South Africa Is Facing Many Challenges But This Too Shall Pass

The former Deputy President of the Republic of South Africa, Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, has called on stakeholders within the South African legislative sector to do what they can and focus on resolving the many challenges facing South Africa. Dr Mlambo-Ngcuka was speaking at the opening of the 2023 Legislative Sector Development Seminar at the Sun City Convention Centre in North West Province.

The theme of the seminar is“Building a capable and strong legislative sector that realises open, responsive and accountable government and aims to reflect on progress made towards achieving the goals of developing an effective oversight tool as well as putting measures in place for an effective and efficient 7th parliamentary term”.

This capacity-building initiative is held every two years to facilitate interaction and an exchange of ideas within the legislative sector. This conference is also significant as it is the first one since the Covid-19 pandemic. Best practice models will be analysed to see how Parliament and the nine provincial legislatures can better respond to the challenges currently facing South Africa.

“We have to be frank that some things are not going well but this too shall pass. What I ask is that you hold your peace, do your work in your area of responsibility and focus on having a legislative sector that has empathy and fairness in the implementation of its work,” Dr Mlambo Ngcuka said.

The former Deputy President also suggested that if the sector is to achieve its intended objectives, it must adopt a SMART system approach.“We must be specific and clear on what we want to achieve, have tools to measure the impact of the laws we make. The goals we make must be achievable so that we don't sell false dreams to the people. Also, the work of legislatures must be relevant to the challenges faced by many South Africans. We should not just be busy for appearance. And, finally, the work of legislatures must be timebound so that we are able to assess if we are reaching our targets,” Dr Mlambo-Ngcuka suggested.

She also highlighted the importance of a strong skills base if the sector is to achieve its goals.“A strong legislature requires critical skills that will enhance the work it does. Some of the skills required include strong legislation drafting skills, policy analysis and skilled people that will enhance the constitutional imperative of public consultation. These skills are also important in that where there is a gap in the quality of public representatives, they will be able to intervene and assist,” Dr Mlambo-Ngcuka emphasised.

In closing, the former Deputy President suggested that the adoption of this smart framework will result in a legislative sector that is able to utilise the tool of oversight effectively to overcome many of the social ills facing the country.

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