institutional audit comprehensive report on the current ...sals.gov.za/research/baseline.pdf ·...
TRANSCRIPT
Institutional Audit
COMPREHENSIVE REPORT ON THE CURRENT STATE OF SOUTH AFRICAN
LEGISLATIVE INSTITUTIONS (BASELINE STUDY)
2008
i
Table of Contents CONTENTS PAGE Preface iii Executive summary iv Acronyms, abbreviations and definitions vii Acknowledgments viii 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Contextual background 1 1.2 Research scope 4 1.3 Documentary sources consulted 5 2. METHODOLOGY 6 2.1 Data collection 6 2.2 Data analysis 7 2.3 Limitations and challenges encountered 8 3. FINDINGS 10 3.1. Deepening and entrenching people-centred democracy 11
in South Africa
3.1.1 Public participation 13 3.2. Strengthening capacity to engage, participate in and 27 oversee international relations
3.2.1 Office of the Secretary, strategic management and 28 international relations
3.3 Strengthening capacity in law-making and oversight 53
functions of legislatures
3.3.1 Legal services 56 3.3.2 Hansard and language services 67 3.3.3 Committee services 73 3.3.4 House proceedings 91 3.3.5 Research, information and library services 96
3.4 Building an efficient and effective legislative sector 104
3.4.1 Human resources (HR) 105 3.4.2 Information and communication technology (ICT) 118 3.4.3 Finance, provisioning and supply chain management 129 3.4.4 Communication services 145 3.4.5 security and protocol services 158 3.4.6 Office of the Speaker 165 3.4.7 Document management and general services 170 3.4.8 National Council of Provinces (NCOP) 181
ii
4. CONCLUSION 183 5. RECOMMENDATIONS 186 6. SOURCE MATERIAL 198 7. ANNEXURES
• Overview of budgets (analysis of budget statements) • Sets of statistical data analysis
iii
PREFACE This particular research report falls into the category of important parliamentary research projects undertaken thus far by the South African legislative sector itself. Researchers and information officers who come from different provinces and work in various South African legislatures, bring together a variety of skills and expertise in presenting a comprehensive report on the current state of functional areas across South African legislative institutions. This is a research project that makes the sector look within itself as gaps, weaknesses and challenges are highlighted, not so much in a negative manner, but in a constructive manner that seeks to find ways and strategies to assist the sector to become stronger, more effective and more efficient. The recommendations provided in each section under a functional area are key, practical and provide ways in which the gaps and weaknesses identified can be addressed. Another milestone achieved by this research project is the collaborative work of forums of the South African legislative sector, in particular, the Speakers’ Forum of South Africa (SFSA), the South African Legislatures’ Secretaries’ Association (SALSA), and the Knowledge Management Forum (KMF). This collaboration has assisted in the further development of the skills and capacity of researchers and information officers who undertook to conduct this project. The nature and scope of the work entailed in this report would more often than not have been commissioned to consultants external to the legislative sector; however, the sector opted to commission the study to internal legislative researchers and information officers given their understanding of the unique nature and environment of legislative institutions. This is the first of their output as a team, and, it is hoped that the sector will make maximum use of their skills and expertise for future sector projects. I am very grateful to the Speakers of the legislatures, my colleagues, the Secretaries to legislatures, as well as to the task team for all the support and dedication given to this project. This is an important document that will help make the South African legislative sector stronger, more effective and more efficient.
Rolson Moropa Nelspruit, Mpumalanga
August 2008
iv
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Since January 2008, the Knowledge Management Forum task team has been working on the institutional baseline audit intended to determine the current practice or status quo per legislative institution across all functional areas, and to compile a research report that includes an analysis of, and recommendations on how to address, the needs and gaps as identified, in order to achieve the benchmark for the sector. A comprehensive survey instrument in the form of a questionnaire that has qualitative and quantitative features was developed to gather specific information that had to be collected. This information included purpose and mandate; objectives and functions; skills and vacancies; policies, systems and procedures; facilities, equipment and information communication technology (ICT); human resources; as well as financial resources on functional areas as linked to the four sector policy outcomes. A total of 171 responses were received from respondents based at nine legislative institutions. Currently, South African legislative institutions are autonomous and different. Their autonomy and difference affects whatever comparative analysis and assessment can be made concerning them. Overall though, findings of this institutional baseline audit confirm the finding of the European Commission assessment study, that the ten legislative institutions generally do possess the capacity to deliver on their mandate. However, this institutional baseline audit further reveals that the South African legislative institutions are on a poor level, and to a large degree show gaps, with regard to objectives and functions; policies, systems and procedures; facilities and equipment; human resources; as well as financial resources for functional areas. Essentially this means benchmarks within the sector are rare. It also means that the sector’s role of fulfilling constitutional mandates of law-making, oversight and public participation is weak. This has the potential to undermine the good intentions of the legislative sector as set out in the sector policy and strategic framework. For sectoral benchmarking, international legislative institutions should be targeted through a separate comprehensive research project that would focus solely on benchmarking, using findings of this audit report, as well as those of the European Commission study, as a foundation. Recommendations have been supplied under each functional area as well as under a chapter on comprehensive recommendations on how to address the gaps, weaknesses and challenges as identified, in order to achieve the benchmark for the sector. In order to strengthen the sector’s role of fulfilling the constitutional mandates of law-making, oversight and public participation, our recommendation is that functional areas in all legislative institutions be strengthened, capacitated, adequately resourced, and enabled to perform optimally in providing support services effectively and efficiently to committees and members. In particular, specific gaps, weaknesses and challenges that cut across all functional areas in terms of objectives and functions; policies, systems and procedures; facilities, equipment and ICT; human and financial resources, must be addressed as a matter of priority. These include, but are not limited to, the following specific recommendations:
v
Objectives and functions
• Facilitate proper and common understanding of the difference between the objectives and functions of functional areas at institutional levels.
• Ensure that the objectives and functions of institutional functional areas
are aligned to the sector policy and strategic framework in order to ensure a common administrative approach to supporting members and committees in fulfilling their constitutional mandates.
Policies, systems and procedures
• Develop, at the sector level, functional area-specific policies with implementation guidelines that legislative institutions can adapt.
• Consider establishing a sectoral policy development institute that would
draft, develop, monitor and evaluate policy related matters within the sector.
• Invest in latest digital systems that would enhance the work and methods
used by support staff in providing services to their principals. Facilities and equipment
• Consider acquiring more office property in order to accommodate the growing numbers of support staff in legislative institutions.
• Review office spacing and consider an option of having more closed
offices than open plan, in order to enhance the working environment; improve staff morale and to obtain improved productivity.
• Provide legislative support staff with the latest tools of trade appropriate
for each functional area, in order to enable support staff to serve their principals effectively and optimally.
• Review budget allocations for information communication technology and
consider investing more funds in this field. Human resources
• Fill all vacant posts. • Employ more support staff.
• Invest in skills development and capacity building programmes
appropriate for each functional area.
• Review current staff remunerations.
• Consider staff promotions and career development.
• Develop and implement staff retention strategies. Financial resources
• Review the budget allocation system.
vi
• Adopt a standard model for the funding of legislative institutions that will ensure that legislative institutions are adequately funded to fulfil their constitutional mandates.
vii
ACRONYMS, ABBREVIATIONS AND DEFINITIONS ACRONYMS and ABBREVIATIONS AO Accounting Officer ACP-EUPA African, Carribean, Pacific-European Union Parliamentary
Assembly BBBEE Borad-based Black Economic Empowerment CCTV Closed Circuit Television CPA Commonwealth Parliamentary Association ECPL Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature EU European Union EULSP European Union Legislative Support Programme EUPSP European Union Parliamentary Support Programme GPL Gauteng Provincial Legislature HR Human Resources ICT Information Communication Technology IPU Inter-Parliamentary Union IR International Relations KM Knowledge Management KMF Knowledge Management Forum KPAs Key Performance Areas KPIs Key Performance Indicators KZN KwaZulu-Natal KZNL KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature LPL Limpopo Provincial Legislature MFMA Municipal Finance Management Act ML Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature MPLs Members of the Provincial Legislature MTEF Medium Term Expenditure Framework NA National Assembly NCOP National Council of Provinces NCPL Northern Cape Provincial Legislature NP National Parliament NWPL North West Provincial Legislature PAIA Promotion of Access to Information Act PC Personal Computer PMFA Public Finance Management Act PAP Pan-African Parliament PPP Public Participation and Petitions PR Public Relations SADCPF Southern African Development Community Parliamentary
Forum SALSA South African Legislatures Secretaries Association SAPS South African Police Service SCM Supply Chain Management SFSA Speakers’ Forum of South Africa SPSP Sector Policy Support Programme SPSS Statistical Package for the Social Sciences WCPP Western Cape Provincial Parliament DEFINITIONS
viii
AUDIT : Institutional audit COMMITTEES : Parliamentary ad hoc/standing/ portfolio committees GAUTENG : Gauteng Provincial Legislature INSTITUTION(S) : Legislative institutions LEGISLATURES : Provincial legislatures LIMPOPO : Limpopo Provincial Legislature MEMBERS : Members of Parliament (MPs)/
members of provincial legislatures (MPLs) MPUMALANGA : Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature NATIONAL PARLIAMENT :: National Parliament of the Republic of
South Africa NORTHERN CAPE : Northern Cape Provincial Legislature NORTH WEST : North West Provincial Legislature SECTOR : Legislative sector of South Africa
ix
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report would not have been possible without the contributions of a number of people and legislative institutions. Acknowledgement is hereby given to the Speakers’ Forum of South Africa (SFSA), and the South African Legislatures’ Secretaries’ Association (SALSA), for commissioning this institutional audit research project to the Knowledge Management Forum (KMF). The SALSA, with all its convening Secretaries as well as Secretaries to legislatures are appreciated for the support they have rendered throughout the research process. The Knowledge Management Forum was given a challenging task of conducting the institutional audit. Recognition and appreciation is hereby given to all the task team members of the forum, as well as to all the forum’s permanent delegates based at various legislatures for all the assistance rendered in administering the survey instrument and ensuring that responses reached the European Union Legislature Support Programme (EULSP) offices. In particular, the following people are thanked: Dr T.S. Farisani (political sponsor for the institutional audit and Speaker of the Limpopo Provincial Legislature); Mr Rolson Moropa (convenor of the KMF and Secretary to the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature); Ms Ntombiyomzi Ngubo (researcher from the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature); Ms Jacqui Liberty (researcher from the Western Cape Provincial Parliament); Mr Dai Mcclymont (information officer from the Gauteng Provincial Legislature); Mr Kgabo Masehela (researcher from the Limpopo Provincial Legislature); Ms Wendy Leeb (researcher from the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Legislature), and Mr Phethuvuyo Gagai (researcher from the National Parliament of the Republic of South Africa). All Secretaries to legislatures, together with their management teams, have ensured that different divisions, departments and units within the legislatures participated in the institutional audit. The task team acknowledges this support. The task team would like to extend its appreciation to all respondents from various legislatures, who took the time to respond to and submit the questionnaires. It is these responses that present the status quo of South African legislative institutions and the challenges facing the legislative sector in the country. The Legislature Support Programme of the European Union (EULSP) is much appreciated for all the financial, logistical and managerial support it has rendered to the task team. Without this support task team members based at various legislatures would have had difficulty meeting as a team, and progress for the research process would have been hampered. In particular, the task team extends its thanks to Ms Siwe Mangcu and Ms Renée Scott.
