Date: 12/05/2009

Source: South African Parliament

Title: SA: Sisulu: Opening remarks by the Speaker of Parliament at the Induction for Members of Parliament in the National Assembly

Honourable Mr M J Mahlangu, Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP)
Honourable Ms N C Mfeketo, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly (NA)
Honourable Members of Parliament (MPs)
Officials of our Parliament

It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to this induction programme for Honourable members of the fourth Parliament. This is an exciting period in the life of our democratic government as our Parliament is more diverse than ever before (certainly in terms of political parties represented) and as such, offers such a unique opportunity to develop and deepen our democratic culture.

As some of you may know, I sat on the Independent Panel Assessing transformation in both Houses of Parliament. Many useful observations and recommendations were made in our report. All of you should be re-assured that these will be taken forward.

I urge you all to take seriously the induction programme that has been ably put together by our officials. Please listen attentively as we do not want anyone of you getting into trouble over declaration of assets or with the South African Revenue Service (SARS)! More importantly, we want all of you to play a very active role as representatives of our people and this programme will provide you with a necessary insight into how best you can do that.

The training for members of parliament is an ongoing process and we expect of you to indicate whether you have further training needs.

There is a lot of work to be done in this fourth Parliament. Our immediate focus will be to constitute committees of both houses and all other institutional arrangements. We must also ensure that the programme of Parliament is designed to effectively do the oversight, monitoring and evaluation of government departments.

Like you, I look forward to serving in a Parliament where inputs of members can be expressed constructively and freely, without fear or favour. I hope that the debates we will have will be well informed, meaningful and respectful.

We also need to give serious attention to the ways in which members interact with the public and we must rededicate ourselves to the true meaning of keeping the doors of Parliament open.

I hope you find the training useful and I look forward to your recommendations on future training. Together we must continue the transformation of our Parliament and ensure that it remains relevant to the many challenges our people face and the hope they have invested in all of us.