Posts

The ParliMeter, a new tool for enhancing public participation in Parliament

Image: Flickr/GovernmentZA The Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG) is well-known as a dependable source of information on our legislature and its doings. Providing information on committee meetings, alerting the public to calls for comment on bills and discussion documents, and publishing the scheduled programme of meetings and debates is all in day’s work for the organisation. Read more >

How can Parliament be better? Pari researches and advises

Effective parliamentary oversight is essential for a well-functioning democracy. Parliament is the body that exercises oversight over the workings and decisions of government’s executive branch, ensuring that service delivery takes place as promised and where this does not happen, that government is answerable to the people it serves – so that all citizens can live Read more >

SA achieves respectable score on Freedom in the World index for 2024

South Africa’s highly-anticipated national and provincial elections went off smoothly for the most part on 29 May 2024, though the voter turnout of just over 58% was disappointing but not unexpected. Nevertheless, the country’s Independent Electoral Commission, as well as the South African Human Rights Commission, declared the event free and fair after several days Read more >

Parliament ready for first sittings of NA and NCOP

Parliament secretary Xolile George briefed the media and the country on Thursday 13 June on the state of readiness for the scheduled first sittings of the seventh parliament’s National Assembly (NA) and National Council of Provinces (NCOP). The sittings take place on 14 and 15 June 2024, respectively. “We are managing … a mammoth task Read more >

Parliament’s work: the journey of how a bill becomes a law

In this election season, it is important to consider the laws that affect our day-to-day life, and beyond. Why? Because the political parties we support send their elected representatives to Parliament to work on our behalf in making laws, among other important functions. Therefore, we must carefully consider who to give our vote to – Read more >

State capture: civil society must bridge gap between public and govt

On 25 and 26 October two civil society organisations – the Public Affairs Research Institute and the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution – jointly hosted a conference to discuss government’s response to state capture and the implementation of the Zondo commission recommendations, made public last year. The event, the second of Read more >