Madam Deputy Speaker, hon Speaker, hon Deputy President, the ACDP notes that South Africa has catapulted from seventeenth to third place in the global ranking of women in parliament, following the April election this year. Congratulations go to political parties, I guess, and to the people of South Africa within those parties on recognising the potential of our South African women.
Parliament has committed itself to being an effective people's Parliament that is responsive to the needs of the people and driven by the ideal of realising a better quality of life for all the people of South Africa.
Sadly, this budget allocation could have a negative impact on Parliament's ability to strengthen its oversight function and improve service delivery. For example, 15 additional content specialists for committees and five additional legal advisers for constitutional and legal affairs should be employed by March 2010. Either these appointments have not been considered or Parliament will be cutting back somewhere else. Should we be concerned, hon Speaker?
Things do not look particularly promising for international relations or multilingual communication in Parliament either. Have we taken into consideration the 40 additional language practitioners needed and, if so, what has had to go?
Price hikes on lunches at Parliament are, I guess, a good start. Then there is the financial support for the political parties represented in Parliament and constituency offices around the country. Here we see a significant decrease. Given that the constituency offices constitute the closest level of interaction between members and the public and provide the best platform from which members can get to grips with the issues confronting their constituents, this has to be a blow for the people's Parliament. On this subject: Why are we seeing constituency time disappearing? Parliament must not be allowed to hijack MPs who should be in their constituencies more often.
MPs are hugely constrained when parties receive budgets totally inadequate for paying market-related salaries. The ACDP, for example, has no funds for a researcher and has to look to media personnel with no experience and then lose them if they want to earn a decent salary. Secretaries and admin staff are expected to work for love alone. How fair is that? This certainly is not professional and does not serve the public.
Then there is speaking time. Now, the ANC Chief Whip and Mr Frolick have outdone themselves trying to accommodate opposition parties, but we still have to suffer the agony of listening to the ANC try to fill up their exorbitant amount of time, repeating the same information over and over. [Interjections.] If we are bored silly - and I've been watching you, and you were bored - I can then only imagine how the public feels.
The image of Parliament is at stake here, as always. With indiscretions of officials and MPs to deal with and the erroneous perception that recess means holidays for MPs, we really need plenary sittings to inspire the public.
The ACDP wishes you well, hon Speaker, hon Deputy Speaker, in this very important office and will be supporting this budget. Thank you. [Applause.]