage with the people
·
To
assist with realizing the public participation objectives of Parliament
·
To
increase the points of contact where people can access Parliament and inform
its work and processes;
·
To
create an immediate parliamentary presence in the provinces; and
·
To
ensure a greater level of efficiency in accessing communities and providing ground
support for parliamentary programmes.
PARLIAMENTARY
DEMOCRACY OFFICES
The
project is being implemented in phases;
Phase 1:
Establish 3 offices in 2007 / 2008
·
Limpopo
Province: (Matlala Thaba)
·
Northern
Cape Province: (Kakamas)
·
North
West Province: (Ganyesa)
Phase 2:
Establish 6 offices in 2008/2009
·
Kwazulu-Natal
Province
·
Mpumalanga
Province
·
Gauteng
Province
·
Western
Province
·
Free
State Province
Eastern
Cape Province
PUBLIC
EDUCATION PROGRAMME
·
The
Public Education Programme mainly exists to support Parliament's Core
Objective 3: To facilitate public participation and involvement.
·
The
office facilitates the involvement of the public in law-making and other
parliamentary processes by nurturing an understanding of Parliament and its
work through educational and information sharing activities.
·
It
also provides a support service to committees in the process of reaching out to
communities throughout South Africa.
·
The
Public Education Office (PEO) was established in 1995.
·
PEO
is sub-divided into two sub-components, namely, Programmes, which is
responsible for projects of an outreach nature, and Publications.
OUTREACH
PROGRAMMES
1. Radio Programmes
Weekly magazine programme (5 minutes) produced in 11 languages, flighted on 14 SASC
radio stations and reach 26 million listeners
2. Publications
·
Submissions Booklets for Taking Parliament to the People
·
Your Guide to the Parliament: This guide is intended to educate the public on the
structure of Parliament and how it operates
·
In Session Magazine: The magazine is produced and distributed nationally with a print-run of 140 000.
·
Parliamentary
Directory: provide an easy reference of Parliament and Members information, and
contains photographs and contact details of Members as well as a brief
description of what Parliament does and how it functions.
3. Parliamentary Website : aims to assist the public in
keeping abreast of developments at Parliament and to educate the public about
Parliament.
OTHER
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PROGRAMMES
1. Sector Parliaments :
·
Youth
Parliament
·
Women's
Parliament
2. People's Assembly
Parliament hold its
formal sitting in a selected province and this provides an opportunity for the
local community and provincial representatives to participate in parliamentary
processes.
Taking Parliament to the People
The NCOP hold a formal sitting in two of the nine provinces and this
provides an opportunity for the local community to participate in NCOP
processes.
PROCESSES TO FACILITATE PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AT THE LEVEL OF COMMITTEES AND
OTHER PUBLIC PARTICIPATION PROCESSI;S
·
Parliamentary
Communication Services supports committees in the process of reaching out to
communities throughout South Africa.
·
This
happens in the following ways:
- Radio
Programme in 11 languages
- Media promotions/campaigns
- Current affairs radio programmes
- News bulletins (where possible)
- Televisions programmes e.g. The View from the House on SASC 2 and Shift TV on
SASC 1 Paid for media adverts
- Radio Slots and Committee Support: includes interviews with committee
chairpersons Information provided includes:
·
Educational
material on parliamentary committees
·
Invitations
to make oral and written submissions
·
How
to make a submission
·
Upcoming
public hearings, meetings and oversight visits
·
Matters
committees are dealing with
·
Contact
information for submitting or obtaining information