Hon Speaker, Deputy Speaker, hon Ministers, Deputy Ministers, comrades and colleagues, the budget for public and international relations is R118,5 million. Parliament's role and ultimate objective is to represent the people of South Africa and to ensure government by the people under our Constitution.
The objective of Programme 3 of Parliament is, one, to improve public participation - and much has been said about that this afternoon - by, amongst other things, reformatting parliamentary programmes to include all national languages and, two, to improve public education programmes.
Within the context of the Parliament of South Africa, the report of the independent panel assessment of Parliament highlights sharp inequality in education, as one of the challenges to effective participation. It is difficult for people to participate meaningfully in parliamentary processes if they are unable to access information and to communicate appropriately; therefore Parliament has embarked on a public education drive to ensure effective participation. The public education office is responsible for implementing Parliament's public education programmes.
On the other hand, with public education and relations envisaged for the Office of the House Chairperson, the area of international relations appears to be one of political guidance and oversight to ensure that appropriate public participation and education programmes are developed and effectively implemented. This requires a close working relationship and interaction between the two offices.
The budget for international relations is R43 million. The International Relations division provides protocol services, administration for bilateral and multilateral meetings, and services for official visits, including adequate content and procedural and logistical support for incoming and outgoing delegations.
Historically, parliaments have had little involvement within international fora. With the advent of globalisation, shifting global alignments and increased participation in global organs of governance, parliaments have been forced to reconsider their level of participation. Parliaments now have an obligation to ensure that the people they represent at national level are also represented in the global arena and are not left behind as a result of the new global developments.
Parliament's strategic plan for 2009 to 2014 has prioritised the need to improve and widen relations, co-operation and participation by developing and implementing an international relations strategy as one of its core objectives.
In pursuit of its role in international relations, co-operation and participation, our Parliament is a member of the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum, SADC-PF; the Pan-African Parliament; the African, Caribbean and Pacific-European Union forum, the ACP-EU; the International Parliamentary Union, the IPU; the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, the CPA; and the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians forum. We are about to establish the India, Brazil, South Africa parliamentary forum. We do work together with the South Africa- European Union forum, and we need to facilitate the establishment of a Brics parliamentary forum at some stage.
The role of the Parliamentary Group on International Relations, the PGIR, is to guide participation and co-operation of the South African Parliament in international relations in line with the values of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa.
Parliament's affiliation and participation in various organisations is driven by the need to uphold universal values and principles of democracy, respect for human rights and international law, as well as the need to reinforce South Africa's foreign policy objectives at the level of international parliamentary fora.
The Joint Rules Committee of 2006 adopted the following core objectives of Parliament's involvement and engagement in international relations: to prioritise Africa; to strengthen South-South co-operation; to advance multilateralism; to initiate and strengthen North-South dialogue; to establish bilateral relations for strategic reasons; to ensure and follow up at parliament-to-parliament bilateral relations; to facilitate public participation and education; to promote and protect human rights; to reinforce democratic values and ideals; to uphold international law and justice; to promote gender justice; and to initiate contact with other parliaments.
The prioritisation of Africa is based on the consolidation of the African Agenda. Our Parliament recognises that South Africa's destiny is inextricably linked to that of the African continent and the developing world. Priorities therefore are: to contribute to the strengthening of the SADC-PF; to contribute to the strengthening of the Pan-African Parliament; to adhere to recommendations of the African Peer Review Mechanism; to support peace, stability and security in Africa through post-conflict reconstruction initiatives within the African Union's policy; to promote and support the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa's Development, Nepad, and the SADC's Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan, RISDP.
South-South co-operation is important. The strengthening of South-South parliamentary relations has developed intercontinental engagements for the strengthening of parliamentary democracy.
We need to promote interparliamentary co-operation, solidarity and economic development.
We need to support efforts to address common socioeconomic challenges related to poverty, education, health, population, environmental concerns, and the rights of women and children.
We need to support the attainments of the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs.
We need to establish the India-Brazil-South Africa, Ibsa, parliamentary forum and facilitate the formation of the Brics parliamentary forum.
We need to promote the respect for human rights, democracy, gender justice, commitment to peace, justice, and international law. We need to promote peaceful relations between South Africa, the African continent and the world.
We need to strengthen the role and visibility of the Ibsa parliamentary forum on issues relating to democratisation of institutions of global governance, particularly with regard to the reform of the United Nations, UN, system, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, the World Trade Organisation, WTO, the G20, the reform of the Bretton Woods institutions and climate change negotiations.
