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Will we see a better Parliament or will it be a shambles again?

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Thandi Modise during a Sona debate at the National Assembly on February 12 in Cape Town. MPs gathered to question Ramaphosa’s address, which took place on February 7. Picture: Gallo Images / Netwerk24 / Jaco Marais
Thandi Modise during a Sona debate at the National Assembly on February 12 in Cape Town. MPs gathered to question Ramaphosa’s address, which took place on February 7. Picture: Gallo Images / Netwerk24 / Jaco Marais

The sixth Parliament has great potential, but civil society had best remain alert lest it degenerates like its predecessor, writes Lawson Naidoo

David Mabuza’s swearing in as an MP was a poignant moment, not because he delayed the occasion to “clear his name” with the ANC integrity commission, but because it took place at the Union Buildings and not Parliament.

At the time Mabuza was an ordinary citizen, yet this parliamentary ceremony took place at the seat of the head of the executive.

This blurred the distinction between the legislature and the executive, an issue that has been at the heart of several of our recent constitutional skirmishes.

It set the wrong tone for the new Parliament, sending the message, perhaps unintentionally, that it would continue to be subservient to the executive, an institution which it is constitutionally mandated to oversee.

The separation of powers doctrine dictates that the three arms of the state – the legislature, executive and judiciary – are equal partners.

Read: 'We are complete': Mabuza takes his place as Rmaphosa's right-hand man

There is great hope that the current Parliament, under the leadership of Speaker Thandi Modise, will restore its decorum, status and effectiveness from the shambles that the House had descended into when Baleka Mbete was chair.

There has been, of course, great interest in Parliament in recent times, but that had more to do with the theatrics of the EFF in its numerous standoffs with former president Jacob Zuma than with the substance of what was being discussed.

President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Thursday evening deliver his third state of the nation address (Sona) in 16 months, but this time with a fresh electoral mandate.

Will it be an occasion showcasing our democracy with a president clearly articulating how we will rebuild our society and our institutions, or will it once again degenerate into fisticuffs between those dressed in red onesies and Modise’s bouncers in white shirts?

The scuffle that broke out between members of the EFF and ANC at an induction workshop last week does not bode well.

There are many challenges confronting this Parliament – Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo has just announced that he will be setting up a task team to investigate the role played by Parliament in enabling state capture, primarily by turning a blind eye to the nefarious ways of the former president and his acolytes who were often protected by the presiding officers when questioned in the House.

David Mabuza shares a light-hearted moment with President Cyril Ramaphosa after Mabuza was sworn in as a member of Parliament by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng on Wednesday at the presidential guesthouse in Pretoria. Picture: Alaister Russell / The Sunday Times

When a parliamentary ad hoc committee effectively changed the Public Protector’s report on Nkandla, it took the Constitutional Court to rebuke Parliament and provide a sharp reminder of its constitutional responsibilities.

There is no evidence to suggest that Parliament has taken heed of this jurisprudential advice.

Read: Sona budget capped at R2million down from R9.2million five years ago

An early challenge for Modise as she steps up from the national council of provinces to the National Assembly will be the direction she takes in response to a call for the removal of Busisiwe Mkhwebane as the Public Protector.

Not only must she ensure that Parliament initiates this process, but she must do so expeditiously.

Parliament must do so despite there being outstanding litigation against Mkhwebane as it is not required to wait for all these matters to be judicially settled.

In any event, her reports will continue to be taken on review in what may be a never-ending saga.

The damage being wrought by a Public Protector gone rogue must be ended.

There are key vacancies in the senior management of the legislature – the secretary to Parliament has been suspended on full pay for over two years.

It appears the disciplinary process against him will be delayed until his contract expires and he will ride off into the sunset with his pension intact, despite serious allegations of defrauding Parliament.

There is an acting registrar of members’ interests, a post that is responsible for maintaining the records of MPs’ financial disclosures and providing support to the ethics committee.

There is also no permanent head of the parliamentary budget office, a role that is key to enabling effective oversight and interventions in budgeting processes.

Parliament fought a battle to secure additional power over the budgeting process, but has not taken steps to put that function into use.

Instead, the governing party focused on ensuring hegemonic control over the office by establishing an advisory board comprising chairs of four committees (two from each House) as an executive authority.

It is rumoured that this was designed to pave the way for the authorisation of expenditure on the Zuma-Vladimir Putin lavish nuclear project.

Surely this budget office must account to a multiparty body and not one that is the exclusive preserve of the majority party.

There are other ways in which the principle of a multi-party democracy was undermined, with the ANC adopting a partisan winner-takes-all approach.

This could be seen in the fact that none of the presiding officers were drawn from the ranks of opposition parties, in contrast with a practice that has been established since 1994.

It is arguable that this attitude, coupled with the partisan approach of the presiding officers themselves, created the culture of intolerance that permeated and besmirched the fifth Parliament.

Now that Nomvula “Pick-up-the-rand” Mokonyane will not be taking up the position of chair of chairs, the ANC would be well advised to offer the position, or that of House chair, to an opposition party.

In the interest of developing a cooperative environment in Parliament, this would speak volumes and strengthen its ability to exercise effective oversight.

Nomvula Mokonyane will be taking the position of chair of chairs

South Africa has eschewed the Westminster practice of a member of the official opposition leading the standing committee on public accounts, with the role going to a smaller opposition party, most recently Themba Godi of the African People’s Convention.

In a game of one-upmanship, the DA offered this provincial post to the ANC in the Western Cape, which the ANC gleefully accepted.

It will be awkward for the governing party to not follow suit at national level.

It is important that the person who occupies the role of leader of government business during Parliament – in this case Deputy President Mabuza – recognises that what the position requires is not just pushing through the priorities of government’s legislative programme, but an unblinkered understanding of the role and function of Parliament in a constitutional democracy.

That person must facilitate executive accountability by ensuring that members of the national executive attend Parliament to answer questions.

MP appointments will collectively determine the tone and direction of the sixth Parliament.

Much of it would appear to be in the gift of the ANC.

Judging by its appointment of Pemmy Majodina as its chief whip from relative parochial obscurity, laced with a dose of sartorial notoriety, we should not raise our expectations.

Naidoo is the executive secretary of the Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution


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