Parliament on Thursday paid tribute to former heads of Chapter 9 institutions.

They included former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, former chairperson of the Financial and Fiscal Commission Bongani Khumalo, former South African Human Rights Commission head Lawrence Mushwana, and the outgoing chair of the Commission for Gender Equality, Mfanozelwe Shozi.

Madonsela and Mushwana were not in attendance and sent their apologies, deputy speaker Lechesa Tsenoli said.

Deputy Justice Minister John Jeffery said there was more interest in these institutions than ever before.

He mentioned the "robust and vigorous" exchanges between Madonsela and Parliament’s justice committee. The interactions would continue to be vigorous, he said.

"We need to press each other. In a young democracy, these tensions are natural," he said.

He thanked them for their selfless commitment to their tasks.

Shozi said his highlights in the job included the rescue of a 13-year-old girl who had been promised in marriage to a 60-year-old man. The girl was now in matric, he said.

The commission had, however, failed to convince Parliament to adopt 50/50 gender parity legislation.

He was proud to leave the commission with a clean audit.

Khumalo told the guests, who included presiding officers and MPs of different parties, that at one point, he had three jobs at the commission.

He was the deputy chairperson, the chair, and the chief executive. That was one of his highlights.

National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete thanked them for their dedication and passion and hoped they would continue serving the public.

"We must not lose these people. They are too young," she said.