Date: 22/09/11

Source: Parliment of the Republic of South Africa

Title: SA: Mahlangu: Address by the chairperson of the National Council of Provices, at the People's Assembly, Mangaung

Speaker of the National Assembly
Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly
Premier of the Free State province
Speaker of the Provincial Legislature
Municipal Mayors and Speakers
Hon Members
Representatives of Salga
Representatives of civil society
Fellow South Africans

Parliament is the central institution of democracy that embodies the will of the people in government, and that carries their expectations that democracy will be truly responsive to their needs . It carries a promise to the people that it will help solve the most pressing problems that confront them in their daily lives.

It is the single most important institution that reflects the aspirations of the people since its Members are elected by them. As the elected representatives of the people, Parliament carries the responsibility of actively playing the role of being an agent for social change. An activist Parliament does not wait and react to the needs of its people, but rather engages with them in order to anticipate, seek out and respond to their needs.

Former President Nelson Mandela once said that Parliament is the “voice of the people”. And that those who lead Parliament have the responsibility to “ensure that that voice is clearly heard in national affairs and that it is protected and defended” .

Programme director, this suggests that our Parliament ought to be guided by the wisdom of the people that elected us in the manner in which it formulates its agenda and conducts its business.

Inspired by the vision of our forebears, of building a society where The People shall Govern, our Constitution enjoins each of the two Houses of our Parliament, that is the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, to facilitate public involvement in their legislative and other processes and to conduct their businesses in an open manner.

It is a known fact that our democracy is both representative and participatory. This simply means that we have an electoral system through which we vote for people to represent us in Parliament (including Provincial Legislatures and Municipal Councils). But our democracy also demands that we involve the people in our processes and not only consult them during election time.

The Constitution imposes on us the obligation to put in place mechanisms and to establish practices so that as Parliament we can be:

1. Truly representative
2. Truly transparent
3. Truly accessible, and
4. Truly accountable

In order to give the people space to engage their leaders directly, from time to time Parliament needs to make itself available to the people who generally do not have the resources to do so. In fact, the Constitution makes provision for each of the two Houses of Parliament to sit at a place other than the seat of Parliament in order, among other things, to serve the public interest.

We submit therefore that it is in the interest of the community of the City of Mangaung and the province, and the people in other provinces who are participating in this programme, to have Parliament sit here to deliberate about ways of Deepening a people-centred transformational agenda and to seek their wisdom. This is so because together we have the responsibility to chart a path to a bright and promising future for our country.

Unfortunately, an exercise of this nature will not always receive the support of everybody, especially those who have the means to engage Parliament where it sits in Cape Town. Regrettably, many of our people are poor and cannot afford to travel to Cape Town to make their voice heard. This makes it necessary for Parliament, from time to time, to make itself available to the people exactly where they live.
Parliament’s vision of creating a people’s Parliament that is people-centred can only be realised through programmes that seek to bridge the divide between Parliament and the people. The People’s Assembly was designed to achieve this by providing the public the opportunity to engage with their public representatives at the site where the concerns exist.
The People’s Assembly is therefore a unique and original mechanism that was developed to engage the public and involve them in matters that concern them and which are of interest to them.
Parliament has so far held five People’s Assemblies since 2004. A summary of these, including the discussion themes, is as follows:
1. The first People’s Assembly was held in Cape Town in October 2004 under the theme Celebrating the adoption of the Constitution - What it has meant for ordinary South Africans. The 2004 programme celebrated the 10th anniversary of our democracy and the adoption of the South African Constitution. This historic occasion afforded ordinary people, across the country, the opportunity to reflect on the Bill of Rights and the positive impact the Constitution has had on their lives.

2. The second People’s Assembly programme was held in Kliptown, Soweto, in June 2005, under the theme People’s Voices: Shaping the Future. It was held in conjunction with the Provincial Legislatures at the Walter Sisulu Square of Dedication, to honour the 50th anniversary of the Congress of the People which produced the Freedom Charter. This marked an enduring commitment to involving the people in matters of government. As we know, public involvement in matters of government was denied the majority of South Africans before 1994.

The Congress of the People, convened jointly by the African National Congress, the South African Indian Congress, the Congress of Democrats and the South African Coloured People’s Organisation, expressed more profoundly and authentically than any single event before, the common aspirations of the overwhelming majority of South Africans, black and white, to live in peace in the country of their birth, to shape its future and share its fruits.

It was a culmination of the most widespread and thorough canvassing of opinions, of the most democratic process South Africa had ever witnessed. It laid the basis for the further development of our national liberation movement, and is one of those outstanding events which made our movement stronger during and after the 1994 democratic breakthrough.

