Date: 14/03/2012

Source: The National Assembly

Title: SA: Sisulu: Address by the Parliamentary speaker, at the legislative consultative sector forum, in the National Assembly

His Excellency the Deputy President Mr K P Motlanthe
Honourable Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Mr M J Mahlangu,
Honourable Speaker of Namibia, Dr Theo Ben Gurirab
Honourable Speaker of Zimbabwe and Chairperson of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, Mr Lovemore Moyo
His Excellency Ambassador Roeland van Geer
Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Angola, Mr JMG Lourenco
Provincial Speakers of the Legislature
Honourable Members of Parliament
Honourable Members of the Legislatures
Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela
Ladies and Gentlemen


Good Morning to you all.

I take great pleasure in welcoming this august gathering to this, the third International Consultative Seminar of the South African Legislative Sector (SALS) to Cape Town, also known as the Mother City.

I also wish to express my sincere thanks to the Deputy President Motlanthe, who also happens to be the Leader of Government Business, for honouring us with his presence and insights this morning.

Since the inception of the South African Legislative Sector and European Union partnership in 2009, we have worked with increasing vigor to achieve our goal of deepening democracy through the setting of benchmarks and the building of capacity in legislatures.

To achieve our objectives, the South African Legislative Sector has endorsed a strategic framework with specific focus on the following result areas. These are-
Firstly, to deepen and entrench people-centred democracy in South Africa,
Secondly, to strengthen capacity in law-making and oversight functions of Legislatures,
Thirdly, to strengthen the Sector's capacity to engage, participate in, and oversee international relations, and
Last but not least, to build an effective and efficient Legislative Sector.

Given our country’s developmental challenges, it is critical that we develop a common vision of the legislative oversight function with a strong emphasis on financial accountability.

The theme for this year’s seminar “Strengthening democracy through global collaboration of legislatures on oversight” is fitting given the crisis people across the world face today.

The oversight function of parliaments is the most important power that we have to ensure and assist our governments in deepening democracy and sustainable development. We have to commit to work with other parliaments, in our regional and continental bodies to assist each other in strengthening this important function.

In this regard, the South African Legislative Sector and the European Union, have begun a discussion on ways to extend the partnership beyond South Africa to share our experiences with the region and the continent.

In fact, an amendment has already been effected to the current Finance Agreement of the South African Legislative Sector, to enable regional Parliaments and others to benefit from the programme.

We hope that this relationship can be used to involve and benefit the SADC-Parliamentary Forum and to further share the model of cooperation with other Parliaments on the African Continent.

Honourable Dr Gurirab and Honourable Mr Moyo, your insights into furthering this partnership in strengthening this important function of legislatures is very important and will be highly valued.

The need to learn and share experiences is critical to our success. In April this year, a delegation comprising members of the Parliamentary Oversight Authority will undertake a study tour to the European Union. The aim of the study tour is to provide our respective Parliaments with opportunities to exchange ideas on best practice regarding our respective oversight mechanisms.

It is also an opportunity, for us to learn more about the complexities and internal governance structures of the European Parliament

Indeed, we will share the findings of the delegation with the Sector.

Chairperson
Over many months now, we have seen the global economy reel from the aftershocks of the initial financial crisis. The devastating effects of climate change, poverty, food and energy security, and the growing gap between rich and poor are just a few of the daunting challenges that continue to test our ability to seize the opportunities and mitigate the risks of a more globalised world.

These challenges demand of us, parliamentarians, to ensure that we adapt society’s laws to its rapidly changing needs and circumstances.

Legislatures are the guardians of democracy and are institutions that must shape and give meaning to democracy.

As elected representatives of the people, parliamentarians are the link between the electorate and the government and this unique position presents parliamentarians with an opportunity to be change agents through their representational, oversight and legislative roles. The question that we need to always ask ourselves is whether we live up to these expectations at all times?

Our role is therefore to disentangle the key political issues, from technical scrutiny, interpreting their significance and using this as a basis from which we engage the executive.

In this regard, strong leadership and rigorous parliamentary oversight is required to reposition the manner in which we ensure that the executive exercises due diligence in their operations. In doing our oversight work we have to shift our gaze beyond statistics as statistics alone do not reflect quality nor do they reveal the real changes.

