The 2024 South African Legislative Sector Oversight Summit Declaration

Press Releases

Presented by the Speakers’ Forum of South Africa
on behalf of the South African Legislative Sector
30 – 31 January 2024

 Declaration

We, the delegates and participants of the 2024 South African Legislative Sector (SALS) Oversight Summit, held at Century City Conference Centre in Cape Town from 30 - 31 January 2024 under the theme “Striving for Oversight that ensures the realisation of a better life for all” – ‘Examining the Efficacy of Oversight and exploring ways to improve the quality of Governance’ hereby note with satisfaction that this Summit was attended by representatives from all ten South African Legislatures as well as representatives from the Executive, Judiciary and the Institutions Supporting Democracy, South African Local Government Association (SALGA), SADC Speakers, European Union (EU), Civil Society Organizations and Academics.

  • This provided an opportunity to share, explore and interrogate the current state of the oversight function in the South African Legislative Sector.
  • The South African (SA) Constitution requires that Legislatures maintain oversight over the Executive to ensure a government that is open, responsive, and accountable. One of the mandates of SALS is to ensure effective, open, responsive, and accountable government.
  • Improving the quality of life of South Africans is set as the goal and impact of the work of oversight. In pursuit of this societal impact, the NDP requires stronger oversight and the mainstreaming of citizen participation (NDP 2012).
  • We confirm that the Legislatures are preeminent organs of the State which legitimise our democracy and uphold democratic principles and values, protect human rights, and ensure accountable governance to improve the quality of life of all citizens and free the potential of each person.
  • We declare that the quality and relevance of the input delivered, including the ensued discussions, contributed to the success of the 2024 SALS Summit. We propose the following resolutions for consideration.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Therefore, we resolve as follows:

1 On the effectiveness of Oversight in the legislature and opportunities for improvement – sharing national, continental, and international perspectives:

We commit to:

  • Incorporate performance monitoring and evaluation in all the oversight activities to conduct effective oversight and improve the lives of South Africans.
  • Engage in more collaborative oversight between the various spheres of government, Institutions Supporting Democracy, and Civil Society.
  • Reviewing the strategic vision, global practices, upholding core values as well as technological modernisation to enhance oversight, and
  • Implementation of legislation enabling the amendment of Money Bills across all the members of the Legislative Sector.
  • Conduct a review of Oversight tools such as the Sector Oversight Model (SOM) to measure its effectiveness in the Sector to be adapted to fit for purpose.
  • The capacitating of Members and staff (human resources) on the oversight strategies, tools, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT)

2. On the effectiveness of Parliamentary Oversight and its contribution to the realisation of relevant development strategies (NDP, SADC Master Plan, AU Agenda 2063 & SDGs)

We commit to:

  • The Sector to utilize empirical data to plan, implement and evaluate oversight activities to realize the relevant development strategies envisaged in the NDP, Master Plan, AU Agenda 2063, and SDGs
  • Improve the capacity of Legislatures by resourcing committees and appointment of suitably qualified professionals and managers in Legislatures.


3. On the Effectiveness of the South African Legislative Sector and approaches to public involvement in the oversight process 

We commit to:

  • Systematically evaluate and review the Public Participation Framework and public participation processes for effectiveness oversight in Legislatures.
  • Systematically evaluate the functioning and effectiveness of ad-hoc committees.
  • Utilising data produced by academia and Chapter 9 institutions more effectively. Data on performance, outcomes of government programmes, and citizens’ satisfaction necessary to perform oversight is available but is poorly utilised.
  • Utilising legislative processes, rules, and tools such as petitions and public hearings more effectively to exercise oversight in a timeous and effective manner. This will necessitate capacity building within the Legislative Sector.
  • Exercising law-making mandate by properly scrutinising legislation from the perspective of implementation timelines, budgetary implications, and executive capacity.
  • Consider whether the budgets for the Legislative Sector, the Judiciary, and Institutions Supporting Democracy should be allocated by the Executive or if a mechanism for financial independence for these spheres of government should be developed.
  • Systematically monitor the expenditure of constituency offices and evaluate their effectiveness and whether they are delivering value for money to the public.
  • Collaborate with strategic partners for the sharing of resources such as community radio stations and digital media to keep the public informed and not rely on legacy media which may have limited reach.

4. On the Importance of monitoring the Implementation and Impact of laws to Improve oversight - Post-Legislative Scrutiny

We commit to:

  • Institutionalise post-legislative scrutiny within the Legislative Sector of law making and evaluation for effective law making and oversight.

5. On the impact of electoral legislative framework on the effectiveness of the Legislative Sector, and a reflection on experiences, including coalition governments:

We commit to:

To consider promulgating legislation and regulations governing the formation and functioning of coalition governments to avoid dysfunction caused by hung legislatures and councils.