By Adv Johan Kruger, Director: Centre for Constitutional Rights
The Economic Freedom Fighters (the EFF) are causing an uproar inside and outside the hallowed hallways of Parliament.
Their apparent disregard for parliamentary customs and traditions have other political parties hot under the collar, while commentators stand divided on whether to ...
By Trevor Manuel
In the week Parliament fell into a chaos of #paybackthemoney, it’s a good idea to read this former minister’s ideas on how to fix it (note: it’s not about heckling, eviction or chanting)
While we have myriad democratic institutions that all play a role in supporting good ...
President Javcob Zuma’s report on the security upgrades for his private residence in Nkandla has been tabled in Parliament, appearing in the Announcements, Tablings and Committee Reports (ATC) today. The report has been tabled after the President missed the 30-day deadline declared by the ANC’s chief whip’s office on ...
In his Police Budget Vote address in Parliament on Monday, Minister of Police Nkosinathi Nhleko, said that policing cannot exist without community support and participation, and that policing needs to continue to be subjected to public scrutiny to keep them accountable.
“The NDP [National Development Plan] envisions a state with ...
Last week the Standing Committee on Finance adopted the Financial Management of Parliament Bill. The National Council of Provinces (NCOP) had passed an amendment to the Bill, which was referred back to the NA, but the bill had lapsed with the ending of the fourth Parliament but was revived in ...
By Raymond Suttner.
Protests are an everyday feature of life in the new South Africa. This practical, lived experience raises questions that need examination. Does voting realise its promise, and does the system work for the electorate?
“The People Shall Govern!”- The Freedom Charter.
Images and reports of people taking ...
The Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC) is campaigning to raise money to fund litigation support to Alide Dasnois, the former editor of the Cape Times, for unfair dismissal. Dasnois has been dismissed as an employee of Independent Newspapers and was removed from her post as editor of the Cape Times ...
Last week the Rules Committee created a sub committee to discuss clustering / reducing the number of portfolio committees as a means of coping with oversight over an enlarged Executive. They met yesterday and voted to maintain the status quo i.e. that Portfolio Committees (PCs) would continue to mirror cabinet ...
In many democratic societies, questions of accountability and efficiency are constantly being raised. As the new government begins its term and members of cabinet are appointed, people may wonder: What is the relationship between Parliament and the Cabinet? Does that relationship benefit or harm my rights? The People’s Assembly is ...
Ebrahim Fakir
With South Africa’s 2014 elections done and dusted, it’s an appropriate time to consider serious electoral reform or, at the bare minimum, to introduce a base threshold of support that parties must receive if the pure proportional representation system is to be retained. It is almost intolerable that ...