Deputy Speaker, let me also join this august House in wishing former President Nelson Mandela a speedy recovery and say: May the grace of the Lord be with him and his family.
Deputy Speaker, Mr Speaker, Deputy President, hon Ministers and Deputy Ministers, hon members, I think that the Deputy President will see that the Speaker has also turned me into a model. I am modelling a blazer today.
It is a moral imperative that, while Members of Parliament are preoccupied with their constitutional obligations, responsibilities and duties towards the people of South Africa, we should at the same time cultivate a positive and constructive attitude of soul towards the realm of officialdom, including all who work for the institution of Parliament.
It is neither in the interest of members and their constituencies, nor that of the staff of Parliament, to serve in an environment where they feel that their interests and aspirations are not met to their satisfaction through the inappropriateness of some of the rules and practices within the institution and they consequently don't feel free within their own institution.
It was the philosopher Rousseau who said: "Obedience of a law which one prescribes to oneself is freedom." Hence we believe that the recommendations contained in the postmortem report on the capacity-building workshop, held on 5 to 8 February, around the legislative process, rules and code of conduct for Members of Parliament will assist the Joint Rules Committee to review some of the Rules and draft relevant ones.
The situation as it is, is that the Quarterly Consultative Forum, QCF, facilitates inputs on the interests of members. It does not implement the decisions it has taken. However, there are other structures of Parliament that implement these decisions, and these significantly reside in the realm of officialdom. That is why it is extremely important for all of us to build and nurture a political and administrative commonwealth that is disciplined and ethical.
During this current Fourth Parliament, after much consultation across parliamentary governance structures, the following structural changes were successfully implemented: The QCF, which previously met on a quarterly basis, now meets on a monthly basis to address issues pertaining to members' facilities - but I do admit that on a few occasions meetings had to be postponed, but not without valid reasons; the presiding officers appointed a co-chairperson from the National Council of Provinces, Mr R J Tau, MP, to ensure institution-wide inclusivity, as previously the QCF was National Assembly-based; the Secretary to Parliament established a Forum Support Office to provide institutional support across functional departments to support the work of the Quarterly Consultative Forum; and the QCF meeting slot on Friday mornings was accepted with some reluctance by members, but later they recognised the need for the forum to meet on a regular basis, with input from and attendance by all stakeholders, including the Department of Public Works and the SA Police Service.
However, we still face certain institutional challenges that need to be resolved, like late or lack of feedback on issues forwarded to the Parliamentary Oversight Authority as House Chairpersons are not represented there; poor response from parties on matters returned to caucuses for party input; and delays by some service providers to implement decisions of the Quarterly Consultative Forum.
Besides the work of the Quarterly Consultative Forum, the Internal Arrangements Office was requested to assist with and support the rolling out of many projects during the Fourth Parliament. For example, the refurbishment of members' offices projects; a comparative study of Parliament Medical Aid, Parmed, and other medical aid schemes; sport and recreation; members' training or capacity-building; and reintroducing the parliamentary gift shop, which is almost completed. The shop should be fully operational by mid-July 2013. We facilitated the obtaining of blazers for Members of Parliament, as you can see here. Lastly, there is the issuing of cellphones, laptops and printers to all members.
Preparations are now being made for a new roll-out of information technology equipment and tools of trade for the Fifth Parliament. Parties are requested to nominate their representatives to serve on the task team to support the Members' Facilities Office.
With regard to the "My Parliament" application, the Speaker already alluded to that, so I will not go into it. In our culture it is said:
"Uma sekukhulume umuntu omdala, umuntu omncane akabe esakhuluma." ["If a senior has spoken, a subordinate does not have to speak anymore."]
"Ha ho buile motho e moholo, e monyane ha a sa tla bua." ["When an elder person has spoken, a young one does not have to speak afterwards."]
The handbook on the facilities for members is being reviewed to include the cost of data and a device contract to the sum of R500 per month. This will mean that members will enter into contracts in their individual capacity with any service provider of their choice and will be reimbursed by Parliament in terms of the revised clause in the handbook. Any reimbursements made in this regard are tax exempt, provided that the tablet is used as a tool of trade and mainly for business purposes. The deadline for the implementation of this application, as the Speaker has already said, is 1 July 2013.
With regard to the Digital Content Delivery, the Speaker has again alluded to that, so I will not go into it except to say that this service gives members access to over 2 000 national and international electronic newspapers, journals, e-books and many other resources.
This scheme is at present being rolled out to House Chairpersons, managers of Parliament and presiding officers as a test phase. Members who are interested, as the Speaker said, in participating in this new programme are requested to submit their requirements to the parliamentary library so that their specific information needs can be customised to their profile for easy access.
With regard to tickets, which Mr Mpontshane has spoken about, the task team on members' travel facilities have completed their work and their recommendations were submitted to the Parliamentary Oversight Authority, POA, which decided that the recommendations be costed before final approval. During the Fourth Parliament, the presiding officers stressed the importance of capacity-building of members. As a result, an induction programme for members was developed and implemented in February this year, which included the workshop on the legislative process of Parliament; the House Rules, committee procedures and oversight; briefings on public participation; ethics and code of conduct for members; and members' facilities.
A postmortem report was produced and presented to the presiding officers. All presentations were posted on the parliamentary website for easy access by Members of Parliament. Various capacity-building focus areas were identified for future training initiatives and this is an ongoing process. The question is whether training should be compulsory and should be rolled out on Fridays, considering that Friday is a normal working day - so says the Speaker.
The Wellness Office has prepared two wellness programmes for Members of Parliament. One programme will be run at Parliament with the approval of both the NA and NCOP Programming Committees and the other one will be run at the parliamentary villages through consultation with the Parliamentary Villages Management Board.
Regarding the villages, in the absence of a functioning Parliamentary Villages Management Board at the start of the Fourth Parliament, the QCF was mandated by the presiding officers to facilitate inputs from the members of the various village residents' committees. The Department of Public Works and the SA Police Service were also requested to provide regular report-backs to the Parliamentary Villages Management Board. Today, we are pleased to report that the Parliamentary Villages Management Board is now fully functional and must assist the residents' committees to function effectively.
With regard to public works, a process is under way to ensure stricter access control at the parliamentary villages. All members are to use their permits to gain access to the villages. Similarly, their dependants will be issued with permits in order to ensure that only permit holders gain free access into the villages. These proposals will be submitted at the next meeting of the Parliamentary Villages Management Board this month. However, a concern was expressed by the SAPS that tenants do not activate their alarm systems when not at home. This led to a number of burglaries not being detected and prevented in time.
The Parliamentary Sport and Recreation Council has approved a request for the renovations of recreational facilities, including the erection of gyms in the parliamentary villages. The Department of Public Works is awaiting funding approval prior to commencing with this project.
Lastly, the Parliamentary Villages Management Board has suggested that urgent consideration be given to the need for implementing sustainable approaches to the environment at the villages. This could be done through the use of solar-powered geysers and embarking on recycling initiatives.
Catering within Parliament has progressively improved throughout the Fourth Parliament, following suggestions from members. [Interjections.]