Posts

Attacks on public protector are unacceptable

Corruption Watch notes with great concern the repeated attacks on the Office of the Public Protector, the latest incident involving comments made by the Justice Portfolio Committee in Parliament last week. The attacks reflect a pattern of disrespect and contempt for a vital institution in South Africa’s constitutional democracy.   Under the leadership of Advocate Read more >

Parliament, part 3 – getting citizens involved

By Valencia Talane South Africa’s Parliament is the instrument whereby laws and policies of the country are proposed and their merits and legality debated on, before being passed, shelved for later discussion or discarded within a multi-party representation. The country’s Constitution allows for members of the general public to make submissions on laws or processes Read more >

Parliament, part 2 – integrity and accountability needed

By Valencia Talane “Parliament has become dysfunctional in that I don’t know who my MP is.” This is a quote attributed to social justice activist Zackie Achmat in People’s Power People’s Parliament a magazine distributed as part of a civil society conference held under the same title in 2012. The aim of the conference was Read more >

Parliament, part 1 – its role in our society

By Valencia Talane How does Parliament serve you and me as ordinary citizens and why? How do members of Parliament come to sit in its houses? What is their purpose and who do they represent and why? With South Africa heading for its fifth elections since becoming a democracy, we answer these questions and more. Read more >