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Parliament’s books are spick and span, having received yet another clean audit by the Auditor-General. However, in terms of its day-to-day functions – which include checking and challenging the work of government, making and changing laws to serve citizens and driving important debates – the presiding officers of Parliament conceded to, at times, falling short of their duties.
The presiding officers, National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete, National Council of Provinces Chairperson Thandi Modise and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Lechesa Tsenoli, addressed diplomats, stakeholders and media on Tuesday, and reflected on developments since the beginning of the year and those coming up in the remaining months of 2018.
Modise said that they were happy they were leaving a strong Parliament, as the fifth sitting of the democratic Parliament drew to a close.
“The Parliament of South Africa has been given a clean audit again by the Auditor-General of South Africa. We are striving to be in the forefront of efficient spending of taxpayers’ money,” said Modise.
Prepare for more accountability
Parliament’s clean audit came after the latest audit of municipalities, released in May, showed an overall deterioration as well as local government’s failure to take the Auditor-General’s advice, resulting in irregular expenditure increasing by 75% to more than R28 billion.
This led to Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu announcing on Monday that government staff across the country needed to prepare for the signing of the Public Audit Amendment Bill, which was passed by Parliament in June and sent to President Cyril Ramaphosa for assent.
The new law will provide the Auditor-General’s office with the power to refer irregularities to law enforcement agencies for investigation and to make binding recommendations, which will increase accountability in government entities with repeated reports of irregular, unauthorised, fruitless and wasteful expenditure.
Parliament’s presiding officers also announced that the highlight for October was the agreement by the Inter Parliamentary Union to place the centenary anniversary of South Africa’s first democratically elected president, Nelson Mandela, on the agenda during its 139th assembly.
The assembly takes place in Geneva, Switzerland, from October 14 to 18.
Amid these achievements, Parliament’s presiding officers conceded that there was more work that needed to be done with regards to addressing the realities that most South Africans still found themselves facing.
“Our challenges are poverty, hunger and unemployment and they can only be overcome through ensuring that the economy grows,” said Modise.
She added that Parliament needed to make sure that South Africans did not lose jobs.
“I am one of those who hold the view that government needs to create conditions for the private sector to create jobs,” said Modise.
Mbete said what was concerning for her was the rise in femicide in the country.
“There is something drastic that needs to be done in this if we are to deal with this scourge,” said Mbete.
The National Assembly speaker also addressed regional problems, saying that the “South African Development Community is the only region in Africa that doesn’t have a parliament. The only thing we are left with is to have a regional parliament that will pass laws and turn regional agreements into laws.”
The presiding officers welcomed students from institutions of higher learning who quizzed them on what they thought young people could contribute to Parliament.
“Parliament is important to young people especially because South Africa is mainly made of young people. The best thing is for the youth to get into Parliament. Students must have access to Parliament. Get in there and run your own country,” encouraged Modise.
For the next eight weeks, Parliament will be packed with activities which include oversight and legislative work, oral questions to the executive, taking Parliament to the people initiatives and a review of the national budget.
It’s that time of the year when parliamentary committees conduct performance assessments of government departments and entities.
The performance assessments will be achieved through the scrutiny of their 2017/18 annual reports and financial statements.
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