PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES
OVERSIGHT – A CRITICAL ROLE FOR COMMITTEES
Parliamentary committees play a leading role in scrutinizing South Africa’s executive, checking both in committee rooms in Cape Town and on the ground across the country to determine if the government is delivering on its policies, say the senior Members in each House responsible for committees.
Mr Cedric Frolick, MP, and Mr R.J. Tau, MP, in Cape Town. Mr Frolick is the House Chairperson for Committees and Oversight in the National Assembly and Mr Tau is the House Chairperson for Committees and Institutional Support in the National Council of Provinces. An African National Congress MP since 1999, Mr Frolick was a Whip and is a former teacher. Mr Tau first joined the NCOP in 2004. He is a former civil servant and senior ANC education official.
• To hold the government answer- able for how taxpayers’ money is spent and • To make government operations more transparent and increase public trust in the government.
Mr Cedric Frolick, MP
The South African Parliament operates on the fundamental conviction that the true test of democracy is the extent to which it can ensure that the government remains answerable to the people. This requires consistent oversight (or monitoring) of government actions to ensure that the government meets the targets it sets itself. The South African constitution
declares that Parliament has the power to conduct oversight of all
36 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue One - South Africa Mr R.J. Tau, MP
organs of state, including those at provincial and local government level. Parliament is therefore able to ensure that service delivery takes place so that all citizens can live a better quality of life. The need for oversight is clear:
• To detect and prevent abuse, • To prevent illegal and unconsti- tutional conduct on the part of the government, • To protect the rights and liberties of citizens,
There are many different oversight mechanisms, for example the budget. By publicly announcing his or her budget projections for the next financial year the Minister of Finance – and each government department – can be held accountable for the way taxpayers’ money is spent. Another effective way in which Parliament holds the government to account is its weekly sessions in which questions are addressed direct to the President, the Deputy President and cabinet Ministers.
Constituency work affords
Parliament the greatest opportunity to conduct individual oversight because it provides the closest form of interaction between Members and the public. Members have a
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