The People’s Assembly is derived from the aspirations, the tireless work and the determination of the participants in the Congress of the People. It is a reflection of, and represents, a People’s Parliament.

3. In 2006, under the theme All Shall have Equal Rights, the People’s Assembly was held Oudtshoorn, Western Cape. The 2006 People’s Assembly reflected on, and examined Parliament’s achievements, failures and challenges in respect of Equality Legislation passed since 1994. What was important about this exercise was that it showed us that passing laws was not enough to accelerate the delivery of services and to extend the rights of the people; that monitoring implementation of the laws we pass was key.

4. In 2007, we sat at Mbizana, the birthplace of the late Dr Oliver Tambo in the Eastern Cape, under the theme Masijule ngengxongo Mzansi – Let’s deepen the debate South Africa. This programme afforded ordinary members of the public an opportunity to influence government decision-making processes and programme implementation.

5. In 2008 we sat in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, under the theme Parliament empowering communities for poverty eradication. The programme focused on: Sustainable development, the role of the public in poverty eradication. We also discussed the role of education and health in poverty eradication.

The People’s Assembly is designed to reach out across the length and breadth of the country to all the citizens in South Africa to tap into ordinary people’s wisdom in seeking solutions for the challenges facing us. The Provincial Legislatures play an important role, as our partners, in reaching out, working together with municipalities.

The objectives of the People’s Assembly are as follows:

1. To build an effective people’s Parliament that is responsive to the needs of the people and that is driven by the ideal of realising a better quality of life for all the people of South Africa.
2. To provide a platform for peoples’ voices to be heard.
3. As representatives of the people, to bring Parliament closer to the people and champion issues affecting them.
4. Through the process of parliamentary oversight, to ensure that their concerns are addressed by government.

At the end of this engagement we will, among other things:

1. Develop a report, which we will share with all the Provincial Legislatures.
2. Debate the report in order to pick up issues that we would like the national, provincial and local spheres of government to focus on.
3. Develop a follow-up programme, including the mechanism for feedback.
4. Ensure that our Committees really follow up on the issues raised this week.

The follow-up exercise is one of the most important aspects of the programme that we need to strengthen. As per objective 4 of the People’s Assembly, we want to ensure that through the process of parliamentary oversight, that the concerns of the people are addressed.

We have not done very good with regard to follow-up in the past, especially when it comes to giving feedback. But we want to ensure that we really follow up the issues that are raised here, ensure that government does something to better the conditions of the people, especially in response to what would have been said by the end of tomorrow.

We have committed ourselves to building a responsive people’s Parliament. In keeping with this, we must make sure that we do not allow the issues raised by the people to be forgotten. If we do, we will be failing them. We will be failing to defend and to protect their voice. We will be failing in ensuring that there is value in the resources we have used to be here.

As per objective 3 of this People’s Assembly, we want to champion the issues affecting the people. So we are under an obligation to take up the issues you raise. Also, you have the responsibility to check whether we are doing something about the issues you raised. Our Parliament can truly become an activist Parliament if the sense of activism is driven by the people themselves.

Later this morning we will have thematic group discussions ((a) Economics Cluster, (b) Social Services Cluster and (c) Governance, Peace and Security Clusters) with the following intended outcomes:

1. The role of Parliament relating to transformation in the identified clusters is clarified.
2. Committees of Parliament are enabled to broaden the scope of their oversight function.
3. The public has been provided with an opportunity to engage with their representatives.

Tomorrow, we will have the thematic group presentations and inputs by the participants to plenary, and responses from the floor. We intend closing the session by outlining the approach we will take going forward.

Programme director, I appreciate the opportunity to give the contextual background, objectives and anticipated outcomes of the 2011 People’s Assembly held in the City of Mangaung. As we know, this area boasts an important contribution to the struggle for freedom and justice as it is here, in Bloemfontein, that the South African Native National Congress, later known in 1923 as the African National Congress, was formed in 1912. The aim, as we all ought to know, was to forge a unified political movement to unite African people, extend political rights and to promote their social and economic advancement.

We have come back to this City, almost 100 years later, under a different context and with a much more advanced agenda. The African National Congress has, since 1994, successively been mandated by the people of South Africa to lead our democratic country.

As a consequence, we have come back to this City, as elected representatives of our people in a fully democratic South Africa. Our purpose is to ensure that the voice of the people of our country “is clearly heard in national affairs and that it is protected and defended” under our democracy.

Thank you