1
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. Contextual background
With the advent of the democratic dispensation in 1994, South Africa saw the integration
of all the bantustans/homelands and other administrations into the Parliament of the
Republic of South Africa and nine provincial legislatures. The South African Parliament
consists of two Houses, namely the National Assembly (NA) and the National Council of
Provinces (NCOP). These two houses together form the National Parliament (NP) and
participate in the legislative process as set out in the Constitution. The National
Assembly is elected by the people to ensure government by the people. It provides a
national forum for public consideration of issues from the electorate. Parliament is the
legislative authority of South Africa and has the power to make laws for the country in
accordance with Sections 43(a) and 44 of the Constitution. In terms of the Constitution of
the Republic of South Africa, hereafter referred to as the Constitution, South Africa is
divided into nine provinces, each with its own independent legislature, Premier and
Executive Council.
The legislative authority of the nine provinces is vested in the provincial legislature of
each province. The provincial legislatures, hereafter referred to as the legislatures,
derive their mandate from Chapter 6 of the Constitution. The size of the various
provincial legislatures varies between 30 and 80 members of Parliament. Parliament
and the legislatures, through established organs and processes, such as standing and
portfolio committees, questions and members’ statements, exercise an oversight
function over the executive arm of government.
The key challenge facing the legislatures is to build effective institutions to enable them
to deliver on the vision of the Constitution. In discharging their mandate, these organs of
state are expected to firstly, advance the principles of cooperative governance and
secondly, cooperate with each other in mutual trust and good faith. Parliament and the
nine legislatures have already begun to cooperate and engage in a number of structures
on a co-coordinated basis. These structures include the Speaker’s Forum of South
Africa (SFSA). The SFSA is a voluntary association that has full capacity as a separate
legal person distinct from its members. It is composed of the Speaker and Deputy
Speaker of the National Assembly; chairperson and deputy chairperson of the National
2
Council of Provinces; and Speakers and Deputy Speakers of all nine provincial
legislatures. The main objectives of the SFSA are to develop a common understanding
from shared experiences, from which a legislative sector evokes; to coordinate work in
areas of common interest; and to develop and manage sector-wide programmes.
In line with the above constitutional principles, Parliament and legislatures in South
Africa have identified a need to be a single sector so that similar conditions are created
across Parliament and legislatures. Establishing a sector means developing minimum
standards for the legislatures that will improve operations; corporate governance; similar
benefits for staff members; similar policies; and improved efficiency in terms of sectoral
service delivery that includes legislation, oversight, facilitation of public participation, and
the promotion of international relations, as well as funding.
With respect to funding, for instance, the European Union (EU) has, since 1996, been
providing financial assistance to Parliament and provincial legislatures through two
programmes, the European Union Parliamentary Support Programme (EUPSP) and the
European Union Legislature Support Programme (EULSP). While these two funding
programmes were designed to supplement the efforts of the National Parliament and the
provincial legislatures1, a uniform approach to funding current activities such as law-
making, public participation in the decision-making processes, improved equality on
gender and disability in the legislature, skills development in legislatures and the
improvement of infrastructure and communication technology in legislatures2 has,
however, not been found.
It is on the basis of the above that building a sector is critically important and will
strengthen autonomous legislative institutions so that they achieve excellence and
effectively fulfil their critical role in representing the public and providing support
services. In order to achieve this mission, it is important that minimum standards are
established to which all should adhere. It is anticipated that from these standards a
benchmark will be formulated to maintain agreed-upon standards.
1 Sector Policy and Strategic Framework: South Africa Legislative Sector, November 2007 2Ibid. p. 5
3
The SFSA has for some time now, been working towards building and formalising the
legislative sector. This effort seeks to strengthen the sector’s position and status in
relation to the other branches of the state. Parallel to these endeavours, the renewal of
the European Union funding for the legislative sector needed to be considered. In this
regard, the SFSA opted for the Sector Policy Support Programme (SPSP) with budget
support, instead of the current project support system. This SPSP process entails a
number of requirements to be met in order for the sector to qualify for budget support
funding from the European Union. One such requirement was for a sector policy to be
put in place.
The SFSA has since developed a draft sectoral policy and strategic framework.
Subsequent to the adoption of these documents, a sectoral strategy implementation plan
had to be developed. To present a realistic implementation plan, it became necessary to
have a picture of the current situation in the sector pertaining to all aspects of legislative
business. This would in turn assist the sector in monitoring and evaluating its progress
from the current situation towards an improved future situation. The sector subsequently
considered the prospects of commissioning a baseline study to be concluded within the
legislative sector in order to assist with strategic planning to improve the sector. Such a
baseline study would also satisfy one of the SPSP process requirements.
In 2007, strategic sessions were held where a best practice document was developed
for functional areas within the sector. Institutions were requested to complete a table on
institutional status relating to these areas. The SPSP task team however decided that a
more comprehensive and scientific institutional audit was required in order to have an
informed basis from which to determine needs and priorities for the legislative sector. It
was decided that internal capacity be used to drive the development of an audit
instrument which would take the form of a survey questionnaire and follow up interviews.
A task team comprising of researchers from the Knowledge Management Forum (KMF),
was subsequently tasked to conduct the institutional audit.
1.2. Research scope
The task team was commissioned to conduct an institutional audit that would:
1. Determine the current practice or status quo of functional areas across
legislative institutions;
4
2. Compile a research report that includes an analysis of and recommendations
on how to address the gaps, weaknesses and challenges identified in order to
achieve the benchmark for the sector.
Specific information that had to be audited included:
• purpose or mandate
• policies, systems and procedures
• facilities, equipment and information communication technology (ICT)
• human resources
• financial resources.
All specific information to be audited had to cover functional areas as linked to the four
sector policy outcomes of deepening and entrenching people-centred democracy in
South Africa; strengthening capacity to engage, participate in and oversee international
relations; strengthening capacity in law-making and oversight; as well as building an
efficient and effective legislative sector.
In keeping with the above research scope, this institutional audit provides the sector with
the following:
• A comprehensive and objective research report that includes an analysis of
the current practice or status quo of functional areas across legislative
institutions
• Comprehensive recommendations on how to address the gaps, weaknesses
and challenges identified in order to achieve the benchmark for the sector.
Central to the report is how the internal systems should be capacitated to
ensure maximum support to members and committees.
1.3. Documentary sources consulted
Secondary source material consulted targeted, among other documents, the Constitution
of the Republic of South Africa; the draft sector policy and strategic framework
document; the report from the seven assessment study conducted by the EU; as well as
various documents of legislative institutions where these were supplied, which included
budget statements; annual reports; annual performance plans; audit reports, and
organograms.
5
To conclude therefore, this report provides an analysis of research findings on the
current situation, or status quo, of functional areas across legislative institutions, as well
as recommendations that the sector could consider for sector benchmarks.
6
2. METHODOLOGY
2.1. Data collection Data for this research study was collected by means of a questionnaire that featured
both quantitative and qualitative questions. A combined method of collecting quantitative
and qualitative data was thus used. For quantitative data, structured questions allowing
for nominal responses were designed. For qualitative data each question allowed for
open-ended responses from the respondents.
The questionnaire was divided into two parts: the generic and functional-area-specific
parts. The generic part broadly covered three areas in line with the terms of reference of
the study and these were firstly, the performance of legislatures in fulfilling their
mandates; secondly, performance challenges of legislatures in fulfilling their mandates;
and thirdly, the impact of performance challenges on legislatures in fulfilling their
mandates. The underlying variables on the audit across all the generic areas were the
unit objectives and functions; policies, systems and procedures; facilities, equipment and
information technology; human resources; financial resources; as well as skills, training,
qualifications and experience.
The second part of the questionnaire, the specific part, was developed to solicit
additional information from specific units of legislatures, which were the office of the
Secretary; Committee Services; Legal Services; and Human Resources. The
questionnaire was distributed to all ten legislative institutions and was administered
internally by a KMF permanent delegate of each legislature. Copies of the questionnaire
were made and distributed to targeted groups, who mostly included programme
managers and unit managers/supervisors3.
Completed questionnaires were submitted through KMF delegates of legislatures, to the
Cape Town-based EULSP offices that served as the central submission point for all
completed questionnaires. The rationale behind this was to consider and adhere to the
ethical consideration of the security and confidentiality of data.
3 Legislatures vary even in their structures and the terminology used. While some legislatures use the
terminology of “programmes”, “programme managers”, “unit managers”, and “supervisors”, others,
however, use “directorates”, “directors”, “deputy directors”, and yet others use terminology such as
“executive managers”.
7
Documentary data on legislative institutions was collected with the main sources
including budget statements; organisational structures4; audit reports; annual reports;
lists and briefs of committees; rules of all nine legislatures; the sector policy and
strategic framework document developed by the SALSA; as well as the research study
that was conducted by the European Commission in assessing South African
legislatures. The documentary data was used for providing additional information as well
as validating the data.
2.2. Data analysis
Data was analysed qualitatively through the methods of comparative and content
analyses. For the qualitative data, analysis was conducted for each functional area.
Analytical summary reports of functional areas were located under specific themes,
following the guidelines of the sector policy outcomes. For validating the additional
specific information on human resources and legal services, data was analysed using
the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) which is considered to be one of
the best statistical tool for analysing large amounts of quantitative data. Data for the two
areas was coded, and basic frequency and descriptive analyses were produced.
• The actual number of replies.
DISTRIBUTION OF QUESTIONNAIRES
NATIONAL PARLIAMENT 19 GAUTENG 18 KWAZULU-NATAL 22 EASTERN CAPE 23 NORTHERN CAPE 19 WESTERN CAPE 18 NORTH WEST 15 FREE STATE 3 LIMPOPO 12 MPUMALANGA 27 TOTAL 177
4 These are commonly referred to as “organograms”.
8
2.3. Limitations and challenges of the study
Time constraints
Due to time constraints placed upon researchers, a pilot study could not be undertaken.
This resulted in the development of a survey instrument that reflected weaknesses when
it came to the analysis of data.
Researchers, dispersed legislatures, and hectic legislative programmes
The task team was made up of researchers based at various legislatures. Researchers
had to fit in the institutional audit research process amidst their institutional work and
responsibilities. This had a negative impact on the research output as no proper
devoted time and focus could be placed on the audit work. It is the view of the task team
that for future work on sectoral research projects, legislative researchers should be
seconded so as to allow proper focus on the research process.
Research capacity and methodological inclinations
The few researchers who comprised the task team demonstrated varied research
capacity. While some were highly skilled and technical, others were less so. The
research methodological inclinations or preferences and competencies of the research
task team also varied. Some were used to and comfortable with quantitative
methodology, others with qualitative. The styles of writing of researchers also posed a
challenge, as they differed, and common guidelines had to be drawn up for
compromises. This affects report-writing to a great extent, and this current report
reflects this.
Rate and nature of responses
Generally, the response rate as well as the nature of responses from legislative
institutions was poor. Even from the few responses received, the majority of the
respondents had not filled in the questionnaire to the satisfaction of the researchers.
Autonomy and differences of legislative institutions
Legislatures differ in many ways. For example, the number of members, the number of
committees, the number of staff they employ, and the rules that govern legislatures all
differ from institution to institution. With all these differences in mind it is difficult to
9
analyse institutions across the sector. In the course of coding, capturing and analysing
the data it also became very apparent that legislatures had different units falling under
divisions/departments. Thus in one legislature, for example, communications might fall
under the Secretary, in another under proceedings and yet another in the Speaker’s
office. These differences in legislative institutions made the analyses difficult.
Despite the limitations and challenges of the research study, the task team was
however, able to use whatever information was supplied by legislative institutions, to
analyse and provide a comprehensive summary of the current situation in legislative
institutions, together with recommendations that the sector can use to improve and
develop itself and legislative institutions.