The oversight processes must not only be about fault-finding, but must also involve assisting and ensuring that what the Executive has promised to our people is delivered. The legislature as a key institution of democracy does not only hold government accountable, but is itself also accountable to the people.

It is therefore important for us to understand that our oversight function involves the responsibility to recommend, advise and propose to the Executive how to deliver on the development of our people.

The challenges of the 21st century requires of us to confront the fundamental structural and distributional issues that impact on poverty, inequality and unemployment, and requires Parliamentary actions on a broader level.

Parliamentary institutions are therefore challenged to adapt to this new environment, and to the expectations and the needs of the people we represent.

Chairperson

Now more than ever, Parliaments across the world have to stand together to support multilateralism and the promotion of democracy in international relations.

We should do so with the understanding that it is in the long-term interest of our world and its people, to not only design but also deliver more equitable and effective services.

At the Third World Conference of Speakers of Parliament, in May 2010, in Geneva, Switzerland, we declared that “we are more than ever convinced that only by working together can we address global challenges successfully and make a better world for all our people.”

Within collegiate bodies such as the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU), and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) to name a few, there has been broad agreement that workable policies are needed to deal with global challenges.

In particular, we have agreed to focus on four broad areas-

Firstly, we have called for far greater transparency and accountability in recovery funding. We have argued for far greater transparency and accountability in this process. Parliaments can do a lot more to achieve that end. This entails significantly strengthening our oversight capacity and having a say in future policymaking.

Secondly, the financial crisis also highlights the need for developed nations to live up to their commitments to provide development assistance to poor regions of the world.

Without external support many developing countries cannot meet the Millennium Development Goals, let alone overcome pressing challenges such as HIV/Aids, climate change and food security.

Thirdly, we need more transparent government and overall unity. Parliaments have called for governments to assume a more assertive role in global financial matters. We have called for the global banking and financial sector to be more accountable and subjected to tighter supervision. In this regard, Parliaments have a major role to play in ensuring that this happens.

The global crisis, is however not only confined to the finance and banking systems. Employment should be central to the global debate. The health of the world economy should not be measured by stock market recovery, but rather in terms of its ability to provide skills development, investment and employment that value the dignity of work and mutually beneficial partnership, between government and the people.

Fourthly, we must continue to insist on being part of the negotiating process for long-term reforms of the present financial architecture for the good of all people. In this regard, Parliamentarians must contribute to the design of an improved system which is better attuned to the deeper aspirations of humanity.

In our view, much closer interaction should be ensured with the international trade and investment institutions such as the Bretton Woods Institutions.

These all embracing structures must become more responsive to people’s real needs and open up to greater Parliamentary scrutiny and partnership.

Chairperson

Today, elsewhere on the Parliamentary precinct, Members of Parliament are meeting to discuss the diagnostic report of the National Planning Commission, called the National Development Plan, which was released in 2011.
The National Develop Plan lays the basis for a national conversation about the country we want by 2030 and analyses in great depth the key challenges we face in achieving our vision as South Africans.

In short, the National Develop Plan acknowledges the remarkable strides we have made as a country to better the life for many people.

The diagnostic report identifies nine key challenges that confront us in eliminating poverty and reducing inequality. These include amongst others:
· Unemployment which remains stubbornly high;
· Poorly located and inadequate infrastructure which limits social inclusion and faster economic growth;
· South Africa’s growth path which is highly resource intensive and hence unsustainable; and
· The performance of the public service which is uneven.
.
These challenges if left unattended will delay the achievement of our development objectives and could reverse the progress we have made since 1994.

They are fundamental challenges of public policy, that need to be critically examined and debated in society and in Parliament in search of a common purpose.

Parliament adopted a new Oversight and Accountability Model, which is the overarching framework that lays the basis for work of all parliamentary activities.

The objective of the Oversight Model is to raise the level of accountability to ensure that the quality of oversight is improved, that service delivery is properly rendered and that progress is measurable.

In developing the oversight model, the need was identified for support services relating to the monitoring and tracking of issues between Parliament and the Executive, and on all other related matters within Parliament’s broader mandate.

