The Premier of Mpumalanga, Mr Makwetla, indicated that the People's Assembly provided ordinary people with an opportunity to interact with Parliament and express their views about poverty, service delivery and other challenges confronting them. For Parliament, the event was an opportunity to reach out and engage with communities from all walks of life in order to develop and formulate solutions to address poverty and development challenges facing the country. Furthermore, by holding the event annually, Parliament was strengthening its oversight role and enhancing accountability by government on development and service delivery commitments.