3. FINDINGS
This chapter is divided into four themes which are essentially the sector policy strategic
outcomes. Under each theme are sections that are the functional areas audited.
The chapter begins with the first theme, “deepening and entrenching people-centred
democracy in South Africa”. Only one section is located under this theme, and it is on
public participation.
The second theme is “strengthening capacity to engage, participate in, and oversee
international relations”. Located under this theme is the section on office of the
Secretary and strategic management.
The third theme is “strengthening capacity in law-making and oversight functions of
legislatures”. Five sections are located under this theme and they are on legal services,
Hansard and language services, committee services, House proceedings, and research,
information and library services.
The fourth and last theme is “building an efficient and effective legislative sector”.
located under this theme are eight sections on various functional areas. These are
human resources; information, communication and technology; finance and provisioning;
10
communication services; security and protocol; office of the Speaker; document
management and general services; as well as National Council of Provinces.
Each theme offers a concluding summary on the section(s) located under it.
3.1. Deepening and entrenching people-centred democracy in South Africa Contextual background
Located under this theme is the section on the functional area of public participation.
Public participation forms part of the constitutional powers and functions of legislatures.
Public participation is there to facilitate the relationship between elected representatives
and the general public who elected the representatives. Principles of democracy require
that elected representatives make policies and laws on behalf of those who elected
them. The relationship between the two parties requires constant and continuous
dialogue and consultation.
For the legislative environment in South Africa, constant and continuous dialogue and
consultation between the two parties is however affected and challenged by historical
realities of discrimination and inequalities. In 1994, when South Africa became
democratic, the legislative sector inherited an unrepresentative and largely executive-
dominated sector. The sector has since then been challenged to transform its
environment to be in line with constitutional principles. Part of this transformation
agenda has entailed mainstreaming representation and access of the views and realities
of people and communities historically marginalised by race, gender, disability and
poverty. The South African public is diverse in terms of language, literacy levels and
poverty levels. This reality has posed a challenge to the sector’s transformation agenda
goal as it has hampered information dissemination by the sector and information access
by the general public.
To date the sector has however, attempted to address some transformative challenges
through a number of strategies. These strategies include public access to committee
meetings and plenaries; notices of new Bills in parliamentary papers and newspapers;
invitations for written and oral comments; people’s assemblies; as well as the
development of a national strategy for public participation. The sector is still committed
to improving public participation and ensuring an improved constant and continuous
11
dialogue and consultation between elected representatives and the public. To
demonstrate this commitment the sector has embarked on an institutional audit to
determine the status quo of functional areas across the ten legislative institutions in
South Africa. This will assist the sector in knowing what gaps and weaknesses exist,
and what strategies can then be developed to improve the sector.
In keeping with this commitment, the section that follows looks at the status quo of the
functional area, public participation, in terms of its objectives and functions, its policies,
systems and procedures, facilities and equipment, human resources, as well as its
financial resources. The section concludes with recommendations that the legislative
sector can consider in improving public participation and thereby deepening democracy
in South Africa.
12
Section 1: Public participation
1. Objectives and functions This section describes and analyses the data submitted by eight respondents on public
participation and petitions (PPP). One legislature submitted two responses – one
response from the Senior Manager: Public Affairs responsible for the division
Parliamentary Operations, and the other from the Manager: Public Participation.
Because these two responses were complementary, the task team (TT) decided to take
both inputs into account. The seven legislatures that responded were the Eastern Cape,
Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, the Northern Cape, North West and the Western
Cape.
PPP at various legislatures functions under different divisions/departments:
• In the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature (ECPL), PPP functions under
procedural support services;
• At Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) and Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature
(ML) under public affairs;
• At the Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP) under public participation
and outreach, and
• At the North West Provincial Legislature (NWPL) PPP is located under
parliamentary operations.
This in effect, has bearing on the objectives and functions of a PPP unit. For example,
Mpumalanga’s list of functions includes media relations, graphic design, public relations
and marketing, besides the actual core public participation functions of public education,
petitions and conducting campaigns to enhance legislative awareness.
Most legislatures indicated their unit’s objective as facilitating and increasing public
involvement and participation. Most respondents, however did not explain what they
meant by “public participation” thus preventing further analysis in terms of the question.
The grey area between public participation (PPP) and public relations (PR), is
highlighted, as PPP generates a number of PR related functions. The KwaZulu-Natal
13
legislature (KZNL) also listed the facilitation of exhibitions during imbizo’s, the Royal
Agricultural Show and the official opening of the legislature as specific functions of their
PPP unit. Mpumalanga indicated the content of newsletters (internal and external),
content of the website, open days and exhibitions among others, as some of their
functions. WCPP indicated events management such as the official opening of the
legislature as a function. The majority of respondents regarded implementation of
strategy and support as their core function. Gauteng included new strategic projects for
the year 2008/09, which largely have to do with rural outreach, social inclusion of people
living with disabilities, as well as local governance petitions campaigns. One respondent
indicated leadership and management responsibilities. Few respondents aligned the
unit’s objectives to institutional strategies and constitutional mandate.
2. Policies, systems and procedures Policies, systems and processes are formal guidelines that inform/direct operations.
KZNL was the only respondent that had an approved public participation strategy.
Gauteng mentioned a public participation framework that was used as a guide, but which
had not been documented or packaged for reference purposes. Assumptions cannot be
made about whether there are any or no adopted policies in this regard.
Three legislatures indicated pending policies:
• The Northern Cape listed a public education policy;
• North West a Petitions Bill; and
• The Western Cape a public participation strategy and communication strategy.
Only five respondents indicated the need for specific policies, systems and procedures
in order for their unit to perform optimally. Their responses, however, suggested specific
organisational constraints and raise questions about the organisational effectiveness in
the absence of these.
Policies, systems and procedures needed included the following:
• A language policy where KZNL mentioned a request to the NCOP to ensure that
Bills are also translated into isiZulu before being presented to civil society at
public hearings;
14
• KZNL also identified the lack of uniform guidelines and procedures for conducting
public hearings and the petitions process, effective petitions referrals, petitions
tracking, record keeping and archiving systems for petitions;
• Mpumalanga specifically mentioned a media policy and a corporate branding
policy;
• The Northern Cape identified a public participation policy, and a petitions system
for their unit to function optimally;
• An annual parliamentary programme in order for the PPP unit to be proactive and
plan ahead;
• The lack of proper monitoring and evaluation systems was seen as a gap in so
far as the impact of the programmes and interventions are not measured;
• Two respondents referred to the human resources issues where one mentioned
a need for a succession policy, while another needed a promotion policy to deal
with low staff morale;
• Two other respondents identified the need for a more user-friendly procurement
policy and procurement service, improved and user-friendly IT systems, a
stakeholder database, and easy public access to information;
• Poor decision-making processes were cited as a hindrance to service delivery;
• Electronic management system for the curio shop was also mentioned as a need
by one institution.
3. Facilities and equipment 3.1. Equipment: Hardware and software The question on facilities and equipment mostly elicited an expressed need for basic
tools of the trade which were reported as being non-existent as can be seen from the
following table: In the absence of statistical information about the specific number of
employees per functional area it is not possible to assess the provision of equipment.
15
LEG
ISLA
TU
RE
Deskto
ps
Lapto
ps
Pri
nte
rs
Phones
Cell p
hone
3G
-card
Fax
machin
e
Photo
copie
r
Eas
tern
Cap
e 4
Non
e N
one
5 5
Non
e 4
1
Gau
teng
N
o st
ats
supp
lied
Kw
a Z
ulu-
Nat
al
8 6
2 6
6 6
2 3
Mpu
mal
ang
a N
one
3 1
6 3
1 N
one
2
Nor
ther
n C
ape
2 5
1 3
4 N
one
1 1
Nor
th W
est
Non
e 5
6 2
3 1
Non
e N
one
Wes
tern
Cap
e 3
1 3
2 1
2
1
16
From the table above, Mpumalanga reported that there were no desktop PCs in their
unit, but three laptops. However, this information conflicts with the number of telephones
stated as three, and cell phones as six. Does this in effect mean that there are three staff
members with six telephones, or six staff members with three telephones?
The Northern Cape also indicated two desktops and five laptops, three telephones and
four cell phones. These statistics are confusing such that one could conclude that the
four cell phones and even the extra laptops are in a pool and can be accessed by
officials through a booking system. Most respondents mentioned digital cameras as
specialised hardware used by their unit.
A respondent from Mpumalanga, mentioned an Apple PowerBook, video camera, editing
video machine and specialised computers as specialised hardware used by their PPP
unit. However, one needs to keep in mind that PPP in Mpumalanga is part of the public
affairs section and the need for this type of specialised equipment here makes good
sense. KZNL mentioned a request for a Braille machine to translate documents for the
blind. Other equipment mentioned should be seen as essentials and standard,
especially printers, photocopiers, fax machines, scanners, and shredders.
4. Human resources
4.1. Vacant posts
Five respondents indicated that they did not have any vacant posts in their respective
units. Vacant posts identified included:
• a senior manager,
• two PPP officers,
• one media production officer,
• one petitions officer,
• one petitions manager,
• one communication manager, and
• one communication officer.
5. Financial resources
17
Six respondents mentioned
• budgetary constraints,
• budget not aligned to the strategic plan,
• a budget available for a scaled down PPP infrastructure and programme.
6. Challenges and impact
6.1. Challenges
6.1.1. Strategic challenges
• One respondent indicated the lack of institutional memory.
• Seven respondents indicated a lack of systems and processes.
• As a challenge, North West cited the “changing programme of the legislature”
because it had a negative impact on planning and implementation of projects and
events.
• Other challenges mentioned by respondents included inconsistency in the
decision-making process; delay in approval and signing of terms of reference
when appointing outside service providers; the long and delayed procurement
process; and a lack of computerised systems and processes.
• WCPP mentioned a challenge of having half the budget and half the staff needed
to deliver on the constitutional mandates.
The aforementioned challenges serve as constraints that should be addressed in a
strategic manner and necessary interventions should be implemented.
6.1.2. Operational challenges
Operational challenges included the following:
• A staffing shortage, staff vacancies and high staff turn-over;
• A lack of presentation and facilitation skills, project management skills, report
writing skills, coordination and mobilisation skills as well as a lack of
understanding of the political dynamics of the job are challenges mentioned by
most PPP units;
• An absence of a stakeholder database, which hampers reaching as many
diverse groups and individuals for attending PPP events as needed;
18
• KZN, Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape indicated the limited budget which
was not aligned to the strategic plan as a hindering factor in service delivery;
• Outdated software and basic computers which are slow and not geared to
provide a more advanced service such as brochure development and graphic
design;
• The incapacity of personal computers and the server in sending large documents
posed challenges when expected to deliver drafts for posters and forward
pictures and video clips;
• A lack of necessary IT-skills among PPP staff;
• A lack of office space (sharing of offices);
• A lack of equipment such as camcorders and/or digital cameras for use during
public hearings and site visits;
• The allocation of certain resources to management only, for example work
subsidised cell phones and 3G-cards, with Gauteng as the only legislature that
provides every staff member with a Blackberry.
Other more general challenges mentioned were the noise factor as a result of proximity
of the office to the kitchen, copying machine or corridor; air conditioning that was
centrally controlled; and a lack of parking at the legislature for public transport, such as
buses.
6.2. Impact
The general lack of policies, systems, processes, equipment and facilities at most
legislatures impacts negatively on service delivery. One of the pending policies at KZNL
is the petitions policy resulting in the respondent identifying the petitions process as
moving at a snail’s pace. A lack of systems and procedures also adversely affect
performance, as in the Northern Cape Provincial Legislature (NCPL).
