We will stand up to Motshekga so that we can get Parliament working for all

Note to editors: The following statement was distributed at a press conference held in Parliament today by DA Parliamentary Leader,Lindiwe Mazibuko MP, DA Chief Whip, Watty Watson MP and DA Deputy Chief Whip, Sandy Kalyan MP. The full 2012 Parliamentary Review document can be downloaded here. 

2012 has been an eventful year for Parliament. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has worked hard to restore Parliament to its rightful place as the centre of robust debate and policy development on important issues affecting South Africa. However, these efforts have been met with resistance from the ANC in Parliament under the leadership of Dr Mathole Motshekga. There is no doubt that if the ANC had a Chief Whip who both understood and respected the Constitution and Parliament much more would have been achieved in the 2012 session. 

The DA has achieved a number of unprecedented milestones despite the many challenges presented by the ANC in Parliament. These include:

• Securing an urgent parliamentary debate on the Youth Wage Subsidy;
• Securing an urgent condolence debate on the Marikana tragedy, following the events which unfolded in August this year;
• Ensuring the consideration of and debate of the National Development Plan in Parliament, following our request to the Speaker of the National Assembly;
• Eliciting SCOPA's assistance for the Public Protector's investigation into the Nkandlagate scandal with an initial parliamentary investigation;
• Using parliamentary questions effectively to elicit information and carry out our constitutionally mandated role of oversight. This was effectively demonstrated by the questions posed to President Zuma on Nkandlagate.
• The unprecedented tabling of a motion of no confidence in President Zuma, with eight opposition parties represented in the National Assembly.

The DA continues to fight against the mediocrity of the ANC in Parliament by making use of every single parliamentary mechanism available to us to ensure that the executive is effectively held to account. 

Parliamentary questions:

In 2012 all parties had a total of 31 opportunities to submit written questions in the National Assembly. Between its 71 members, the DA and ID submitted 2605 (75%) of the total 3451 written questions published in the NA.

In 2012 all parties had a total of 32 opportunities to submit written questions in the National Council of Provinces. Between its 11 NCOP Members the DA and ID submitted 427 (64%) of the total 667 written questions published in the NCOP.

However, too many still questions remain unanswered, or are not fully answered by Ministers. Last year, during our parliamentary review for 2011, I undertook to meet the Leader of Government Business, Kgalema Motlanthe, to discuss the matter of unanswered questions. When this meeting took place in February this year, he promised to take this issue up with urgency.

While there has been some improvement, as of 12 December 2012, 218 questions remain unanswered. Those questions which are not answered by the 14th will lapse. These include, for example, a number of key questions to the President and Minister of Defence and Military Veterans on the ‘Nkandlagate' scandal. By doing so, an important mechanism available to elected representatives is being severely undermined by the executive.

The worst offending departments were:

• Social Development - 54 unanswered questions
• Communications - 28 unanswered questions
• Public Works - 20 unanswered questions
• Sport and Recreation - 13 unanswered questions
• Police - 10 unanswered questions

It is worth noting that both the Minister in the Presidency for Performance, Monitoring and Evaluation (9 unanswered questions) and the President (8 unanswered questions) are amongst the top 10 worst performing departments.

It is unacceptable and an insult to accountability for any single question to remain unanswered. It is for this reason that the DA Chief Whip has written to the Speaker on 9 separate occasions requesting assistance in obtaining responses from Ministers to parliamentary questions or to raise our concerns about the quality of responses. We will not let up on the pressure until we get every question answered, fully and on time.

Committee Work:

During the 2012 session members of the DA and ID sent 70 letters to committee Chairpersons requesting various forms of action to be taken in respect of key issues facing the country. This was done together with an excellent and enthusiastic participation in committees. 

This was in addition to some 90 letters sent to Ministers over the course of this annual parliamentary session. Some letters requested a formal meeting with the Minister in respect of an urgent issue; other letters request information to be provided in the form of a report, while some requested the Minister to appear before parliament or the committee. 

Motions: 

During 2012 the DA and ID have tabled 159 motions for debate. However, a minute 6% of the National Assembly's total sitting hours were spent debating these motions. Indeed, only 5 of the 437 topics proposed by all members of parliament were debated this annual session; two of those were on issues put forward by the DA.

