The sixth parliament needs to distinguish itself from its recent predecessors, which passed a proliferation of laws without appropriate oversight and scrutiny. Illustration: KAREN MOOLMAN
Section 42 of the constitution states: “[The] National Assembly is elected to represent the people and ensure government by the people under the constitution. It does this by choosing the president, by providing a national forum for public consideration of issues, by passing legislation and by scrutinising and overseeing executive action.”
These developments constituted a visible demonstration to South Africans of the role parliament is expected to play in holding to account those who exercise stewardship over public resources and private sector actors. The courts delivered a set of ground-breaking judgments during the term of the fifth parliament as a consequence of its poor or wrong decisions. These included the affirmation of the powers vested in the office of the public protector; the speaker’s powers to determine whether to hold a no-confidence vote by secret ballot; reinforcing MPs’ privileges; banning the presence of police in the chamber; and the Constitutional Court finding that a sitting president had violated his oath of office.
At other times, the experience was markedly different. When I appeared as CEO of Business Unity SA more recently as part of the national minimum wage deliberations, the astute acting chair kept a tight rein on proceedings and treated all stakeholders with dignity and respect. This experience demonstrated the preparedness of many MPs to act with diligence and rationality, and to hear all voices.
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