One PPP unit manager stated that this compromises the credibility of the legislature.
Some respondents identified the silo mentality of employees as having a major impact
on service delivery. A number of PPP units are more events driven.
The lack of a well-researched and representative electronic database and proper
planning skills result in few members of civil society attending PPP events and
19
workshops. One respondent mentioned that poor service delivery will project a bad
international impression.
The impact of the lack of specific human resources (HR) policies and processes was
listed as:
• the incapacity to conclude key performance indicators (KPIs);
• overworked staff who are unable to achieve targets in their key performance
areas (KPAs);
• staff with a low morale;
• unnecessary delay in developing and implementing the PPP strategy;
• inability to conclude projected programmes.
Responses referring to the impact that the office environment has on productivity were
subjective, as many respondents preferred a closed office to the open-plan design,
because of a need for privacy and confidentiality. Respondents also indicated that they
were more productive in a closed office space as there was not much disturbance or
incidental unsolicited visits.
7. Conclusion
From the information gathered it is clear that empowering civil society is an important
objective at all the legislatures represented in this study. Because all legislatures are
subjected to the same Constitution, it is imperative that consensus is reached regarding
the PPP parameters. Challenges to be addressed include the following:
• Whether the PPP unit (public participation and access directorate) qualifies to be
a unique unit;
• Whether public participation, including petitions, outreach and education should
function in the same unit with PR and communications.
8. Recommendations
• Integration of functions is necessary. Should PPP remain a unique unit it should
be able to draw on the expertise and support of the PR staff, guidance and
support from the committees section and assure buy-in from supply chain
management (SCM) and procedural services. A guiding question in this regard
20
is: Are legislative institutions duplicating work or are they expecting staff to be
multi-skilled?
• The formulation of a PPP strategy should be approached as a combined PPP
Forum effort where the skills and expertise of PPP officials reside. The PPP
Forum could be tasked with the project of developing a generic PPP policy that
can be timeously distributed to legislatures for amendment to their own needs
and circumstances.
• With regard to resource constraints, legislatures could address the manner in
which budgets are allocated and consider the role of the Speaker in accessing
supplementary funding from the provincial treasury. Such funding could be used
to fill vacancies, acquire the appropriate tools of trade and offer skilled personnel
a good market-related salary, all of which could result in improved staff morale.
• Finding staff with reasonable legislative experience is a challenge for most
legislatures. In-service training could be explored and a body similar to the
SETAs, responsible for in-service training of legislative staff members, could be
established.
• Gauteng’s new strategic projects listed below are worth emulating by other
legislatures and they include:
o Rural outreach strategy: Mobile office to reach out to all Gauteng citizens
(an initiative most provinces should take on board in an effort to reach the
“back of the beyond”)
o Social inclusion of people living with disabilities (comprehensive
approach)
o Strengthening local government on the petitions system (petitions
campaign).
• With knowledge management (KM), growing in prominence at most
organisations, legislatures could embark on a process of implementing KM in
order to prevent further loss of institutional memory.
• The sector should look into a standard list of equipment (tools of trade) and
facilities for all staff in the sector who have to deliver on the same KPAs.
• A Braille machine to translate documents for the blind could be considered by
legislatures.
• The acquisition of sign language interpreters to be outsourced at need.
• Procurement processes should be streamlined
21
• HR should give serious attention to the development and implementation of a:
o succession policy, and
o promotion policy to deal with low staff morale and related issues.
• Through the PPP Forum, the sector should develop uniform guidelines and
procedures for:
o conducting public hearings,
o the petitions process, effective petitions referrals, petitions tracking,
record keeping and archiving systems, and basically a document
management system for petitions.
Theme conclusion and recommendations
The section above has provided an analytical report on the functional area of public
participation. It has presented what the institutional audit revealed about the status quo
of this functional area in terms of its objectives and functions; policies, systems and
procedures; facilities and equipment; human resources; as well as financial resources.
In order to improve public participation and thus strengthen the sector policy strategic
outcome of deepening and entrenching people-centred democracy in South Africa, the
following recommendations are made:
Public participation
• Gauteng’s new strategic projects, listed below, could be emulated by other
legislatures as this is a possible benchmark in the field of public participation
aimed at reaching the greater public:
o Rural outreach strategy: Mobile office to reach out to all Gauteng citizens;
o Social inclusion of people living with disabilities (comprehensive
approach);
o Strengthening local government on the petitions system (petitions
campaign).
• The gap at corporate/HR level regarding succession policies, promotion policies
and staff retention policies should be addressed as a matter of urgency by
22
tasking the HR Forum to develop these policies in collaboration with the SALSA
and all other forums.
• The gap at IT level regarding the lack of user-friendly IT systems should be
addressed so as to facilitate easy public access to legislative institution
information. The IT Forum can be tasked to develop an IT system that would
benefit the sector as a whole. the Gauteng Legislature could be explored in this
regard.
• The gap at finance and supply chain management level regarding the lack of
user-friendly procurement policy and procurement services should be looked into
seriously. The CFO Forum should be tasked with the project of looking at a
mechanism of adapting Treasury SCM policy and regulations to suit the unique
environment of the legislative sector.
• The gap with regard to a Braille machine could mean that the sector is not yet
reaching historically marginalised people and communities. The request by
KZNL for a Braille machine to translate documents for the blind can be
considered by legislatures.
• The PPP Forum can be mandated by the SALSA to develop a comprehensive
PPP policy/strategy that can be adapted by legislatures.
3.2. Strengthening capacity to engage, participate in and oversee international relations
This is the second theme of Chapter 3. It includes the functional area office of the
Secretary with aspects of strategic management and international relations. The sector
policy notes the progress South Africa has made in becoming a member of the
international community. This progress impacts on the South African legislative sector in
that it is forced to take note of and participate in regional, continental and global
multilateral organisations and associations.
The sector currently does participate in some structures at these levels. In the region,
participation by the sector can be seen in the Southern African Development Community
23
Parliamentary Forum (SADCPF). In the continent the sector participates in the
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA – Africa Region); as well as in the Pan-
African Parliament (PAP). At a global level, the South African legislative sector
participates in the (CPA – International); the African Carribean Pacific – European Union
Parliamentary Assembly (ACP – EUPA); as well as in the Inter-Parliamentary Union
(IPU)5.
Matters of internal relations in most legislative institutions, particularly at provincial
levels, reside in the office of the Secretary. This section looks at the office of the
Secretary as a functional area. It provides an analytical report on the current situation,
or status quo, of this functional area in terms of its objectives and functions; policies,
systems and procedures; facilities and equipment; human resources; as well as financial
resources. It concludes with recommendations that the legislative sector can consider
for strengthening capacity to engage and participate in, and oversee international
relations.
Section 1: Office of the Secretary, strategic management and international relations This section broadly covers the office of the Secretary and, briefly, some aspects that
reside in this office, namely:
A. Office of the Secretary
B. Powers delegated to the Secretary by the Speaker and formal procedure
C. Structure to oversee the legislature
D. Policy development process
E. Budget allocation process
F. Internal audit/Internal Audit Committee
G. Public administration systems used in legislatures
H. International relations.
A. Office of the Secretary
5 Sector Policy and Strategic Framework (p. 8)
24
1. Objectives and functions
The Secretary is the accounting officer (AO) to the legislature as prescribed by the
Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), and should ensure that the legislature
achieves its constitutional mandate. This chapter provides the findings from an
institutional audit with regard to ten respondents.
Seven responses were received from the following legislatures: the Eastern Cape, Free
State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, the Western Cape and National
Parliament. Most respondents indicated the provision of strategic leadership and
direction and management as their core objective. Answers elicited also include (i)
provide a service to political parties and members in the legislature, (ii) build, manage
and facilitate relationship between the legislature and its stakeholders, (iii) facilitate
good corporate governance, (iv) ensure compliance with applicable legislation, (v) the
maintenance of an effective, efficient and accessible legislature, (vi) to build and manage
operational efficiency by ensuring that the business processes are aligned to priorities,
the implementation plans, monitoring and reporting and evaluation systems, (vii)
exercise and ensure budgetary control.
Many respondents perceived objectives and functions to be interchangeable. Besides
listing strategy planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, human capital
development and overall financial management, some Secretaries found it necessary to
mention among other things:
(i) To ensure the development, facilitation and monitoring of transformation and
equity programmes;
(ii) Implementation of decisions of office bearers, Legislature Services Board,
CPA, SALSA;
(iii) Compliance of cooperate governance;
(iv) Enabling members;
(v) To ensure provision of public media services for the legislature;
(vi) Monitoring the implementation of the approved annual performance and
operational plan;
(vii) Providing the necessary administrative support towards the realisation of the
functions of oversight, law making and public participation;
25
(viii) Liaise with other legislatures including international legislatures;
(ix) Establish a culture of performance.
26
2. P
olicie
s, syste
ms a
nd p
rocedure
s
Adopte
d p
olicie
s
Policie
s –
adopte
d
Easte
rn C
ape
Gaute
ng
Kw
aZulu
-Nata
l M
pum
ala
nga
Weste
rn C
ape
Sex
ual h
aras
smen
t
Con
stitu
ency
pol
icy
Act
ing
allo
wan
ce
Rec
yclin
g o
f pa
per
polic
y A
ctin
g al
low
ance
pol
icy
Pol
icy
on g
ifts,
don
atio
ns a
nd
spon
sors
hip
R
ecru
itmen
t po
licy
P
roba
tion
polic
y Le
ave
polic
y B
ursa
ry p
olic
y B
erea
vem
ent
polic
y
Sup
ply
chai
n m
anag
emen
t po
licy
E
ntra
nce
and
exit
polic
y
√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
√ √
Non
e lis
ted
Per
form
ance
man
agem
ent
polic
y T
rain
ing
and
dev
elop
men
t po
licy
Rec
ruitm
ent
and
sele
ctio
n po
licy
E
mpl
oyee
ass
ista
nce
polic
y
S&
T p
olic
y
Rew
ard
and
reco
gni
tion
Le
ave
polic
y
Dis
cipl
inar
y po
licy
Tra
inin
g p
olic
y
√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Inte
rnat
iona
l stu
dy t
our
polic
y
Ass
et m
anag
emen
t F
raud
pre
vent
ion
S
uppl
y ch
ain
man
agem
ent
polic
y C
ell p
hone
pol
icy
√ √ √ √ √
Gen
der
polic
y D
isab
ility
pol
icy
√ √
27
Tra
inin
g p
olic
y √
The
maj
ority
of r
espo
nden
ts v
iew
ed a
ll po
licie
s as
the
res
pons
ibili
ty o
f th
e A
O. T
he fo
llow
ing
tabl
e ill
ustr
ates
pen
ding
pol
icie
s in
the
leg
isla
ture
s.
2.2
. P
endin
g p
olicie
s
Policie
s –
pendin
g
Easte
rn C
ape
Gaute
ng
Kw
aZulu
-Nata
l M
pum
ala
nga
Weste
rn C
ape
IT p
olic
y S
&T
P
lann
ing
and
mon
itorin
g an
d ev
alua
tion
Process to
review all
relevant policies
√ √ √
Reviewing all
policies in line
with new Act
Par
enta
l pol
icy
Ber
eave
men
t po
licy
for
mem
bers
P
olic
y on
fin
anci
al a
nd
adm
inis
trat
ive
Ass
ista
nce
to p
oliti
cal
part
ies
Eq
uity
pol
icy
Labo
ur r
elat
ions
In
tern
atio
nal r
elat
ions
and
pro
toco
l
√ √ √ √
√
√
28
Pending policies The pending policies indicates that there is a process under way to review all policies in
the legislatures. An initiative by the Eastern Cape’s Legislature to address a parental
policy and a bereavement policy for members is noted as consistent with the HR
management philosophy. In an attempt to avoid duplication, policies should be shared.