This is in stark contrast to the 6 hours and 35 minutes that were spent debating motions of condolence, almost 19 hours spent on ceremonial or celebratory debates, and 4 hours spent debating topics initiated by outside organisations such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union.

MPs should be incensed by this misuse and misallocation of time in the National Assembly, which undermines their roles and responsibilities as elected representatives. The DA will fight tirelessly in 2013 to ensure that significantly more time is spent debating members' motions.

Debates of Public Importance:

The DA has written to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Max Sisulu, requesting a debate of public importance on the following eight issues: 

• South Africa's high youth unemployment (Youth Wage Subsidy)
• The textbook crisis in Limpopo (this was requested twice)
• Strike action at Lonmin mine leading to the death of mineworkers
• State of education in the country
• Mdluli saga
• The impact of labour legislation on job creation
• Nkandlagate 

Of all 8 requests for these debates of public importance, none were granted in terms of rule 103 of the National Assembly. The Speaker thus failed to assert himself as the leader of the National Assembly, seemingly bowing to pressure from his own political party and the ANC Chief Whip, Dr Motshekga. This was evident when I requested that the House debates, as matter of public importance, the Nkandlagate scandal involving the head of state, President Zuma. Mr Sisulu and his Deputy, Nomaindia Mfeketo have too often hidden behind questionable precedent instead of showing leadership and making a decision in favour of Parliament and democracy.

This was most clearly demonstrated when the DA, as mandated by 8 oppositions parties, tabled a motion of no-confidence in Jacob Zuma as President of the Republic of South Africa. The Speaker refused to table the motion in the Programming committee, in the face of Dr Motshekga's ridiculous opposition, on the basis that no consensus was reached. 

This was an opportune moment for the Speaker to show that he will not be dictated to by Dr Motshekga and grant the motion. His refusal to not table that motion created a parliamentary crisis which has now ended up in the Constitutional Court. 

Nevertheless, our fight to make Parliament relevant does not end here. We will continue to challenge the ANC's mediocrity and get Parliament working again. To do this the DA will push hard for Parliament to:

• Prioritise topical debates tabled by MPs over ceremonial and celebratory topics;
•  Increase the number of sitting days and sitting hours, to ensure that the number of hours that the National Assembly sits is contingent on the number of issues needing to be dealt with. The number of legislative debates that are scheduled, or debates on issues, should not be limited by a custom of having the House rise by a certain time;
• Establish an open and effective system for selecting motions for debate. Currently the ANC makes the final decision on all motions to be debated;
• Establish a standing committee to oversee the effective functioning of committees and to establish guidelines for best practices;
• Establish a review into the legitimacy of Sectoral Parliaments; their constitution, role and effectiveness; 
• Establish a Portfolio Committee on the Presidency, to ensure that Parliament exercises oversight over the entire executive;
• Push for more meetings of the Parliamentary Oversight Authority so that it becomes more active in making decisions on the functioning of Parliament

I can also announce today that the DA has begun working on a detailed bill to provide for electoral reform, on the basis of the our established electoral reform policy. The DA will submit this bill using the new provisions provided for in the Ambrosini V Speaker of the National Assembly decision. An announcement in this regard can be expected early next year.

But all of this hard work will have little effect if Parliament is held back by poor and ineffective leadership. The ANC Chief Whip, Dr Mathole Motshekga, should therefore step down in the face of his poor performance in the Chief Whips Forum, his total disrespect for the rules during National Assembly sittings, ignoring the Constitution following the tabling of the motion of no confidence, and his abuse of Parliament for petty political gains. 

The Speaker of the National Assembly and his Deputy must stand up to what is clear internal ANC maneouvering by the ANC Chief Whip, and show the brave leadership Parliament and the Constitution demands of their offices. If they do so, they will have the full support of the DA. 

At the beginning of 2012, I committed myself and my team in Parliament to making this institution relevant and a place of vibrant debates about important issues affecting South Africans. We have achieved a great deal in the face of poor leadership in the ANC. But much more needs to be done. We therefore recommit today to taking this fight into 2013. We will not rest until we restore Parliament to the strength and relevance that it enjoyed under the Presidency of Nelson Mandela.

Statement issued by Lindiwe Mazibuko MP, DA Parliamentary Leader, December 12 2012

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