Progress is being achieved on the much-anticipated Legislative Sector Bill aimed at harmonising administrative and budgetary frameworks for the sector, with much of the form and substance of its legislative architecture established and agreed upon by many if not all legislatures.
Presenting the report on the framework of the Bill to the first meeting of 2026 of the Speakers’ Forum, which was held at parliament recently, the Secretary to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), Adv Modibedi Phindela, said the Bill seeks to establish the sector as a distinct arm of the state in line with the principles of the separations of powers stipulated in the Constitution.
Agreement was sought on the desirability of the Bill in the sixth administration and, thereafter, there were further consultations on the bill in 2020. A draft bill was then developed, and it was agreed that the bill will be finalised by an Ad Hoc Committee, Adv Phindela said.
The Bill sought to improve cooperative government and intergovernmental relations and promote uniformity in the legislative sector. It was agreed that it should include guidelines accompanied by an explanatory memo stipulating the processes that should be followed in enacting legislation and in achieving its key milestones.
The Speakers’ Forum’s Legal Advisory Forum was also charged with establishing the constitutional validity of such a Bill, as the Constitution itself is silent on the matter. It resolved that the Legislative Sector is fragmented with each institution designing its own policy frameworks. And if the public and local government spheres have their own legislation governing the uniformity of their administration, there is nothing to stop the legislative sector from adopting this legislation, the report concluded.
Meanwhile, National Assembly House Chairperson of Committees, Mr Cedric Florick, and the NCOP House Chairperson of Committees, Mr Dennis Ryder, presented a report of the Sector’s Forum of Chairpersons of Committees to the Speakers’ Forum. This report shed light on AGSA’s collaborative relationship with law enforcement agencies and offers valuable insights from the 2023/24 audit cycle.
The report also recommended that the forum should investigate the role that the sector has on local government, as local government need to be increasingly accountable. Additionally, the report encouraged the Speakers’ Forum to engage with key reports e to entrench impactful oversight and accountability over the executive in the current financial year.
Such reports would include those from the MEC of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. The Speakers’ Forum should also consult the 7 May consolidated report of local government for the previous financial year to identify gaps that can be dealt with within this financial year. This should include the review the unqualified Public Financial Management Act audit outcomes, Mr Ryder said.
The Sector’s Forum of Chairpersons of Committees report also encouraged the Speakers’ Forum to track resolutions emanating from various meetings with key stakeholders. And to proactively plan for audits, all workplans should follow key priorities for each quarter as this will provide a systematic roadmap that will enable continuous monitoring and evaluation.”
In order to move towards value-added audits, the report suggested, the house chairpersons and chairpersons of committees, plus other relevant stakeholders, need to ensure that the prescribed legislation is accurately applied across the board. Accountability for poor performance must also be insisted on, as this will assist with dealing with some of the service delivery issues, the same report stated.
In addition, the report pointed out that clean audit outcomes are contingent on the reliability of information provided to the Auditor-General. The value-added role of the Auditor-General is not only in ensuring compliance but also in providing critical insights based on the data and audit results, which can drive improved governance and accountability across the public sector.
Abel Mputing
11 February 2026
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