Parliament, Tuesday 20 August 2019 – National Council of Provinces (NCOP) Chairperson Mr Amos Masondo says Members of Parliament should pledge never to betray “the very covenant” they entered into with the people who elected them into positions of power.
Officially opening a two-day strategic planning session of the NCOP in Cape Town this morning, Chairperson Masondo said the planning session of the 6th Democratic Parliament must take people’s inputs and expectations, as expressed through the 8 May national and provincial elections, very seriously.
Mr Masondo detailed the three main objectives of the planning session as: to identify priority programming systems and processes that will improve how the constitutional mandate is fulfilled to the benefit of the people; to pursue a coordinated process for developing and completing the final strategy in a manner that allows for extensive consultation, coordination and cooperation; and identifying challenges emanating from previous work of the NCOP and provincial legislatures and come up with programmes to address such challenges.
“The May 8 general elections as well as the Legacy Report of Parliament have given us an insight into what the masses of our people demand of us as their representatives. In the process of making laws, we should always take their input seriously instead of just consulting them for the sake of compliance. These demands should guide our strategic thinking as we go into this planning session,” said Mr Masondo cautioning participants at the beginning of the two-days NCOP first Strategic Planning Session of the 6th Democratic Parliament.
“This Planning Session must be located within the constitutional mandate of the National Council of Provinces. This relationship must be predicated on consultation, co-operation and co-ordination of common programmes [and the] Planning Session should serve to lay the basis of our future relationship in the three spheres of government,” he re-emphasized.
The NCOP Strategic Planning Session attended by provincial legislatures Speaker, Deputy Speakers, Chief Whips, House Chairpersons of the Provincial Legislatures, National Assembly House Chairpersons, and the representative of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) is currently taking place at the national legislature’s Old Assembly Chamber ending tomorrow, Wednesday, 21 August.
ISSUED BY THE PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
Enquiries: Moloto Mothapo 082 370 6930
Arrange a tour