2.3. Systems and processes
Data indicate that most of the systems (workflow) and other operational procedures have
not been formally documented. This requires consideration because the legislative
environment is such a unique organisation that systems and procedures should be
documented. Proper knowledge management systems (including document
management/content management) should be put in place to strengthen legislatures.
29
2.4
. P
olicie
s n
eeded
Policie
s –
needed
Easte
rn
Cape
Gaute
ng
Kw
aZulu
-N
ata
l M
pum
ala
nga
Weste
rn C
ape
Sup
ply
chai
n m
anag
emen
t po
licy
Bur
sary
pol
icy
R
ecru
itmen
t po
licy
P
roba
tion
polic
y V
endo
r m
anag
emen
t B
road
bas
ed b
lack
eco
nom
ic
empo
wer
men
t (B
BB
EE
) P
erfo
rman
ce a
uditi
ng p
olic
ies
Pol
icie
s on
rep
ortin
g
Pro
cedu
ral m
anua
ls
Pol
icie
s on
com
mun
icat
ing
Info
rmat
ion
and
casc
adin
g of
In
form
atio
n to
the
org
anis
atio
n P
olic
ies
on m
embe
r’s fa
cilit
ies
and
bene
fits
secu
rity
and
IT p
olic
y U
ser
polic
y
√ √ √ √
√ √ √
√ √ √ √ √
All
polic
ies
in
the
inst
itutio
n w
hic
h cu
t ac
ross
all
busi
ness
uni
ts
are
nece
ssar
y.
√ √
2.4
. S
yste
ms a
nd p
rocedure
s n
eeded
Syste
ms a
nd p
rocedure
s
needed
Easte
rn
Cape
Gaute
ng
Kw
aZulu
-N
ata
l M
pum
ala
nga
Weste
rn
Cape
Rep
lace
men
t of
BA
S a
nd P
ER
SA
L √
Per
form
ance
man
agem
ent
syst
em
Mon
itorin
g an
d ev
alua
tion
Pro
ject
man
agem
ent s
yste
m
√ √ √
30
P
erfo
rman
ce a
uditi
ng
Das
hboa
rd m
anag
emen
t In
form
atio
n P
roce
dura
l man
uals
for
ever
y un
it P
roce
ss r
e-en
gin
eerin
g
Ser
vice
leve
l ag
reem
ents
with
in
terd
epen
dent
uni
ts
√ √ √ √ √
Inte
grat
ed H
R
Fin
anci
al p
rocu
rem
ent s
yste
m
Ele
ctro
nic
docu
men
t man
agem
ent
syst
em
√ √ √
Web
site
N
etw
ork
and
e-m
ail
√ √ T
he d
ata
refle
cts
that
diff
eren
t sys
tem
s an
d pr
oced
ures
are
nee
ded
at t
he v
ario
us le
gis
latu
res
that
res
pond
ed t
o th
is q
uest
ion.
31
3. Facilities, equipment and ICT
Staff members in the Secretaries’ offices did not indicate having any hardware
constraints as most of the respondents indicated that desktop PCs, laptops, telephones,
cell phones, shredders and printers to some extent are standard equipment. Every
Secretary and some of the managers, except in the Northern Cape, have remote access
(3G-cards).
3.1. Office environment
All the responses indicated that the Secretary works in a closed office, which is
conducive to the nature of the Secretary’s work, which puts high priority on privacy and
confidentiality as a result of the sensitive information with which the office of the
Secretary deals. A quiet environment is conducive to an effective working environment.
One respondent also specified appropriate office furniture, labour saving devices and
office positioning (scenery) as necessary for optimal productivity.
Factors that negatively affect productivity included the following:
• A lack of air-conditioning systems in offices
• A lack of proximity of the Secretary’s office to that of the Speaker and senior
management, thus making it difficult to work closely and timeously with the
relevant individuals
• No boardroom attached to the office; have to share a boardroom with other
managers and committees therefore not easy to hold meetings with more than
four people without adequate prior notice
• No proper filing space and system close at hand to avoid delays in searching for
information
• The office of the PA is far removed from that of the office of the Secretary
• Noise and too much movement in the corridor
• Poor light and air-conditioning system
• A lack of water
• A lack of fresh air and sunlight
• Slow network; ICT capacity constraints
32
3.2. Equipment and facilities needed
Over and above individual items of hardware like scanners, new laptops, colour printers,
etc., equipment and facilities reported as necessary included the following:
• IT software that provides readily available information on performance – a
dashboard view;
• ERP system that provides information to the Secretary immediately;
• Electronic signatures;
• E-mail link to the cell phone;
• Network link of House sittings to television in Secretary’s office and staff of
Secretary’s office;
• Electronic support for disclosure of member’s interest;
• Lacking data projector for off-site presentations;
• Access to building;
• Better parking facilities;
• Improved security services;
• Fast e-mail and internet access.
3.3. Impact The above gaps impact as follows:
• Service delivery is compromised as the necessary equipment is not available.
• No repository of information from 1994 to present compromises the ability to
advise members expeditiously, especially on member’s benefits.
• The working environment and the level of productivity are negatively affected.
• It results in non-compliance with regard to the occupational health and safety
study.
4. Human resources 4.1. Vacant posts and skills required Four legislatures indicate seven vacancies in the office of the Secretary, ranging from
senior management to one PA position. All these vacancies are a result of restructuring
or new positions. Respondents indicated the relevant skills required included:
33
• Policy writing;
• Drafting legislation and legal opinions;
• Managing contracts;
• Monitoring and evaluation;
• Effective office management skills;
• Effective inter-governmental relations and protocol skills;
• Effective project management;
• Managing diary of Secretary as well as prioritising attendance or scheduling
meetings;
• Experience in tracking and implementing resolutions and decisions of the
office of the Secretary;
• Negotiating skills and knowledge of the appropriate protocol.
A number of the skills mentioned above are legal skills which would normally reside with
the legal advisor.
One respondent added the following to the above list:
• Strategic leadership and management
• Office management;
• Minutes taking;
• People management;
• Meetings and diary management;
• Exchange programme with other legislatures.
• Office administration;
• Project management;
• Document management skills;
• Five years management experience (executive manager);
• Policy development and analysis skills.
Gaps and challenges
Poor project management and insufficient monitoring and evaluation skills have been
identified as gaps.
34
4.2. Impact
The increased workload on the current staff impacts on the quality of the work produced,
i.e. poor performance. One respondent also indicated that they were unable to reach the
objectives of the Secretary’s office with their current staff shortage. Another Secretary
responded that the lack of a dedicated person to deal with policy development and
implementation resulted in these matters being dealt with in an ad hoc manner.
5. Financial resources
The Eastern Cape and North West indicated that they did not experience any financial
constraints. Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, the Northern Cape and Western
Cape all experienced challenges as a result of insufficient funding. Inadequate financing
resulted in legislatures being unable to achieve their strategic objectives, and in
unfunded events such as the NCOP’s Taking Parliament to the People.
B. Powers delegated to Secretary by Speaker and formal
procedure
Legislatures as constitutional bodies comply with the PFMA voluntarily and the
delegating authority is the Service Board. There are various administrative and
procedural policies and the standing rules and orders of the House that guide the
delegation of authority. For example, KZNL is guided by the rules of the legislature.
According to the National Parliament, the Secretary has specified responsibilities in
terms of being the accounting officer of Parliament. In contrast, the Speaker is the
political head. No direct responsibilities of the Speaker are delegated to the Secretary.
Mpumalanga’s Speaker has delegation powers in most spheres except the power to
appoint the Secretary. The Speaker documents the powers and discusses them with the
Secretary immediately after appointment. The powers delegated get signed by both
parties and copies are filed.
With regard to a formal standardised mechanism, system or procedure for the delegation
of powers, respondents indicated that powers were delegated in terms of the Public
35
Finance Management Act and the applicable rules of the legislature, as well as through
the signing of an annual performance agreement with the political head of the institution
(ECPL). The Western Cape referred to the Acts of the national and provincial parliament,
standing orders of the House and its committees, resolutions of the House, policy or
letters from the executive authority, and parliamentary practice, as their guidelines.
Although all Secretaries to legislatures would be expected to sign an annual
performance agreement with the Speaker, not all respondents indicated that they had
signed such an instrument.
C. Structures to oversee the legislature
Four respondents indicated that there were structures in place to oversee the legislature,
but none attempted to describe the functioning of these bodies. For the Mpumalanga
Legislature, the institution is overseen by the Legislature Services Board consisting of
the Speaker; Deputy Speaker; Chief Whip; one member of the opposition parties and the
Secretary. For the Eastern Cape legislature, the legislature is overseen by the
Executive Committee as well as by the Budget and Oversight Subcommittee. In
KwaZulu-Natal the legislature has the (i) Rules Committee, a multiparty committee with
proportional representation chaired by the Speaker, (ii) Finance Committee, a multiparty
committee with proportional representation chaired by a member of the ANC6, (iii)
Standing Committee on Public Accounts, a multiparty committee with proportional
representation chaired by a member of NADECO7. In the Western Cape the Rules
Committee oversees the working of the legislature. National Parliament’s view, however,
contrasted with the other legislatures in that it was of the view that the legislature is a
political institution elected through a national vote, once every five years. Therefore, the
public, through the ballot box, oversees the legislature.
D. Policy development process
6 ANC is the African National Congress, currently the ruling political majority party in the South African
Government. 7 NADECO stands for the National Democratic Convention, and is a political party in KwaZulu-Natal.
36
Regarding the process of policy development, all legislative institutions mentioned
different processes. The Eastern Cape’s response was the most detailed. In this
legislature, two different processes are used to develop policies. One process is used
for policies development by and for the staff, while another is for the members.
Policy development for staff
• Identification of need;
• Initiated by any staff or line manager;
• Drafting by the responsible line function section;
• Tabled by the relevant director, the Deputy Secretary or CFO to senior
management and secretariat; circulation to management and union for input;
• Legal unit develops second draft submission to Executive Committee for
approval if it only affects staff.
Policy development for members
• Identification of need;
• Drafting by legal unit;
• Circulation to all members and parties for input;
• Development of second draft submission to Executive Committee to refer to
Rules Committee ;
• Rules Ccommittee refers to the Subcommittee on Policy Development
• Policy Development refers to Rules Committee after scrutiny for adoption
• Rules Committee adopts policy.
The Free State highlighted the responsibility of the legal advisor who has to ensure
legislative compliance. Should the policy or amendments to a policy be relevant to the
union, the proposed policy document or amendments are tabled at the Bargaining
Chamber. For the Western Cape, policy is initiated by the line function manager in
consultation with stakeholders and approved by the Secretary or Speaker.
National Parliament policies are developed through the parliamentary oversight authority
and the Joint Rules Committee both of whom report to the House.
37
In Mpumalanga the relevant section will draft a policy and submit it to the policy,
research and analysis section for alignment. The policy task team will be assigned the
responsibility to supervise further engagement with the process. The policy and research
section will circulate the policy for the purpose of consultation with stakeholders, like the
representative union. Workshops will be convened with the entire staff for purposes of
dialoguing or communication.
Only KZNL mentioned the establishment of a monitoring and evaluation mechanism of
the policy implementation process.
E. Budget allocation process
Because the processes at the various legislatures seemed to follow different paths, the
task team thought it necessary to capture the data as it was submitted. The table below
gives a clear picture of the various approaches. What stands out, however, is the fact
that the Eastern Cape submits the budget to the Speaker, as treasury of the institution,
for approval. Currently not all Speakers have a treasury function.
