Parliament, Sunday, 16 July 2023 – A National Assembly (NA) Rules Committee delegation will, from 18 to 20 July 2023, undertake a study tour to the United Kingdom to glean how it can enhance its oversight over The Presidency (Budget Vote 1).
Parliament, through the NA Rules Committee, is considering establishing a committee that will strengthen its oversight on aspects of The Presidency that are currently not supervised by existing structures – as recommended by the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption, and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State.
Following a desktop analysis, by the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO), to determine which aspects of Budget Vote 1 were currently not subjected to scrutiny the PBO concluded that Parliament should strengthen its oversight but further research would be beneficial. In its report, the PBO reflected on the international best practices including those employed by the United Kingdom (UK) to oversee the Office of the Prime Minister.
In April 2023, the Rules Committee agreed that it would be instructive for Members of the Subcommittee on Review of Assembly Rules to undertake a study tour to engage their counterparts in the UK.
The multiparty delegation led by the NA’s House Chairperson for Committees, Oversight, and ICT, Mr Cedric Frolick, is scheduled to engage political representatives and procedural experts from Westminster, as well as relevant institutions in order to establish, among other things, the procedures and conventions relating to the oversight mandate of the Commons and the accounting responsibilities of the Prime Minister; the structure/s employed to scrutinise the Office of the Prime Minister within Westminster; as well as any procedural challenges encountered by the House of Commons of the United Kingdom and its committees in exercising oversight over the Office.
The delegation will further explore what processes and procedures their counterparts follow in conducting committee inquiries; processing government budgets, as well as the support provided to committees to analyse budgets; public participation in law-making; and the mandate and role of the Environmental Audit Committee and the Climate Change Committee (Commission).
Members of the multiparty delegation includes Mr Qubudile Dyantyi, Mr Hope Papo (both from the African National Congress), Dr Annelie Lotriet (from the Democratic Alliance), Mr Narend Singh (from the Inkatha Freedom Party), and Dr Cornelius Mulder (from the Freedom Front Plus). The delegation will be supported by the Secretary to the National Assembly, Mr Masibulele Xaso, and three other officials including the Director of the Parliamentary Budget Office, Dr Dumisani Jantjies.
The UK has been chosen for this study because of the similarities that exist between the South African system and the Westminister parliamentary system. They are fundamentally the same in that both have a separate Executive and Legislature, have two legislative chambers and both follow very similar rules, procedures and conventions of conduct. The delegation hopes that the UK study tour will help to empower them and provide a very clear picture in terms of how best the NA can finalise the matter of ensuring that there is a mechanism in place to oversee The Presidency.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
Enquiries: Moloto Mothapo 082 370 6930
