Chairperson, once more I thank you for giving me the opportunity to present the report for 2009 that we started in 2004 when we started the Third Parliament's NCOP.
The NCOP, once more, has played a very critical role in the consideration of the Bills initiated by Parliament, for example the Financial Management of Parliament Bill, the money Bills and the Mandating Procedures of Provinces Bill, which were passed in terms of section 65(2) of the Constitution.
As a House, we have added value to a number of Bills by effecting proposed amendments, including sections 75 and 76. For example, with regard to the Broadcasting Amendment Bill, we upheld the principle of the separation of powers, promoting the removal of the Speaker of the National Assembly as part of the appointing authority. Those who had been dealing with the Bill will remember.
The National Council of Provinces' amendment to the Electricity Regulation Amendment Bill - now an Act assented to by the President, in order to provide municipalities with the right to administer the reticulation of electricity within their areas of jurisdiction - has, according to the Department of Minerals and Energy, expedited the supply of electricity to poverty-stricken communities, for example farms, rural areas and informal settlements. This is reflected in the report we are presenting here today.
However, we seem to have lagged behind in overseeing the implementation of the laws that we passed in the National Council of Provinces or the entire Parliament. I would want to challenge the members of this House that, in the Fourth Parliament, the most important duty that we have to do is to go down again and make sure that the laws that we are passing in this House are being implemented on the ground. I think this is a core issue of our work that we should be doing as well, and it is a bigger challenge. It boils down to the capacity that we have to build around the committees. It boils down to the human and financial resources that we have to give to both Houses so that they can be in a position to do that particular work. I think that is the biggest challenge to all of us as we prepare to come back for the Fourth Parliament.
In terms of oversight, you are aware that we have done quite a number of things, including Taking Parliament to the People, as we have been discussing, site visits and the public meetings that we have been holding. As the National Council of Provinces we have been doing the follow-ups through our committees. We introduced, during the time of hon Windvol, the provincial weeks which proved to be very, very effective, because we then go back to our provinces, interact with our leadership and, together with the provinces, go out to do the oversight function. I think that has been very, very critical, and I want to congratulate the hon Windvol for having come up with that particular suggestion. [Applause.]
On the question of the Intergovernmental Fiscal Review, let me once more congratulate the hon Tutu Ralane. The action that he has taken was very bold, to call us together in a workshop - with our colleagues in the provinces - to come and have a deep introspection on the financial aspects of how the provinces are spending in terms of their trends. I want to say congratulations. That, together with the Minister, by the way, conducting that particular workshop, is what we should be doing, and I think we should gallop a little bit in the Fourth Parliament in tracing the expenditure trends of the provinces.
Through outreach programmes, we were able then to pay attention to some of the key service delivery issues, for example social transformation, economic transformation, safety and security, governance, and local government service delivery. These issues were always on our agenda, including our visits to provinces in terms of the oversight.
In the public participation sphere, we facilitated public participation through programmes such as the one I have just mentioned - Taking Parliament to the People - introducing a follow-up to public meetings and presenting the aspect of public involvement during the provincial weeks. The overall challenge we are facing in respect of public participation is to ensure that the public participation serves as a vehicle for the involvement of communities in matters of governance that affect them on an ongoing basis. This is the challenge that we are facing.
We, as the National Council of Provinces, have engaged in a lot of international activities. You will remember that, since two years ago, we have introduced a system of bilaterals between the National Council of Provinces and the second Houses on the continent. For example, this term we have done two countries on the continent. We have done the Republic of the Congo, and we have done Rwanda as well. The NCOP has proved to be there to assist. We were actually requested by Congo to assist them with setting up their second House, and that is precisely what we would like to do. We would like to assist our colleagues on the continent.
However, there is a need to improve capacity support for international engagement by providing research support to members and by monitoring the implementation of international agreements.
In terms of the special projects, you would understand that, ladies and gentlemen, or hon members, we have completed three very important projects during this term of Parliament: the 10th anniversary summit, which was held in 2007; the institutional memory, which was published in the form of a documentary; and the book that we have published - you were there and have the book. We are now finalising the last project, which is the study on Taking Parliament to the People. We hope to deliver it to you before the elections. If we can't, it will be delivered during the first term of the Fourth Parliament. We are actually meeting next week Monday to go through the first draft of this study, because when we come back, we want to say: What has been achieved by Taking Parliament to the People? What can we do to improve it, so that it becomes even more effective and gives more assistance to the people that we are serving here at this level?
With regard to the study, we are soliciting the views of the people in the provinces and all the stakeholders, and that is what the first draft is containing. During the 10th anniversary, you would remember the summit raised quite a number of issues, which I think are very critical issues that we have to look into. One of the issues is the question of the size of the National Council of Provinces. I can already tell this House that, right now, this is receiving positive attention. We will be able, very soon, to increase the size of this House. [Applause.]
Secondly, you would remember that there was an issue which was raised regarding the question of the participation of Premiers as the leaders of the special delegates to the NCOP. It is an ongoing issue that we are still discussing. Last night I addressed the media on all of these issues, and we had an intense debate with the media, because it was an informal discussion and there were 25 newspapers that had actually attended this discussion last night.
The other issue that we have deliberated on is the question of the Second Rotating Deputy Chairperson. The question that we are raising is whether or not this position is necessary. Now, these are some of the things .In my view, I think this position is not necessary. I think we should abolish it, and I think we should move with speed. That is the recommendation I will put to the Council.
There are a few challenges that we are faced with that I want to sketch for the House quickly. The challenge that the National Council of Provinces is facing now is a role for organised local government. How can we, together, really make Salga participate in the National Council of Provinces? We are aware that they are not fully participating, and we know the problems they have raised: They have part-time councillors in most instances, and therefore, they cannot participate fully; and they say our system is too clogged. We are too fast for them at times so we finalise the Bills before they can make the actual input that they would like to make with regard to the Bills. This is a discussion that we should perhaps begin to deliberate in order to see how we can deal with it.
The second challenge is the oversight function in the sense that we need to build capacity in our committees, because, when you do this oversight function, you must be in a position to track what it is that we have achieved. What is it that we have done? What is it that we have not followed up on? We don't have a tracking mechanism in between to alert the chairperson of the committee and the committees themselves to say: "One, two, and three are done. Tick it off. We are happy about those things, but one, two, three, and four have not been done. These are the things that we have to carry on doing."
We have to increase the research capacity as well. We shouldn't be depending on the departments to do the research for us and give the research to us. Then there is no oversight function. We should be independent and be able to do these things ourselves and not depend on them. We are actually now restructuring the legal service into what we now want to call it, the constitutional and legal section, so that it can begin to assist the committees in drafting even the Private Member's Bills. They should assist you to draft them. Chair, I am finishing off. I am aware that my time has expired. The last two concern the formalisation of the legislative sector. How do we work together with the provinces and strengthen it together?
Lastly, scrutiny of the legislation by the presiding officers becomes very important. So, I think that the 2009 programme has been very successful, and it couldn't have been successful without all of you implementing it. I want to thank you very much for doing that. Thank you very much. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
Question put: That the Report be adopted.
IN FAVOUR: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, Western Cape.
Report accordingly adopted in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.