38
Legis
latu
re
Budget allocation p
rocess
Eas
tern
Cap
e D
evel
oped
by
the
adm
inis
trat
ion
on a
nee
ds b
asis
and
sub
mitt
ed to
Spe
aker
, as
trea
sury
of
the
inst
itutio
n, fo
r ap
prov
al.
Spe
aker
and
pro
vinc
ial M
EC
: F
inan
ce n
eed
to a
gre
e on
the
budg
et b
efor
e su
bmis
sion
to
the
Hou
se
for
adop
tion.
F
ree
Sta
te
The
bud
get
pro
posa
ls a
re d
evel
oped
by
the
CF
O a
nd S
ecre
tary
to
the
leg
isla
ture
in c
onsu
ltatio
n w
ith r
elev
ant
Dep
uty
Sec
reta
ries
and/
or d
irect
ors.
Inp
ut is
obt
aine
d fr
om p
ortfo
lio c
omm
ittee
s. C
onso
lidat
ed b
udg
et
prop
osal
is s
ubm
itted
to th
e S
peak
er/R
ules
and
Ord
ers
Com
mitt
ee fo
r co
nsid
erat
ion
and
appr
oval
. (M
EC
: F
inan
ce is
ex
offic
io m
embe
r of
Rul
es a
nd O
rder
s C
omm
ittee
). S
peak
er th
en s
ubm
its d
irect
ly t
o M
EC
: F
inan
ce a
nd it
is e
xpec
ted
that
Lat
imer
Hou
se p
rinci
ples
will
be
obse
rved
. Fur
ther
inte
ract
ion
on b
udg
et
adju
stm
ents
(if
req
uire
d) is
neg
otia
ted
betw
een
the
Spe
aker
and
ME
C:
Fin
ance
and
the
Sec
reta
ry to
the
le
gis
latu
re w
ith t
he h
ead
of th
e pr
ovin
cial
tre
asur
y.
It sh
ould
be
note
d th
at r
ules
and
ord
ers
prov
ide
that
a c
ertif
icat
e sh
ould
be
issu
ed b
y th
e S
peak
er. S
peak
er
and
ME
C:
Fin
ance
sho
uld
reac
h co
nsen
sus
on t
he le
gis
latu
re’s
bud
get
allo
catio
n, b
efor
e an
App
ropr
iatio
n B
ill/A
djus
tmen
t A
ppro
pria
tion
Bill
may
be
tabl
ed in
the
Hou
se.
Gau
teng
T
here
is a
ver
y g
ood
rela
tions
hip
betw
een
the
prov
inci
al t
reas
ury
and
GP
L, a
nd a
lthou
gh
the
budg
et is
not
ne
cess
arily
top
-slic
ed, G
PL
has
alw
ays
rece
ived
the
bud
get
tha
t it
requ
est f
rom
the
prov
inci
al t
reas
ury.
K
waZ
ulu
-Nat
al
Bas
elin
e de
term
ined
by
the
prov
inci
al t
reas
ury.
Man
ager
s ar
e re
que
sted
to m
otiv
ate
for
addi
tiona
l allo
catio
ns
prio
r to
Jun
e of
the
prev
ious
yea
r an
d ap
plic
atio
n fo
r ad
ditio
nal a
lloca
tions
are
mad
e to
the
trea
sury
MT
EC
w
here
the
Sec
reta
ry a
nd t
he s
enio
r m
anag
emen
t app
ear
befo
re t
he h
ead
of d
epar
tmen
t for
trea
sury
and
m
ake
repr
esen
tatio
ns a
nd a
lso
repo
rt o
n th
eir
perf
orm
ance
in t
erm
s of
spe
ndin
g. I
f ad
ditio
nal a
lloca
tions
are
de
clin
ed,
then
the
re e
xist
s th
e op
tion
of a
mee
ting
bein
g ar
rang
ed b
etw
een
the
Spe
aker
and
the
ME
C f
or
finan
ce, m
anag
emen
t of t
he tr
easu
ry a
nd th
e le
gis
latu
re p
rese
nt. C
urre
ntly
the
Kw
aZul
u-N
atal
leg
isla
ture
is
reco
nsid
erin
g th
e ba
selin
e an
d a
mee
ting
is s
ched
uled
bet
wee
n th
e M
EC
for
trea
sury
, th
e S
peak
er, t
he
chai
rper
son
of t
he F
inan
ce C
omm
ittee
, the
Chi
ef W
hip
and
seni
or m
ultip
arty
rep
rese
ntat
ives
and
sen
ior
man
agem
ent
of th
e le
gis
latu
re.
Li
mpo
po
M
pum
alan
ga
The
pro
vinc
ial e
xecu
tive
dete
rmin
es th
e bu
dget
on
its o
wn
thro
ugh
its b
udg
et le
kgot
la; t
he le
gis
latu
re
pres
ents
its
budg
et p
ropo
sals
to
the
ME
C o
f fin
ance
aft
er t
he b
udg
et le
kgot
la p
roce
ss; t
he le
gis
latu
re w
ill o
nly
know
of
the
budg
et a
lloca
tion
durin
g th
e bu
dget
spe
ech;
no
agre
emen
t is
fost
ered
bet
wee
n th
e tr
easu
ry a
nd
the
leg
isla
ture
.
Nor
ther
n C
ape
T
his
is s
till a
pro
blem
are
a, th
ere
is n
o to
p-sl
icin
g a
nd t
he le
gis
latu
re p
rese
nts
the
budg
et to
the
PM
tech
and
bi
-late
ral w
ith M
EC
for
fin
ance
whi
ch h
as n
ot b
een
help
ful t
o yo
u.
Nor
th W
est
Pre
pare
d on
zer
o-ba
sed
budg
et a
nd s
ubm
itted
to
the
prov
inci
al t
reas
ury.
Our
allo
catio
n is
the
n ba
sed
on th
e
39
avai
labi
lity
of f
unds
that
the
prov
ince
rec
eive
s fr
om th
e N
atio
nal T
reas
ury.
W
este
rn C
ape
In c
onsu
ltatio
n w
ith t
he p
rovi
ncia
l tre
asur
y N
atio
nal P
arlia
men
t C
urre
ntly
the
bud
get
of
Par
liam
ent
is n
ot t
op-s
liced
. The
bud
get
allo
catio
n is
det
erm
ined
in c
onju
nctio
n w
ith
the
MT
EF
-gui
delin
es o
f th
e N
atio
nal T
reas
ury,
the
Spe
aker
of
the
Nat
iona
l Ass
embl
y an
d th
e ch
airp
erso
n of
th
e N
atio
nal C
ounc
il of
Pro
vinc
es t
hen
eng
ages
with
the
Min
iste
r of
Fin
ance
on
the
prop
osed
bud
get
of
Par
liam
ent.
How
ever
a p
olic
y de
cisi
on h
as b
een
take
n to
ens
ure
that
top
-slic
ing
is g
oing
forw
ard.
40
The Free State’s consolidated budget proposal is submitted to the Speaker or Rules and
Orders Committee for consideration and approval. A unique situation in this regard is the
fact that the MEC: Finance is ex officio member of the Rules and Orders Committee. If
required further interaction on budget adjustments is negotiated between the Speaker
and MEC: Finance and the Secretary to the legislature with the head of the provincial
treasury.
KZNL indicates that prior to June of the previous year, application for additional
allocations are made to the treasury where the Secretary and the senior management
appear before the head of department for treasury and make presentations and also
report on their performance in terms of spending. If additional allocations are declined,
then the option exists of a meeting being arranged between the Speaker and the MEC
for finance with the senior management of the treasury and the legislature present.
Although Mpumalanga engages with the MEC: Finance, it seems as if the decision for
the allocation of funds does not rest entirely with the MEC or the Secretary or Speaker,
as the provincial executive determines the budget on its own through its budget lekgotla.
It noted the lack of communication between the legislature and the MEC: Finance. It is
clear that the various approaches utilised seem to benefit some legislatures and
compromise others.
F. Internal Audit Committee
Internal or external auditors are separate and indispensable functions. Respondents,
however, seemed to regard the two functions as interchangeable and therefore “internal”
and “external” distinguish whether the function is outsourced or not. The Eastern Cape,
Free State and Mpumalanga outsource their internal auditing hence the function is not
shared. KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape have a service-level agreement with the
internal audit unit at the treasury, therefore the function is shared. National Parliament
manages auditing internally. (See table below):
Legislature Composition of IA Committee Challenges
Eastern Cape Knowledge of the legislative environment which is different from government departments that are fully governed by the PFMA
41
Free State Accounting officer and CFO are involved in all internal audit activities. Relevant Deputy Secretary and director participate subject to focus area of audit intervention. Also includes the audit firm performing audit work.
Insufficient resources to enable internal audit function as envisaged in terms of Audit Charter, internal audit plan, etc. Limited reliance placed on internal audit reports by office of Auditor-General.
KwaZulu-Natal The Internal Audit Committee for the province consists of external experts. The legislature has agreed to appear before the provincial Audit Committee until an audit committee is established for the legislature.
Lack of capacity (one manager and one risk officer; Lack of understanding of the functions of the risk/internal audit unit (confining the unit to finance division only). Lack of understanding of the auditors’ requests Incorrect/incomplete information supplied to auditors which may lead to a qualified audit
Mpumalanga Is being outsourced The challenges include: a lack of knowledge management; institutional memory depends on the outsiders; no skills transfer; unreliable reports and management operates without advice; and information to the board is not factual.
Northern Cape The Internal Audit Committee comprises of an official from the treasury, two from the Premier’s office and two other persons appointed from the Free State, one of which is chair.
It has not been very functional in the past; it might pick up now.
North West Chairperson; two Audit Committee members; internal audit manager; representatives of the Auditor-General.
Identify, monitoring the risks facing NWPL; monitoring controls; add value.
Western Cape Treasury appoints consultants Separation of powers National Parliament
Four independent and non-executive members from outside Public service. Two members of Parliament – one from National Assembly and one from the NCOP.
Resources, financial and non-financial. strategic positioning of the unit.
G. Public administration systems used by legislatures
Systems refer to those in use in the public administration departments. The Eastern
Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape and Western Cape still subscribe to
42
PERSAL8, BAS9 and LOGIS10. Mpumalanga and the Western Cape have not yet de-
linked from SITA11 like many others have already.
Legislature Government systems and procedures
Eastern Cape BAS, PERSAL and financial system Free State None Gauteng PFMA reporting, provincial treasury only KwaZulu-Natal BAS Limpopo Mpumalanga BAS; Logis; PERSAL; SITA Northern Cape The BAS system North West Oracle Western Cape PERSAL, BAS, LOGIS; SITA National Parliament Parliament is independent from the executive but
maintains a good working relationship for effective governance. The executive does not dictate to the legislature. The answer is therefore none.
8 PERSAL is an integrated Human Resource, Personnel and Salary system. 9 BAS is the Basic Accounting System, designed to manage finances in the South African Government. 10 LOGIS is the Logistical information System, designed to manage all government procurement and
logistics. 11 SITA is the South African State Information Technology Agency, providing information technology
(IT), information systems (IS) and related services to the three spheres of National, Provincial and Local
Government.
43
H. Inte
rnational re
lations
Appro
ved p
olicy w
ith respect to
inte
rnational re
lations
Legis
latu
re
Stu
dy tours
Y/N
R
eceiv
ing fore
ign
dele
gations Y
/N
Involv
em
ent in
in
tern
ational assoc.
