Hon Deputy Speaker, the DA will not be supporting the Parliamentary budget on the grounds that it fails to capture what the institution needs in order to carry out its functions in the most effective manner possible and improve its democratic services to the people of South Africa.
The budget of Parliament, in fact, measures Parliament's performance on indicators that give no sense as to the success with which the institution is actually performing. For example, it tells us the number of Bills passed per year, but not the number of Bills repealed or challenged in court. It tells us the number of questions put to the executive, but not the number of questions that remain outstanding.
As a consequence, on the one hand, the budget either underinvests or, in certain areas provides no investment in key areas that would support the improvements in Parliament's internal functioning. On the other hand, the budget overinvests in initiating and organising events and programmes external to Parliament's core constitutional mandate. The DA cannot support a budget that so inaccurately captures the two roles of this Parliament and what it actually needs in order for it to be the Parliament for the people. I thank you.