Hon Chairperson, hon members, ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure and honour to be afforded this opportunity to take part in this debate on Budget Vote No 2 - Parliament. As members are obviously aware, the aims of this budget are to provide for the support services required by Parliament to fulfil its constitutional functions; to assist political parties represented in Parliament to secure administrative support and service constituencies; and to provide Members of Parliament with the necessary facilities.
In terms of Parliaments 2007-08 to 2013-14 strategic objectives, its role and ultimate objective is to represent the people of South Africa and ensure government by the people under the Constitution, as well as to represent the provinces in the national sphere of government. It achieves this by passing legislation, overseeing government action, facilitating public involvement, participating and overseeing co-operative government and participating in international relations.
The budget, therefore, covers five priorities or programmes, which are: Administration as Programme 1; Legislation and Oversight as Programme 2; Public and International Participation as Programme 3; Members' Facilities and Associated Services as Programme 4. Through these programmes the budget takes care of input flowing from the Whippery, party caucuses, chairpersons forums, quarterly consultative forums and, of course, the strategic goals of the ruling party. As the Chairman of the Council has already mentioned, much has been achieved over time, but more still needs to be done to complete our mission. My focus today will be on Programmes 2, and 3, which are Legislation and Oversight, and Public and International Participation.
Hon Chairperson, the 51st national conference of the ANC noted the need for legislatures to exercise their oversight responsibilities more comprehensively by holding government departments and organs of state accountable for both financial and nonfinancial performance.
The congress further resolved to support the need for all legislatures to improve their capacity to exercise their constitutional oversight role by providing them with adequate resources and building capacity for Members of Parliament.
Hon Chairperson, since 2004 Parliament has increasingly focused on improving its oversight capacity to ensure sound governance and effective service delivery by the executive. Over the past decade Parliament has developed a number of programmes and projects to educate citizens about the role and processes of Parliament and has undertaken initiatives to bring Parliament closer to citizens.
Whilst we appreciate all these noble achievements, we are worried that we seem to be slowing down, if not going back, instead of picking up the pace.
It is of great concern to note that despite our resolve to do things better and faster, the programme of Parliament still makes it difficult for members to interact and consult fully with ordinary people on the ground. Public hearings, as a platform for public participation, have become forums where only those who can afford to come to Cape Town are privileged to participate in the shaping of this country. The number of people visiting our Parliament is gradually diminishing, and this is a worrying factor.
To support my point, the number of visitors to Parliament has declined from 27 106 in 2007-08 to 18 253 in 2010-11. The number of oversight visits by committees has declined from 50 in 2007-08 to 44 in 2010-11. The number of debates for public consideration of issues per year has declined from 132 in 2007-08 to 104 in 2010-11.
If we are serious about deepening democracy and making sure that our poor, the people, have a say in their government, then this should change. We need to dispel the notion raised opportunistically by our opponents that Parliament only knows and interacts with people during the election period. We characterised this Parliament as an activist Parliament and we should become exactly that - activists.
The 7% allocated to public and international participation is too little and should be reviewed upwards. In the same breath, Parliament should review the funding model for constituency work as it is one of the areas that remain under-resourced. The current model does not take care of the reality that Members of Parliament are subjected to a lot of trouble in and around their constituencies and yet the cost thereof is borne by members from their own pockets. So, we are in a way subsidising Parliament to do our work, and that is what we are saying, hon Chairperson, should be seriously reviewed. Parliament could use unspent funds which were not returned to the National Revenue Fund to improve on the area of constituency work.
Hon Chairperson, this is a Parliament in which all should work together to weave the threads that will see us celebrating a nation which is nonracial, nonsexist and democratic; a nation dedicated to pushing back the frontiers of poverty. With less criticism and without playing the blaming game; with less cheap politicking and working together more; and without claiming any easy victories, this Parliament has done well and can do more and better. We should have one voice in calling for more resources to build members' capacity. We should, as Members of Parliament, support one another and take charge, as representatives of the people, and lead. The need to release enabling resources for Members of Parliament to fully execute their roles and responsibilities should not be a subject of ongoing future considerations, but a matter that needs to be addressed now with vigour and a sense of urgency.
By comparison, and, of course, with comparing parliaments, there is no denying that our MPs remain the most under-resourced in the world. The support members are getting is not equal to the task they do; hence our call for the speedy implementation of the budget office as well as the provision of operational facilities to all Members of Parliament. This should include the fast-tracking of the implementation of the Third Parliament's decisions on some of these matters, specifically building MPs' residences closer to Parliament, so as to free members from tiring and disabling transport and travelling time. More time should be dedicated to servicing the nation than travelling and being forced to an early night's sleep, as is the case currently. As the ANC, we support the Budget Vote. I thank you. [Applause.]