Through the North-South co-operation Parliament will help to mobilise support for the entrenchment of democratic values and to ensure the support for South Africa's national priorities and Nepad. The engagement with the North is also aimed at advancing the development needs of the African continent and the South with regard to the promotion of parliamentary democracy.
In the spirit of overseeing trade, investment and economic development, our Parliament continues to actively participate in the WTO Committee and the African, Caribbean and Pacific-European Union Forum. This affords us an opportunity to reflect on broad economic policies and how best legislatures could engage in this regard.
Partnerships for the consolidation of the development agenda to ensure engagement with the North is through the South Africa-European Union forum and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to promote parliamentary democracy, the interests and values of South Africa, and through parliamentary co-operation to garner the support of national priorities, such as job creation and the eradication of poverty. The CPA needs transformation so that it is able to address the imbalances of power in the international arena. It also needs to change from a charitable organisation into a diplomatic organisation.
Bilateral relations is an important part of Parliament's international relations, because it remains an important vehicle for interparliamentary co-operation, for promoting Parliament's interests and values and for promoting South Africa's national priorities.
So far, the South African Parliament has signed a memorandum of understanding, MOU, on exchange mechanisms with China, Mozambique and Vietnam, and Uganda have just submitted MOU proposals. Parliament successfully cohosted the Inter-Parliamentary Union, IPU-Cop 17 Climate Change meeting on the margins of the UN Cop 17 Climate Change Conference in December 2011. This concluded with a formal declaration by all IPU member parliaments. It is important that we monitor the resolutions of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCC, and the commitments made by our governments in that regard.
We also cohosted the Globe Chapter in preparation for the Cop 17 Conference. We are also happy to announce that more engagements have been identified; for instance we will participate in the forthcoming World Symposium on Sustainable Development to be held in Rio de Janeiro in June, as well as in the Conference of the Parties, Cop 18, that is to be hosted in Doha, Qatar in December this year.
In respect of gender mainstreaming and women's emancipation, we are committed to ensure that we extend our support and commitment to all activities pertaining to women, children and people living with disabilities. In this regard our parliamentarians participated in the 56th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women and helped to amplify the perennial challenges of women in various walks of life, while celebrating positive developments undertaken by our government in empowering the women of South Africa.
The International Relations and Protocol Division is at an advanced stage of the restructuring process. It will assist in providing presiding officers and Members of Parliament with strategic direction on the parliamentary dimension of international relations and ensure capacity development so that Parliament can achieve its set goals. In this regard the division is also in the process of increasing its content development capacity. Furthermore, a protocol training manual for Members of Parliament is being developed for the purposes of broadening understanding on various protocol practices.
Now, we have some issues for consideration. Firstly, the deployment of Members of Parliament to various international fora should be done in a manner which maximises Parliament's engagement, thus the deployment of committed and dedicated members into the various focus groups is imperative.
Secondly, the current policy on parliamentary international relations should be strengthened.
Thirdly, productive interaction should be facilitated between the PGIR and the Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Co-operation and the Select Committee on International Relations and Trade.
Fourthly, policies on friendship groups and other strategic partnerships should be developed and implemented.
Fifthly, Parliament should look at mechanisms that improve the rate at which reports emanating from international participation are tabled and debated, if necessary.
Sixthly, we need to improve the capacity of the PGIR for the establishment of a databank in which all information pertinent to parliamentary international relations is kept.
Further, resolutions emerging from bilateral and multilateral engagements should be monitored and discussed in the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces. Furthermore, the recruitment of experienced personnel with the knowledge of the conduct of diplomacy, international relations and foreign policy analysis is crucial.
Lastly, structured relations with tertiary institutions and think tanks should be initiated.
As Parliament will be interacting at various levels, such as regional, continental and international fora, it becomes imperative to understand and articulate South Africa's national values and interests, to influence the agenda of the interparliamentary organisations and to advance the African Agenda.
To this end, it becomes imperative to begin the process of implementing the PGIR objectives and expedite the completion of the International Relations and Protocol Division's restructuring process. The division is determined to increase and strengthen its capacity in order to maximise support for Parliament's participation in international relations and co-operation.
Much needs to be done, and this can only be done constructively if we all work together to make our efforts successful.
In conclusion, I wish to thank my office staff and the division on International Relations for their hard work, considering that there is a considerable understaffing in the division. I thank you. The ANC supports this Budget Vote.