Gifts
and/o
r donations Y
/N
Eas
tern
Cap
e N
o N
o N
o Y
es
Fre
e S
tate
Y
es
Yes
Y
es
Yes
G
aute
ng
Yes
Y
es,
prot
ocol
man
ual
Yes
, in
ter-
inst
itutio
nal
rela
tions
str
ateg
y.
A d
raft
pol
icy
on g
ifts
and
mem
orab
ilia
K
waZ
ulu
-Nat
al
Yes
N
o N
o N
o Li
mpo
po
Mpu
mal
ang
a N
o N
o N
o N
o N
orth
ern
Cap
e
No
No
Yes
N
ot a
lwa
ys
Nor
th W
est
Yes
N
o -
Yes
W
este
rn C
ape
No
No
No
Yes
N
atio
nal P
arlia
men
t Y
es
Yes
Y
es
Yes
Thr
ee l
egis
latu
res
have
app
rove
d po
lices
in
pla
ce r
egar
ding
(i)
stud
y to
urs
and
acco
mpa
nyin
g p
olic
es s
uch
as (
ii) r
ecei
vin
g f
orei
gn
dele
gat
ions
, (ii
i) in
volv
em
ent
in in
tern
atio
nal a
ssoc
iatio
n an
d (iv
) g
ifts
and
dona
tions
. K
waZ
ulu-
Nat
al s
eem
s on
ly t
o ha
ve s
tart
ed t
he
proc
ess
as t
hey
only
ha
ve a
pol
icy
reg
ardi
ng s
tudy
tou
rs,
but
no o
ther
rel
evan
t po
licie
s in
pla
ce.
Fou
r re
spon
dent
s in
dica
ted
the
neg
ativ
e. O
nce
agai
n w
e ne
ed t
o st
ress
tha
t if
we
expe
ct o
utpu
ts t
o be
mor
e or
less
on
par,
pol
icie
s sh
ould
be
in p
lace
to
gui
de t
he
proc
ess.
44
Str
uctu
re o
r in
div
idual re
sponsib
le for
coord
ination o
f all inte
rnational-re
lations-r
ela
ted m
atters
Legis
latu
re
Y/N
D
escri
ption
Eas
tern
Cap
e N
o
Fre
e S
tate
N
o It
depe
nds
on w
ho p
artic
ipat
es in
rel
evan
t st
udy
tour
. It
is a
n ar
ea th
at is
cu
rren
tly u
nder
con
side
ratio
n fo
r im
prov
emen
t and
str
eng
then
ing.
G
aute
ng
Yes
G
PL
has
a pr
otoc
ol o
ffic
er a
nd p
roto
col c
oord
inat
or
Kw
aZu
lu-N
atal
N
o T
he m
anag
er in
the
offic
e of
the
Sec
reta
ry a
ttend
s to
thi
s, b
ut th
ere
is n
o fo
rmal
ised
pro
cess
or
stru
ctur
e.
Lim
popo
1
P
arlia
men
tary
exc
hang
e M
pum
alan
ga
Yes
T
he p
roto
col o
ffic
er
Nor
ther
n C
ape
The
sen
ior
man
ager
in th
e of
fice
of th
e S
ecre
tary
has
now
ass
umed
tho
se
resp
onsi
bilit
ies.
N
orth
Wes
t P
artia
lly
W
este
rn C
ape
Yes
In
tern
atio
nal r
elat
ions
and
pro
toco
l off
icer
N
atio
nal P
arlia
men
t Y
es
Inte
rnat
iona
l rel
atio
ns s
ectio
n F
our
resp
onde
nts
indi
cate
d th
at a
spe
cific
sec
tion
or in
divi
dual
was
res
pons
ible
for
inte
rnat
iona
l rel
atio
ns (
IR)
and
four
indi
cate
d th
at
they
had
no
spec
ific
unit
or p
erso
n w
ho t
ook
resp
onsi
bilit
y fo
r IR
. It
seem
s th
at g
ener
ally
the
offi
ce o
f th
e S
ecre
tary
tak
es o
vera
ll
resp
onsi
bilit
y fo
r IR
.
45
6. Conclusion With the current state of affairs, as indicated in the section above, showing gaps and
weaknesses in the functional area office of the Secretary with related matters proper
engagement, participation and overseeing of international relations are weakened
and generally building an effective and efficient legislative institution is compromised.
The information in the section above also to a large extent reflects, the autonomy and
differences of legislative institutions. They have and use different mechanisms and
systems to delegate powers to the Secretary, to oversee the legislatures, develop
institutional policies, allocate budget to the legislature, maintain internal auditing, and
attend to matters on international relations. The nature and effectiveness of policies,
systems and mechanisms mentioned by respondents are not known to the task
team, such that a recommendation on best practice regarding these matters is not
ideal at this stage. However, some general recommendations can be made which
the sector can consider.
7. Recommendations The following are recommended:
• The office of the Secretary should be capacitated with skilled persons who will
be able to pro-actively assist the Secretary with strategic matters and risk
management.
• The Secretary, with the cooperation of the Speaker, should lobby for a
uniform budget strategy that would benefit most of the legislatures.
• The issue of an internal auditing committee must be addressed and finalised.
• A system on uniform salary structures for the sector should be researched.
• A best practice exercise in policy development, implementation and
evaluation within the sector should be undertaken, and a uniform process
recommended. The detailed process mentioned by the Eastern Cape
46
legislature for their development of policies for staff and for members could be
serve as a guide.
• Common understanding regarding the treasury role of the Speaker should be
facilitated within the legislative institutions of the sector.
Theme conclusion
The section above has provided an analytical report on the functional area: office of
the Secretary, strategic management and international relations, located under the
theme “strengthening capacity to engage, participate in and oversee international
relations”. It has presented the status quo of this functional area in terms of its
objectives and functions; policies, systems and procedures; facilities and IT; human
resources; as well as financial resources. Recommendations have also been made
to address the gaps and weaknesses identified so that this functional area is
capacitated to perform optimally in ensuring that South African legislative institutions
can better engage, participate in and oversee matters of international relations.
3.3. Strengthening capacity in law-making and oversight functions of
legislatures Contextual background
This theme has five sections located under it. They are on the functional areas: legal
services; Hansard and language services; committee services; House proceedings;
and research, information and library services. All five these functional areas form
part of the administrative support to assist members and committees in fulfilling
specific constitutional mandates of law-making, and oversight in particular. For
members and committees to succeed in fulfilling their constitutional mandates, a
strong administration comprising of capable, competent and professional staff is
essential.
Law-making12
With regard to law-making, the focus of Parliament in the first decade of democracy
was to ensure transformation of South African laws in line with the Constitution.
Between 1994 and 2004 discriminatory legislation was repealed; new laws which
12 Contextual background has largely been drawn from the sector policy document.
47
were based on the Constitution were passed, thus laying a foundation for a
democratic and open society.
The focus during the second decade of democracy has been on the oversight
function in order to ensure the ideal of realising a better quality of life for the citizens
of South Africa. Provincial legislatures however, still face a challenge of having to
focus on examining old laws so as to assess possible conflict with the Constitution.
Parliaments and legislatures often delegate legislative authority to the executive by
allowing Ministers and members of the Executive Councils (MECs), to make
regulations in order to add details to statutes. The sector is challenged with ensuring
that Ministers and MECs do not stray beyond the authority granted to them in terms
of the legislation enabling them to pass regulations. While there are well-established
procedures with respect to processing Bills, there are no adequate parliamentary
procedures that ensure rigorous scrutinising of delegated legislation to ensure that
Ministers and MECs do not exceed the limits of the authority delegated to them. This
could undermine the legislative authority of the legislature.
The sector policy further notes the challenge facing the legislative sector as a result
of very few and mostly mandatory legislation produced by provincial legislatures.
The capacity of members and legal staff to develop legislation is insufficient and has
led to questions being asked about the quality of legislation that is being produced by
the sector. As a result, some strategies are, being considered by the sector to
address challenges relating to law-making. Recommendations emanating from this
institutional audit will also be used to address law-making challenges.
Oversight
On oversight specifically, legislatures are mandated by the Constitution to provide
mechanisms of ensuring that the executive is held accountable. For members and
committees to succeed in exercising oversight, a strong administration comprising of
capable, competent and professional staff is essential so that effective support is
given to members and committees. The five sections below present functional areas
critical to this. They are legal services; Hansard and language services; committee
services; House proceedings; and research, information and library services. The
sections provide analytical status quo summaries of all these five functional areas in
terms of their objectives and functions; policies, systems and procedures; facilities
48
and equipment; human resources; as well as financial resources. Recommendations
are also provided for the sector to consider, in an effort to strengthen capacity in law-
making and oversight functions of the legislatures.
Section 1: Legal services Law-making is one of the core functions or mandates of the legislature, and legal
services units play a significant role in this regard.
The nine responses received represent seven provinces, as can be seen in the table
below. All the respondents acknowledged that the main objective of legal services
units was to provide legal support services to the legislature.
1. Objectives and functions
1.1. Objectives
Legislature Objectives
Mpumalanga Provide professional, effective and efficient legal support and
advice to management, the Speaker and committees
Northern Cape Improved legal advice and opinion
Improve the quality and quantity of legislation in the province
Empower MPLs to conduct efficient oversight
Improved administration and awareness of the provincial Gazette
Eastern Cape Provide professional, effective and efficient legal support and
advice
Ensure compliance with applicable legislation
Provide legal contract management
Provide legal support regarding petitioning process
Case management of litigation by and against the legislature
Manage policy development, drafting and adoption process
Render a professional legal advisory service
KwaZulu-Natal Provide professional, effective and efficient legal support and
advice to the Speaker, secretariat, directorates, MPLs and
standing committees
Assist with on-going development and improvement of standing
rules
Ensure compliance with applicable legislation
49
Limpopo Provide legal services
Provide contract management
Provide legal assistance to committees
Western Cape Provide professional, effective and efficient legal support and
advice to the Speaker, Secretariat, directorates, MPLs and
standing committees
Ensure compliance with applicable legislation
North West Provide legal services to the management and parliamentary arm
of the institution
1.2. Functions
The provision of legal advice and contract management is viewed by all legal
advisors as their core functions. The majority of legal services units indicated that
besides the legal support and contract management, they also provide an important
service to committees in the sense that they attend rules and committee meetings, as
well as attend and conduct public hearings. Some legal advisors also chair and
investigate disciplinary hearings.
Complementary to their core functions, legal services also assist with petitions. In the
Eastern and Western Cape they are also responsible for litigation.
Functions which seem to fall outside the general framework of the legal services unit
are:
• a gender focal person (Northern Cape)
• assisting with petitions (Eastern Cape)
• conducting public hearings (Northern Cape).
To assist with petitions and public hearings has become a necessity for legal
services, as the public (including non-governmental organisations) are starting to
take a serious interest in most of the current issues concerning civil society as
reflected in Bills which are debated at these public events. Legal opinions are
required when members of provincial legislatures (MPLs) and committee
coordinators, who are not necessarily legally trained, are confronted with technical
legal matters.
2. Policies, systems and processes
50
2.1. Policies
Five respondents indicated that their sections did not have any unit-specific adopted
policies in place.
Four policies identified across all legislatures which are unit-specific included: a
guideline on the provision of legal services (WCPP), a code of conduct (Eastern
Cape), a whistle blowing policy and access to information manual (Northern Cape).
Pending policies
The majority of respondents did not give an indication of pending policies in their
units.
2.2. Systems and procedures in place
Some answers submitted by other respondents are vague, and other answers did not
seem to be relevant to the question, which made the analysis difficult.
