Hon Speaker, Deputy President, hon Ministers, indeed this is an honour to bid farewell to the hon members of this House and to you, Mr Speaker, for the manner in which you have run this Parliament over the four years or almost five years. I must also thank the chairpersons of the various portfolio committees and of the House for the good manner in which they have run the activities of those committees.
However, the time has come for all Members of this House to not only reflect on the high and low points of the past year but indeed the legacy that we, as members of this Fourth Parliament will leave behind in a few months' time. What is the legacy that we will leave? That bears the question: Did we as the institutions and pillars of our constitutional democracy live up to the legitimate expectations of the people of South Africa? Did we ultimately live up to the onerous responsibilities demanded of us by our Constitution? When we strip away the inevitable and integral elements of politicking, the grandstanding and fiery debates that sometimes amuse and sometimes annoy, what are we leaving behind as a legacy? How far have we progressed to entrench and live the essence of the constitutional democracy in our Parliament? Are we working and living the letter and spirit of our constitutional democracy or do we tend to fall back on parliamentary systems and practices of the Westminster doctrine?
The nature and tone of debates in this House leaves much to be desired. The Constitution in section 42(3) stipulates that this is the national forum for public consideration of issues. This is where contestation of ideas should take place, with mutual respect and retention of dignity. The question is: How has this House contributed to proper public discourse on matters of national importance?
Since I came here I have been asking the question: What is the point of the Notices of Motion in this House? We spend maybe 30 minutes or so raising notices of motions that are never debated. What is the rationale behind this?
People want to retain the relevance of the National Assembly as the House of the representatives of the people. Let us firstly allow for more regular debate and let us avoid mudslinging, racial slurs and labelling of members with difference opinions. Let us all agree to lead by example.
Furthermore, oversight is far more than visits to state entities and to remote areas. Effective oversight means to hold the executive to account in committees and here in the National Assembly. It demands respect for the Constitution and an understanding of the systems of co-operative governance and the functional areas of concurrent legislative competence. It demands all members to achieve portfolio knowledge and experience. For that to happen, it demands skilled, qualified and legal support from staff that support those committees.
Effective oversight over the executive also requires a better understanding of our constitutional role as Parliament from the executive. It is unfortunate that some executive members often appear to be irritated when they respond to questions in Parliament. We have a constitutional democracy with elected representatives from parties other than the majority party. Executive members should respect all members as the elected representatives of the people.
An analysis of replies to written questions indicates that some Ministers perform well while others perform exceptionally poorly. The Minister of Trade and Industry had responded to all 51 questions as at 7 October 2013, 50 of the questions within the timeframe set by the National Assembly Rules. By contrast, the Minister of Basic Education responded to only 19 out of 153 questions within the timeframe set by the National Assembly Rules. The Department of Social Development responded to only eight out of 142 questions within the timeframe of the National Assembly Rules. The offices of the President and the Deputy President also failed to meet the deadline for answers.
What is the reason for this? Does it point to a lack of political will or an absence of a sense of accountability? Has the wrong culture been established in the Ministries and departments, or is it, due to lack of capacity? Whatever the reason, this is unacceptable.
As the national legislative authority, we have passed ...