The Secretary to Parliament, Mr Xolile George, has highlighted the important role played by the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) in consolidating areas of common approach in the region.
Mr George who was part of the South African delegation to the SADC PF EXCO Meeting that was held in Mahé, Seychelles from 27 to 28 May 2023, said when he reflected on the meeting that the SADC PF “is a very important structure that builds into the Pan African Parliament (PAP) in terms of consolidating areas of common approach as a region, at the same time bringing together the relative capacities of each of the member parliaments of the region”.
He said the SADC PF exists as a strategic platform where various parliaments within the region share common objectives, expertise, and best practices. “To me, this is one of the premium platforms for us to make sure that we keep abreast of the issues taken within the Pan African body of Parliaments, but also helps us to interrogate issues of common interest, so that when we participate in other multi-lateral forums, we have a coherent view and coherent approach as a region,” he said.
He stressed the importance of the SADC PF EXCO meeting as a preparatory measure towards the sum mit of the Parliamentary Forum scheduled to be held in Tanzania from 2 to 8 July 2023, to emerge with the state of readiness.
He also remarked on the capacity building aspect of the SADC PF, which is a point that was discussed extensively by the EXCO. He said: “Now that we are brought together as a forum in the region, we are able to assist parliaments on areas where there could be relative strength in one of the member parliaments to assist other member parliaments around issues of bilateral support.”
Mr George spoke of the contribution that the South African Parliament has made by assisting on the administration side through seconding officials and assisting in the human resources space by drawing up job descriptions and job grading amongst other aspects.
He added that the South African Parliament will continue to contribute to the forum when called upon. He said the dimension of secondment is very important, and in principle as South Africa, he said, they will continue to assist on the provision of advice and the secondment of officials when a request is made. Another dimension according to him may not be secondment, but it could be about assignment. Furthermore, Mr George said, somebody can be in any of the SADC parliaments and be assigned to assist. “They may not necessarily have to be seconded but they could be assigned.”
Mr George also said that the South African Parliament is in a position to benefit from other countries as well particularly on areas where it lacks capacity such as in raising donor funding for bodies that are struggling to keep up to date with member levies. “We have heard here that membership levies are a major point of concern that brings down the capacity of members in the forum. But we can look at different initiatives to raise resources to make sure that programme staff is linked to those resources. So, when we come together, we can share those ideas. South Africa will always be here as Parliament to help strengthen our region,” he emphasized.
Faith Ndenze
30 May 2023
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