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Parliament’s Presiding Officers, the National Assembly (NA) Speaker Mr Max Sisulu, National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Chairperson Mr Mninwa Mahlangu, Deputy NA Speaker Ms NomaIndia Mfeketo and Deputy NCOP Chairperson Ms Thandi Memela have decided to extend and standardise the speaking time for smaller parties during Parliamentary debates from the current one minute to three.
 
Parties standing to benefit directly from the decision are the Freedom Front Plus, the Independent Democrats, the United Democratic Movement (all of whom have four seats each in the NA), the African Christian Democratic Party (three seats in the NA), the United Christian Democratic Party (two seats), the African People’s Convention, the Azanian People’s Organisation, the Minority Front and the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (all with one seat each).
 
Parties are allocated seats according to the number of votes they received in the general election.
 
Our system of proportional representation makes it possible for very small parties to have representation in Parliament. There are 400 seats in the NA and a party gets one seat in the NA for every 0.25% it gets out of the total votes in the election. The NCOP has 90 seats which are divided between 54 permanent and 36 special provincial delegates. The number of delegates is also determined according to the number of seats each party has in the provincial legislatures.
 
The African National Congress, Democratic Alliance, Congress of the People and Inkatha Freedom Party will retain their existing speaking times, allocated in terms of their proportional representation. To make up for the additional time as a result of the review of speaking time for smaller parties, the Houses’ sittings may have to be extended.
 
This arrangement will enhance these parties’ ability to represent the perspectives of their particular constituencies more effectively in plenary debates in Parliament. This should also enrich the debates which address issues affecting our nation