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The
work of Members of Parliament has changed radically over the past ten years calling for a review of how they do their job, National Council of Provinces chairperson Mninwa Mahlangu said on Tuesday.
Speaking during the parliament budget vote in the NCOP, he said MPs had represented the voices of the people in recent years.
"Although our Members perform their function of representation today, the context within which they fulfil this has dramatically changed over the last decade.
"The ever increasing rate of change has radically changed the landscape of the work of Members of Parliament," he said.
Four different fronts provided the future challenges for the work of parliament.
First, the representative and participatory democracy provided for the active involvement of the people in the processes of parliament, thereby providing public education, information and access to parliament's processes.
The focus was now on strengthening linkages between the people and their elected representatives.
Second, the work of government had become extremely complex over the past decade.
As parliament oversaw the work of government, these complexities demanded of members high levels of expertise, knowledge and capacitation, Mahlangu said.
Third, whereas members fulfilled a vital role of communicating information about governance and other important matters, the expansion of information technology had provided greater access to information to citizens.
These changes necessitated a re-focus of the work of Members of Parliament, and in particular their access and usage of various mechanisms in reaching out to communities.
Lastly, the role that parliament played in international relations and participation in global governance structures had increased significantly.
Decisions around matters of governance within the entity of state, such as trade, energy supply and environmental affairs, had shifted to global governance platforms and therefore necessitated a review on how parliament represented the people in global and regional matters, he said.
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