Provision is also made to establish an Advisory Section to provide advice, technical support, co-ordination, and tracking and monitoring mechanisms on issues arising from oversight and accountability activities of members of Parliament and the committees to which they belong.

In particular, co-ordinated oversight was noted as a challenge, and since the adoption of the Oversight Model, the Joint Rules has been changed to allow for central conferral of committees. In practice, this means that two or more Committees can do oversight jointly, co-operatively and in a co-ordinated manner to avoid duplication or over subscription on matters, under consideration of the National Assembly, the National Council of Provinces and Committees.

We are already seeing the value of this new approach in our work. Co-ordinated oversight activities took place last year on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), climate change, and in the mining sector.
We have already begun to see a marked improvement in the quality and depth of parliamentarians’ engagement on these issues with the Executive.

The Money Bills Amendment and Procedures and Related Matters Act came into effect in April 2009 and in addition to outlining a procedure for Parliament to process Money Bills, the Act puts in place several mechanisms through which the legislature is able to communicate areas of concern and recommend changes.

These tools should serve to empower Members of legislatures and provide a good basis from which to interrogate priorities as well as outcomes of government spending.

I do however, want to emphasise that as the subject matter that legislatures address, become more sophisticated and highly technical, improving the capacity for Members and staff through training is critical. The appointment of competent staff and the re-skilling of existing staff is another important area of long-term investment in the Institution.

We are also enjoined by the Constitution to work closely with state institutions supporting constitutional democracy. Through the establishment of the Office of the Institutions Supporting Democracy (OISD), and through regular interaction Portfolio Committees have with these institutions, we should more systematically and rigorously draw on their findings, experience and resources to enable Parliament to perform its oversight functions of holding the executive to account.

As parliaments, we also have to accept, that we do not have the same resources as that of the Executive.

To address this imbalance, it is important that we work with all stakeholders, including academia, research institutions, special interests groups and civil society on an ongoing basis to ensure that we have access to independent resources of specialised knowledge and information.

Chairperson

As the South Africa Legislative Sector (SALS), we rely on the collective experience and wisdom of our members. Together, we have pledged to make our legislatures more accountable, accessible and effective.

Later today, we will be launching the Legislatures Sector, Oversight Model. The Oversight Model of the legislative sector will serve as a guide to legislatures in the performance of their oversight role and forms part of our broader role of strengthening the oversight responsibility of Parliament and Legislatures as enshrined in the Constitution.
Speaker Maseko, who has been the driver of this programme will provide us with more detail of the Model, later today.

The question of public faith in parliament and how to improve the performance of the legislature according to basic democratic criteria is a matter that we as the Legislative Sector take very seriously.

To this end, the sector has implemented a range of public participation initiatives in an effort to directly engage members of the public who might otherwise be unable to interact with the legislative process on a regular basis.

A sector generic public participation model is in the process of being developed and a lot of hard work has already gone toward the development of an appropriate model.

We are not looking to reinventing the wheel- the South African Parliament has amassed extensive expertise in this area – we will draw on this experience as well as that of the Gauteng Legislature who recently adopted a Public Participation Strategy.

The Speakers Forum, has also adopted a sector Gender Programme based on the SADC Gender Framework.

The purpose of the Gender framework is to ensure coordination and alignment of gender programmes in Parliament and provincial legislatures. The Gender Reference Group comprised of chairpersons of the Women’s Caucuses of Parliament and Provincial legislatures, are in the process of adopting an implementation plan.

Vision and leadership are needed at all levels as we redouble our efforts to create a more equal and just South Africa.

Chairperson,

I trust that the next three days will be highly instructive and that we will emerge from this seminar with a clear plan for the year ahead of us.

As Parliamentarians, we must constantly look for ways to improve our performance in the areas of good governance and accountability.

As we discuss our respective roles with regard to our constitutional mandate, let us not lose sight of the fact that the best kind of support we can provide to the Executive, is through stringent oversight.

By this I mean, scrutiny, that is so searching, that it leads to something being done, ensuring that promises made are lived up to. Holding, the executive to account in the finest parliamentary tradition of doing the best we can for the people we represent.

That surely is one service we can and must provide.

I thank you