As parliament delivers on its responsibilities towards the process of fundamental social transformation, new challenges will arise, exposing limitations in the functioning of the institution. These should be openly discussed and addressed, writes Mbulelo Goniwe.
The Freedom Charter contains the vision that steers our efforts towards the creation of a society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights.
The ANC's Strategy and Tactics document defines our strategic objective as the creation of a united, non-racial, non-sexist and democratic society. It observes that the democratic breakthrough of April 1994 constitutes a platform to launch a programme of social transformation to overcome the legacy of a social system that was based on the oppression of the black majority.
The new society we are building today arises from the ashes of a deeply divided past characterised by strife, conflict, untold human suffering and injustice. This situation generated gross violations of human rights, transgressions of humanitarian principles in violent conflict, a legacy of hatred, fear, guilt and revenge.
Over the years various forms of limited participation in government were devised by white minority regimes for the black majority, particularly the homeland policy. Through this system, the black majority was denied socio-political and economic rights. The colour of one's skin was the sole determinant for one's participation in political, economic and social life.
The transitional period from 1990 culminated in the interim constitution, whose preamble identified the 'need to create a new order in which all South Africans will be entitled to a common South African citizenship in a sovereign and democratic constitutional state in which there is equality between men and women and people of all races so that all citizens shall be able to enjoy and exercise their fundamental rights and freedoms'.
When, on 8 May 1996, a democratically elected Constitutional Assembly adopted our country's new constitution with an 86% majority, our people's fundamental vision was realised: 'That South Africa belongs to all who live in it, black and white, and that no government can justly claim authority unless it is based on the will of all the people.' Our Constitution is supreme, has a Bill of Rights and contains the values that guide us in our work. These values guide all branches of government in the conduct of their functions.
The doctrine of separation of powers is a fundamental feature of South Africa's democratic system. State power is devolved among the three branches of government. The legislature makes, amends, repeals laws and performs the oversight function. The executive implements and enforces the laws, while the judiciary interprets and applies the law to concrete situations. The doctrine of separation of powers prevents the concentration of power in one body.
The ANC's 51st National Conference, held in Stellenbosch in 2002, said: 'The ANC commits itself to the fundamental provisions of the basic law of the land, which accords with its own vision of a democratic and just society. We have set out to implement both the letter and the spirit of the constitution, including such principles as multi-party democracy, the doctrine and practice of separation of powers in a constitutional state, fundamental human rights to all citizens, respect for the rights of linguistic, religious and cultural communities, and social equity within the context of correcting the historical injustices of apartheid.' The Strategy and Tactics says: 'The character and strength of the ANC must continue to reside in its mass base. And, as the leading force in government, the ANC should continuously improve its capacity and skill to wield and transform the instruments of power. This includes a systematic approach to parliament as the forum to lay the detailed legal framework for transformation, creative employment of public representatives in organisational work, a cadre policy ensuring that the ANC plays a leading role in all centres of power, and a proper balance in its day-to-day activities between narrow governmental work and organisational tasks.' 'In all centres of power, particularly in parliament and the executive, ANC representatives must fulfill the mandate of the organisation. They should account to the ANC and seek its broad guidance. As a matter of political principle, and in our structures and our style of operation, we proceed always from the premise that there is one ANC, irrespective of the many and varied sectors in which cadres are deployed.' The constitution enjoins parliament to pass the budget and laws, to amend the constitution, perform oversight functions, to review the constitution and to provide a platform for public debate.
Criticism of parliament
There have been some public criticisms that parliament is weak. These criticisms have not however pointed out the specific areas where the weaknesses are in relation to the tasks of parliament as contained in the Constitution.
David Welsh, Emeritus Professor of Political Studies at the University of Cape Town, in his paper on Democratic challenges and opportunities for South Africa says, 'The National Assembly features little more than a dialogue of the deaf.' He continues to quote Colin Eglin as follows, 'The old parliament was a debating chamber; the [post-1994] one is a speaking chamber. There's no confrontation in terms of debates. '
Welsh writes: 'There has been a centralisation of power in the presidency and an expansion in the size of the office, where Mbeki has surrounded himself with trusted confidantes...'
Arising from our country's past, the ANC Strategy and Tactics identifies various tasks that our movement must fulfil, including, among others:
This is by no means an exhaustive list of the elements that characterise our programme of transformation, but we highlight them to emphasise what the ANC says, that: 'The new democratic government derives its character from these challenges. These tasks are made the more urgent and the difficulty of implementing them further compounded by the massive social disparities that we have inherited.' The tasks that parliament faced, and continues to be confronted with, can be no different from those that the country has to resolve. Therefore, when our country demanded, through the interim constitution, the drafting and adoption, of a democratic, non-racial and non-sexist constitution, our parliament engaged in an open participatory process to fulfil that task.
When our country needed the laws to allow for the evolution of a society visualised in the Freedom Charter and our Constitution, our parliament processed a great volume of statutes in the period up to 2001.
