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Ways to get involved in Parliament as a member of the public

Parliament, in its own words, “is the place where the members of Parliament [MPs] look after your interests.” It is only just, therefore, that Parliament allows public participation and oversight so that people can rest assured that MPs do indeed have the nation’s interests at heart. This is vital in a well-functioning democracy, because MPs Read more >

One year on, govt’s response to Zondo recommendations on shaky course

Corruption Watch is releasing three new episodes of its podcast series titled Zondo Commission Unpacked, to mark a year since President Cyril Ramaphosa announced his government’s response to the commission’s recommendations. On 23 October 2022 Ramaphosa released the 77-page plan of implementations which would be put into action – but has this happened?Listen to episode Read more >

Gordhan proposes biggest shake-up of SOCs since the 1990s

This article first appeared on News24 By Carol Paton The National State Enterprises Bill, which will dramatically shake up the governance of state-owned companies (SOCs) and envisages them moving from line departments to a newly created state asset management company, was published for comment last Friday. It will also see the end of the government’s Read more >

Fine qualifications alone do not a public protector make

The unprecedented removal of Busisiwe Mkhwebane as public protector highlights the importance of selecting the right person for a job – especially one of such importance – through a rigorous process that disregards party or cadre issues and focuses solely on merit and suitability. Never before has a South African public protector been removed from Read more >

Still a paucity of parly action on Zondo recommendations, says PMG

Independent NGO Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG) has published a follow-up to its 2022 review of Parliament’s actions in response to the multi-part final report of the Zondo commission into state capture. The first report is titled Where was Parliament? and the follow-up is A PMG Review of Parliament’s Processing of the State Capture Commission Report. Read more >

Parliament must take state capture complicity criticism on the chin

Image: Flickr/GovernmentZA By Karam SinghFirst published on News24 A strong constitutional democracy based on the model chosen by South Africa requires the legislature to play a vital role, beyond passing legislation, in providing oversight and holding the executive branch accountable. As part of the separation of powers, the legislature plays a vital democratic role in Read more >