Role of the Central Government in the Financing of Public Institutions
Instead, we elect people’s representatives by casting our votes in a general election (representative democracy). They represent us, the people, in Parliament and make decisions about laws and other matters on our behalf. The South African Parliament consists of two houses – the National Assembly and the Senate (now called the National Council of Provinces) – which meet for a number of months each year.
This is called a parliamentary session. Daily meetings of the two houses are called sittings. After the session, Parliament goes into recess. This time is used by the members of Parliament to report back to the people they represent on what has happened in Parliament, to encourage them to become involved in the processes of Parliament and to listen to their concerns within their communities. This contact members have with communities enables them to look after the interests of people mare effectively. The National Assembly is the largest house and has 400 members, elected by the voters during a general election.
The National Council of Provinces (NCOP), has 90 members, nominated by the parties represented in the provincial Legislatures. Each province is represented by 10 senators. Although the NCOP has fewer members and some of its powers are different, it is equal in status to the National Assembly.
By virtue of its composition, the NCOP plays a key role when it comes to provincial matters such as their powers and boundaries. In the crucial area of allocating money to the government, the National Assembly, as the directly elected house, has the final say.
At current (2009 elections), Parliament is comprised of 45% women, making it third in the global rankings of women in Parliament behind Rwanda and Sweden.
It might be easy to talk of the three levels of government: the Legislative, Administrative and the Executive at central government level, but in reality it is very difficult to separate the legislative, administrative and executive bodies in local government. In central government The Legislature is Parliament, and the executive arm of the government is called the cabinet. Seldom does local government have separate houses and in most cases the same representative or official fulfils more than one role.
The Power and Authority Relationship
The word democracy comes from two Greek words, demos and kratos: demos (nation) + kratos (power)
The Meaning of Power This is the ability of an individual, interest group or the government to exert influence over another. However Marais (1989:282) argues that legislators should not use the word power, but that the correct term is authority.
The Meaning of Authority Very often power and authority are regarded as meaning the same thing; in the political arena, especially, they do not, however. Authority is really the power given to representatives and government to act on behalf of their voters.
The government may use its authority to do something; hopefully this authority is with the consent of its voters. In this way the authority itself is supported by the power given to the government by the voters themselves.
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