A presentation from Mr Kgalema Motlanthe, the chairperson of the High Level Panel on Assessment of Key Legislation and Acceleration of Fundamental Change and former President of the Republic of South Africa, is one of the items on the agenda of the Speakers’ Forum meeting on Thursday and Friday.
The Speakers’ Forum, a structure of Parliament and the nine Provincial Legislatures, appointed the panel in January 2016 to assess the impact of the laws of our democracy. In carrying out this task, the panel has held a series of provincial public hearings and has met with academics, experts and civil society organisations in particular fields. The last of the provincial public hearings was in March and the deadline for written submissions from the public was 31 March. The panel’s report is scheduled for hand-over to the Speakers’ Forum in August.
Also scheduled to make a presentation to the Forum is Public Protector Advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane. Advocate Mkhwebane was appointed to the position in October 2016, after a rigorous parliamentary shortlisting and interview process, televised live on Parliament television.
The Association of Public Accounts Committees (APAC) is also on the agenda to make a presentation. APAC is an association of committees dealing with public accounts in Parliament and in the Provincial Legislatures.
The Speakers’ Forum, a decision-making body, oversees management and coordination of legislative sector programmes. Specific goals of these programmes are deepening and entrenching a people-centred democracy in South Africa; strengthening the law making and oversight capacity of Parliament and the Provincial Legislatures; building an effective and efficient legislative sector; and strengthening the capacity to participate in and oversee international relations. Issues related to these goals also feature on the agenda, including political party funding regulations. These regulations accompany the Public Funding of Political Parties Act of 1997 and deal with the allocation of funds to parties represented in Parliament and the Provincial Legislatures.
The Forum was formed in 1996. It is made up of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, the Chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces and the Speakers and Deputy Speakers of all nine Provincial Legislatures. Parliament’s National Assembly Speaker chairs the Forum which has four regular meetings a year.
The Speakers’ Forum meeting is a closed session but media are invited to a photo opportunity at the start of proceedings at 9.00 on Thursday 20 April. The venue is Four Seasons Hotel The Westcliff - 67 Jan Smuts Drive, Westcliff, Johannesburg.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA ON BEHALF OF THE SPEAKERS’ FORUM OF THE LEGISLATIVE SECTOR OF SOUTH AFRICA
Enquiries: Moloto Mothapo
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