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Parliament, Friday 22 January 2010 - Members of Parliament (MPs) come
from all parts of the country and are allocated constituencies across
the length and breadth of South Africa.

Some of these constituencies are in remote areas, far from an airport,
and many are in provinces other than the Western Cape - where the
Houses of Parliament are located in Cape Town and where MPs are required
to be present to carry out Parliament's Constitutional function of
law-making.

To enable them to carry out Parliament's law-making, public
participation and oversight functions, MPs are allocated certain
facilities, including travel.

According to Parliament's current rules on travel, agreed to by
multi-party structures in Parliament, MPs are entitled to 86 single
domestic airline journeys per financial year, at the expense of
Parliament.

These air journeys may be offset or exchanged for travel by road, train
or bus.

In the case of journeys by motor vehicle, MPs are reimbursed for the
full cost of the journey via the shortest route, at the higher
Automobile Association rate or the government rate per kilometre. The
distance for which claims are lodged cannot exceed the distance between
Cape Town and an MP's registered home or constituency base.

Claims for such motor vehicle journeys must be accompanied by
acceptable proof of the journey (for example, petrol slips, tollgate
slips or proof of other expenditure related to the journey). Motor
vehicle journeys that are longer than 800 km between an MP's
registered home or constituency base and Cape Town entitles that MP to
overnight accommodation of not more than R1 150 a night, including
dinner, bed and breakfast. MPs are reimbursed for actual accommodation
costs incurred up to the limit of R1 150 a night, including dinner, bed
and breakfast.

Comparing the costs of motor vehicle journeys with air travel journeys
is not entirely an accurate comparison because even if MPs travel by
air, Parliament pays the costs of their transport to and from airports.

These provisions are under continuous review by Parliament's various
multi-party governance structures, as are other rules governing
facilities for MPs.

Examples of forums where concerns about the application of current
rules concerning facilities may be raised include the multi-party Chief
Whips' Forum, the multi-party Rules Committee and the multi-party
Parliamentary Oversight Authority.

The fourth Parliament has been in operation since May 2009 and has a
number of issues on its agenda, including internal governance matters
that could not be finalised during the third Parliament.