We have now acknowledged that the necessary legislative framework has been laid. We now need to pay more attention to oversight and constituency work.
Parliament is doing everything possible to avail resources to enable us to carry out these tasks.
The criticism that there is no confrontation in parliament seeks to define the role of parliament outside of the South African historical context. This type of thinking is born of the Westminster type of government, a system that is no longer a central part of our constitutional state.
This approach is also designed to sew confusion among the people about the manner in which our cadres should conduct themselves as members of the national liberation movement as opposed to a parliamentary party.
It deliberately disregards the directive cited above that in all centres of power, particularly in parliament and the executive, ANC representatives should account to the ANC and seek its broad guidance. That directive states that, as a matter of political principle, and in our structures and our style of operation, we proceed always from the premise that there is one ANC, irrespective of the many and varied sectors in which cadres are deployed.
There is a difference between open and robust debate, to which we subscribe, and confrontation. Our political adversaries prescribe a confrontational approach for the ANC. However we do not see them taking the same medicine in their organisations.
On the subject of the 'all-powerful presidency', it is difficult to identify which of parliament's powers have been usurped by the presidency. The presidency has and continues to function within the scope of its constitutionally designated responsibilities.
Parliament continues to function within the context of correcting the injustices of the past, to deepen peace and the culture of democracy and respect for human rights. It continues to work for the reconstruction of our country and Africa and the creation of a better world.
This does not mean there are no challenges or weaknesses in parliament. We entered the institution without experience. Those who knew better about the functioning of the institution dominated the proceedings.
Because we are a liberation movement, deployed comrades cannot take decisions on their feet, and this affects the turn-around time. We have consistently highlighted the weakness with respect to members' support.
Does the fact that ministers are also members of the National Assembly weaken or strengthen discussion? On this aspect, various models operate in different countries. We have chosen a particular route that we think is consistent with the historical evolution of our country.
People-driven change
The ANC's 2006 January 8th Statement reiterates the need for a people-driven process of change. The constitution enjoins parliament to facilitate public involvement.
Parliament manages its affairs through committees, and the committees report to the houses. Committees are structured and function to promote multi-party participatory democracy. By and large, the output of committees is good.
However, public participation in committees is impacted upon by the broader social and economic realities. Large sections of our communities are poor and live in underdeveloped areas, and a minority is well off and owns the means of livelihood. This determines which section can, in a sustainable way, consistently take part in committee public hearings and wield influence over the general course of events.
Fully realising the demand that 'the people shall govern' is a complex process that requires parliament to find creative ways to reach out to the people. While we still have some extensive ground to cover, work is being done. The adoption of the new vision and mission by parliament is a significant step in the right direction. Through this new vision, parliament aims to 'build an effective people's parliament that is responsive to the needs of the people and that is driven by the ideal of realising a better quality of life for all the people of South Africa'.
The constitution, in section 77, provides for the enactment of legislation to create a procedure for an amendment by parliament of money Bills. There is a view that the absence of this legislation makes it difficult for study groups to interrogate the budget. There is currently no way of contributing to the process of aligning allocations to make them finely consistent with the objectives of our programme of transformation and resolutions without rejecting the whole budget vote. Given its ramifications, this is not a realistic option.
Issues around the amendment of the budget need further engagement. However, within the context of our historical challenges, there is no doubt about the splendid and consistent work that parliament has done. The new challenges that are today assuming significance are a result of parliament having delivered on its previous tasks.
In debating the question of whether parliament is weak or not, we cannot allow ourselves to commit the mistake of elevating subjective weaknesses to the level of objective weaknesses. Our vision of parliament is correct, as is our ideological platform.
Our commitment to take the work of parliament to a higher level will inevitably require us to consider resource issues. For instance, as we debate the issue of amending the budget, so will the issue of whether committees have the requisite skills support to execute this function. What of our study groups? The importance of proper political management of ANC caucus as a motive force of transformation in the context of parliament as a site of struggle cannot be overemphasised. We need to strengthen the collective and inclusive approach to tasks.
In the light of the challenges, we need to pursue the idea of ensuring every Member of Parliament is provided with research and administrative support.
We also need to focus on retraining and upgrading the skills of the current human resource support.
Constituency offices need to be equipped and used as hubs to bridge the information technology and communication divide.
For its part, the ANC caucus also needs to continue the effort to strengthen the programme of political discussion. Our ability to make an effective contribution to the transformation effort depends on proper legislative interrogation and oversight rather than glorified posturing in the chamber.
The debate about the state and role of our parliament is most welcome.
Earlier this year parliament held a joint sitting to debate the report from the parliamentary process on the African Peer Review Mechanism. These debates provide a mirror and parliament should not be insulated from them.
We need to strengthen parliament's overall capacity to lift the quality of oversight and constituency work. This contribution to the national project should help to place our country on a higher trajectory, which will itself bring new challenges.
Mbulelo Goniwe is the ANC Chief Whip in the National Assembly. The views expressed in this document do not represent the views of the ANC Caucus.
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