Chairperson, we are all agreed that Parliament and, by extension, the National Assembly, has to serve as the grand inquisition of the nation. It is not enough, though, to proclaim this a people's Parliament as we often do. It is more important to look at how we ensure that this, indeed, is not only perceived as such by the people of our country, but that it comes across as such in the work that it does. How do we ensure that topical issues of great moment serve before this Assembly to enhance its relevance to the nation? If we don't, very often people simply assume that we meet here merely to shout at one another rather than to engage in the current discourse.
Yet, it is in the media where political issues play out. It is the media that seems to direct where political focus should fall. There is nothing wrong with that being the case, provided we, as an Assembly, do not become irrelevant in the process. Often when Ministers spring into action to address a political problem, it is because it has caught the attention of the media. Therefore we must, at all times, ask ourselves whether this Assembly is indeed the grand inquisition of the nation, and where it is not, to state what steps we should take to ensure that we move forward. The ruling on the remarks by the hon George in this House leads us to finding the House wanting in this regard.
As the principle of responsible government prevails in South Africa, the executive, as it has been said by speakers before me, has to be fully accountable to us as parliamentarians. We all agree that even though the Constitution in various sections, including section 58(2), provides that we play the whole role of oversight, we have not been able to play that role more meaningfully, in part because of some of the responses that have been coming from the Ministers. We also need to accept that shielding the executive from accountability fools nobody. The way in which government fails the people comes out into the open one way or another. How much better it would be for the image of Parliament if the public perceived that Parliament was succeeding in holding government accountable.
Since the advent of this Parliament, it has been mooted in several quarters, including by yourself, hon Speaker, last year, that interpellations should be brought back. This would certainly be a move in the right direction. Unfortunately, I am told that former Speaker Ginwala was once fond of observing that trying to implement something in Parliament is like pushing an elephant. I hope that you, the Speaker, will be more like a skilled mahout and coax the elephant to move on its own. We want to see interpellations being introduced as mooted by you last year.
South Africans are more likely to trust our courts than Parliament because Parliament never gives clear judgement on issues and is sometimes perceived to be always hedging when there are big challenges to be faced. This we seek to change because we must not make the courts the arbiter on policy- formulation, but rather the arbiter in areas of implementation which we may be unsure of.
There is also the question of secondary legislation, otherwise known as regulation. In a constitutional democracy, it is imperative for all legislation, including secondary legislation, to conform fully with the Constitution. It is quite conceivable, in my view, that the plethora of regulations which government has been implementing is a hangover from the past. If they were to be brought before this House, we would find most of them wanting, and/or they would not be able to stand up to the scrutiny of our Constitution, let alone the Constitutional Court. This is a huge task, but one which cannot, in good conscience, be left on the sideline. It is something which I believe we must be able to focus on.
In addition to this, we need to be able to look at how we could ensure that we define a better role for Parliament in secondary legislation. While it may be very important that legislation in some areas provides for regulations to be in place, in some other areas, that regulation goes beyond merely regulating and becomes a second piece of legislation in itself. I think that needs to be addressed.
The same goes for legislation. I agree with the hon Bapela that it is no longer the main focus. Something that I think we must also try and work on, however, is the way in which legislation is introduced. Sometimes it is brought in in a rush, unrealistic timeframes are given, it is passed, and then it is brought back for amendments to be made in Parliament, even before that legislation has been put in place.