The Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, says Parliament must continue to act as an agent of change that ensures accelerated service delivery in order to attain the aspirations of a capable developmental State.
“It must enhance oversight and accountability, stabilise the political administrative interface, professionalise the public service, upgrade skills and improve co-ordination.
“It also needs a more pragmatic and proactive approach to managing the intergovernmental system to ensure a better fit between responsibility and capacity,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.
Presenting Parliament’s budget for the 2023/24 financial year at the Good Hope Chamber in Cape Town, Mapisa-Nqakula said Parliament’s constitutional role is to hold the executive to account.
The Speaker said oversight visits, public hearings, committee meetings and certain ad hoc meetings of Parliament increased compared to the previous year.
Parliament also fulfilled its constitutional mandate of law-making, which has seen the passing of 27 Bills across all the clusters of the committees. This included matters ranging from issues affecting the environment, economic infrastructure, criminal procedure, taxation, drug trafficking and the Electoral Laws amendments.
Progress to reinstate normal operations
Despite the effects of both the COVID-19 pandemic and the fire that gutted certain buildings in the parliamentary precinct in 2022, Mapisa-Nqakula said Parliament has over the past 12 months seen remarkable progress in reinstating normal operations and functionality.
“The stabilisation effort has since seen us establish a firm governance framework, including strengthening the strategic leadership of the institution through the appointment of, amongst others, the Secretary to Parliament and the Chief Financial Officer.
“Parliament is also in the process of appointing a new Chief Security Officer after the job profile was reviewed.
“Parliament, through its plenaries and committees, continued to adapt to these challenges, with physical and hybrid proceedings. Parliament continued to strengthen its interface with the people in pursuit of its law-making, oversight and public participation programme,” Mapisa-Nqakula said.
Parliament also passed the national budget for the applicable financial years, including the Division of Revenue Bills, and Appropriation Bills.
“In the following year, we will particularly look into some of the legislation aimed at strengthening the functions of Parliament and its oversight, including amendments to the Financial Management of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act (FMPPLA), the Government Immovable Assets Management Act (GIAMA) and the introduction of the Legislative Sector Bill.
“In the aftermath of the fire disaster and the many structural vulnerabilities that contributed to such extensive damage, we need to amend the GIAMA to ensure that the custodianship of Parliament assets lies with this Parliament and not with the Executive. This will bring the GIAMA in line with the provisions of the FMPPLA, which places such custodianship under the Secretary to Parliament,” the Speaker said.
After the visit undertaken by the management team to check the state of the parliamentary villages, the Secretary to Parliament will submit a report on their observations and recommendations to improve the state of the accommodation of members.
However, Mapisa-Nqakula noted that there’s already an urgent need to review the Parliamentary Village Board Act, (Act 96 of 1998), as “it does not reflect the primary interests of members of Parliament”.
“In addition, the definition of the precincts of Parliament, as captured in the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act, (Act 4 of 2004) may provide a solution to how Parliamentary Villages are managed and dealt with in the future.” – SAnews.gov.za
