INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT


INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT FOR SOUTH AFRICA’S DEMOCRACY


South Africa’s Institutions Supporting Democracy help Parliament in its oversight role and generally guard the spirit and principles of the constitution. They act on behalf of those who struggle to access other dispute resolution mechanisms, they strengthen democracy and they report to Parliament, says the officer responsible for their parliamentary connection.


Adv. Nonkosi Cetywayo in Cape Town.


Ms Cetywayo has been the Head of the National Assembly’s Office on Institutions Supporting Democracy since it was established in late 2010. A lawyer, she was an assistant law adviser at the Constitutional Assembly and has been a parliamentary researcher and a senior officer in provincial and national ministries and in the Offices of the Speaker and the Deputy President.


Adv. Nonkosi Cetywayo


When South Africa’s biggest-ever public event, its first democratic election, took place in 1994, the Electoral Commission was tasked with arranging, running and ensuring that the electoral process stood up to close local and international scrutiny. As the first “Chapter 9” institution to be created in terms of the constitution, everyone declared its efforts a huge success.


72 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue One - South Africa


In terms of Chapter 9 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, the six Institutions Supporting Democracy (ISDs) that have been created by the state to strengthen democracy are, in alphabetical order: the Auditor- General (AG); the Commission for Gender Equality; the Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious


and Linguistic Communities; the Electoral Commission; the Public Protector, and the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC).


These ISDs were created or were in an advanced stage even before the passing of the final constitution in 1996. Individually and collectively they have made a great impact in terms of ensuring a progressively maturing


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