Pending systems and processes
Pending systems and processes exceeded the number of systems in place. Both
North West and the Eastern Cape indicated that they did not have adequate systems
and processes in place. Operating without adequate systems and guidelines could
be risky as it opens up possible unexpected litigation, and pending systems and
processes need to be improved.
KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo similarly have not identified any pending systems and
processes. However, it is encouraging to discover that legislatures are moving in the
direction of getting systems and processes institutionalised.
Challenges experienced
Respondents experienced challenges with regard to the lack of a document
management system, which in effect impacts on accessibility and a lack of research
tools.
Only two legislatures (ECPL and NWPL) indicated that they did not experience any
challenges.
Impact
51
Pending systems and processes impact on the ability to produce quality work which
may be compromised or not of good quality.
3. Facilities and equipment
3.1. Equipment and facilities in place
Hardware Item ECPL Mpuma NCPL KZNL Limpopo WCPP NWPL
Desktop PC
Laptop/notebook
Individual printer
Shared printer
Fax machine –
individual
Fax machine – shared
Scanner
Photocopier
Colour printer
Colour copier
Central multipurpose
copier, printer, scanner,
fax
Telephone
Cell
phone (work/subsidised)
Remote access (3G)
Shredder
2
4
3
1
1
1
5
4
4
1
2
1
1
1
1
3
3
1
3
2
5
1
5
2
1
1
3
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
3
3
1
3
3
1
1
1
1
1
4
4
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
3
1
1
3
TOTAL 25 14 19 21 20 9 10
When comparing equipment at the various legislatures, one notes that some
legislatures seem to be replacing desktop personal computers (PCs) with laptops.
ECPL, NCPL, KZNL and Mpumalanga showed a trend of having more laptops than
desktop PCs. The number of telephones per unit could be an indication of the
number of staff members; therefore ECPL and NCPL, for example, both have five
telephones available, but two and three desktop PCs, and four and two laptops.
NWPL has no desktop PCs, but indicated two laptops.
52
Legal services units work with confidential and sensitive documents, hence an urgent
need for a shredder, especially in this office. Only NCPL reported as having a
shredder for use by legal services.
Scanners are an essential tool for daily work. In any legal advisor’s office there is
regularly a need to liaise with senior counsel and an easy way of getting relevant
information from point A to B is to scan the original.
3.2. Office space facilities
With regard to office space Mpumalanga and Limpopo are the two legislatures where
legal services reported that they had sufficient office space.
Although four respondents reported closed office space, they described the following
as impacting negatively on productivity: disturbance with respect to noise factors;
sensitivity and confidentiality of information discussed being compromised because
walls between offices are not sound-proof; faulty centralised air-conditioning;
insufficient supply of furniture such as filing cabinets to secure confidential
documents.
The proximity of the legal advisor’s office to the committee section and library was
also identified as a factor negatively impacting on productivity.
Equipment and facilities needed
Hardware Item ECPL Mpuma NCPL KZNL Limpopo WCPP NWPL
Desktop PC
Laptop/notebook
Individual printer
Shared printer
Fax machine – individual
Fax machine – shared
Scanner
Photocopier
Colour printer
Colour copier
Central multipurpose copier,
printer, scanner, fax
2
4
3
1
1
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
3
2
5
1
1
3
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
3
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
3
1
53
Telephone
Cell phone (work/subsidised)
Remote access (3G)
Shredder
5
4
4
3
3
1
5
2
1
3
3
3
4
4
1
1
1
1
3
TOTAL
Equipment needed
Besides the expected ICT equipment requests, such as the latest laptops/notebooks,
cell phones and, 3G-cards, software, which include electronic legal databases such
as direct access to Jutastat, Sabinet and Butterworths, and a shared webpage for all
legislative legal services, were among the various equipment identified.
A dedicated law library section in the main library was also required. Adequate office
space and separate boardrooms were also mentioned as facilities needed.
Challenges and impact
Challenges experienced by legal services across legislatures included: the lack of a
strategic approach to ICT issues; capacitated senior ICT personnel; integrated ICT
systems; remote access to the Internet. Slow and malfunctioning Internet service and
malfunctioning telephones are challenges which need attention at most legislatures.
NWPL, KZNL and NCPL, from their previous response, did not indicate any impact.
Other respondents’ answers included an impact on turnaround time; the ability to
produce quality work; poor performance; and an inability to work at home.
4. Human resources
4.1. Vacant posts
To be appointed as a legal advisor in a legislative environment it is important that the
formal qualification should include a legal degree. However, the skills required
seemed to differ at the different legislatures. Legislative drafting, constitutional law,
parliamentary practice, contract management, compliance, corporate governance,
legal research and drafting were some of the generic skills mentioned as essential for
this job. Leadership and strategic management skills and good interpersonal and
communication skills were reported as fundamental requirements for this job,
because of the fact that legal advisors attended management meetings.
54
Current vacancies in the legal services are resulting from the lack of properly skilled
personnel with an understanding of the legislative sector. For example, Mpumalanga
and KwaZulu-Natal seem to experience a lack of skilled legal advisors in the
legislative sector.
4.2. Skills, training, qualifications and experience relevant to the functioning of
the unit
Legislature Qualifications Skills Experience
Mpumalanga Law degree Legislative drafting, constitutional law,
parliamentary practice, contract
management, compliance, corporate
governance, legal research and drafting
Northern Cape Law degree Legal, labour contractual, constitutional,
administrative law
Public service
experience
(understanding
law-making and
oversight
function of the
legislature)
Eastern Cape Law degree Contract management, compliance
management, legislative drafting, labour
experience, financial management,
project management
KwaZulu-Natal Law degree
(LLB +
admission as
an attorney/
advocate
Drafting and vetting of contracts; labour
law;
Drafting and interpretation of legislation
Constitutional law
+ 5 years post
qualification
experience in
legal
environment
Limpopo Law degree Parliamentary practice, legislative
drafting, drafting and interpretation of
contracts
3 years post
admission
Western Cape Leadership and strategic management
skills; good communication skills,
specialised legal knowledge
(legislature); general management
55
skills; snalytical skills; research
capacity; client service skills;
interpersonal skills; organisational skills;
legislature drafting; contract
management; labour relations;
compliance; corporate governance
Challenges experienced in performing functions
The major challenge experienced by legal services is the lack of a succession plan.
According to the responses the two legislatures ECPL and NWPL do not experience
any challenges in performing their functions.
Impact of above
The table below illustrates the impact of the challenges mentioned above on
performance.
Legislature Impact
Mpumalanga Inability to meet capacity demands
Northern Cape Impact on productive office hours; little time for research
Eastern Cape None
KwaZulu-Natal Non-attendance at some meetings due to clashes; delay in
completion of mandates; lack of substitute when wanting to attend
external workshops; low staff morale, overworked staff and
compromised service delivery
Limpopo None
Western Cape Impacts on turnaround time, to produce quality work, MPLs and
SCs do not receive the standard support; lack of legal assistance
on oversight visits and public hearings outside the legislature;
committee operate without legal assistance; seriously
compromises committee work
North West None
5. Financial resources
56
Financial constraints have the same impact on the legal services units and the
standard and quality of work is critical to the development of the sector. To access
the services of legal and constitutional experts requires substantial budget and ways
should be found to resource the unit. A lack of funding for in-service training courses
was highlighted as major concern in many legislatures.
Number of Bills passed – see attached table
Legislature Number of Bills passed
Initiated by Legislature
Initiated by Executive
Mpumalanga 33 5 28 Northern Cape 36 5 28 Eastern Cape 120 5 117 KwaZulu-Natal 67 2 65 Limpopo 90 2 89 Western Cape 139 9 130 North West 38 Info not
supplied Info not supplied
The number of Bills passed at the different legislatures since 1994 ranges from 140
(WCPP) to 33 (Mpumalanga) with a total number of 523 Bills passed at all
legislatures for the same period. KZNL had no entries for the period 1994 – 1996.
The average time for Bills to be finalised ranges from 3 months (ECPL) to 12 months
(Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal, North West). The Northern Cape indicated within the
timeframe set by the NCOP.
Number of public hearings during law-making process
Legislature Number of public hearings
Mpumalanga 1 Northern Cape Ave 5 Eastern Cape 2 KwaZulu-Natal 1-5 Limpopo Western Cape 1 North West 3
The number of public hearings held during the law-making process also elicited
varying responses. NCPL indicated that the nature of the Bill determined the number
of public hearings to be conducted, and because the Northern Cape comprised of
five regions, the aim was to conduct at least one public hearing in each of the five
57
regions of the province. KZNL similarly indicated between one and five, depending
on the nature of the Bill.
Standard guidelines with respect to public hearings Legislature Standard guideline w.r.t.
public hearings Legislative review M&E in place
Mpumalanga No No No Northern Cape No No No Eastern Cape No No No KwaZulu-Natal No No No Limpopo No No No Western Cape No No No North West No Yes 2008 Yes 2008
Conclusion and recommendations
From the information provided by legal services across the legislatures the following
aspects urgently need to be addressed.
• Location and role of legal services within the administration (human
resources and commitees) and during petitions and public hearings be
clarified.
• Necessary policies and systems for the legal unit be identified, and a
guideline on the provision of legal services to be in place
• Legal services to be supplied with access to necessary tools of trade
applicable to this specialised area.
• A document management system to be implemented.
• Legislative review and monitoring and evaluation processes to be in
place.
• Main reasons for vacancies, the lack of properly skilled human resources
with understanding of the legislature sector to be addressed by running
accredited short courses for interested attorneys and advocates.
58
• Financial constraints should be addressed at top management level by
putting into place contingency fund that should reside in the Secretary’s
office which can be accessed when necessary. This will alleviate the
pressure currently experienced in this respect.
Section 2: Hansard and language services
Hansard and languages services, like committee services, form part of the
administrative support to assist members and committees in fulfilling specific
constitutional mandates of oversight, law-making and public participation.
For committees and members to succeed in fulfilling their constitutional roles, a
strong administration comprising of capable, competent and professional staff is
essential. Considering Hansard and language services as a functional area across all
ten legislative institutions in South Africa, this section provides an analysis of the
status quo of Hansard and language services units of legislatures in terms of their
objectives; functions; policies, systems and procedures; facilities and equipment;
human resources; as well as financial resources.
1. Objectives and functions A total of ten institutions responded to the questionnaire. Data indicates that Hansard
and language services units across the sector have common objectives and
functions13. These functions are recording; transcribing; translating; interpreting and
editing House debates, documents and proceedings. There are however indications
from a few legislatures that Hansard and language service units within the legislature
perform functions that should essentially be performed by other units of the
legislature than by the Hansard and language services units. For instance, one
respondent raised this concern:
[A]t the moment Hansard and Language Services perform functions which fall well outside the ambit of the generally accepted Commonwealth definition of Hansard (i.e. transcribing the parliamentary record – debates made by members of Parliament in the Chamber or the House). At present Hansard also records and transcribes proceedings of SCOPA and Finance Committees (an out-and-out committee function); as well as public hearings (a public participation unit function). The unit also provides interpreting to all these
13 Most of what the respondents indicated as objectives are actually functions.
59
events, as well as other committee meetings. The unit also edits and proofreads all official documents (annual reports of the legislature, minutes of proceedings, order papers, etc.) as well as minutes of directorate meetings and a variety of reports produced by other units, e.g. reports dealing with gender issues – again, which have NOTHING to do with producing a record of parliamentary debates.
[Respondent from a legislature]
The Gauteng legislature indicated a function of developing terminology. None of the
other respondents mentioned this as a function. This could lead to a benchmark for
the legislative sector and contribute to the sectoral terminology development project.
The critical issue emerging from the data is the different ways in which programmes
and subprogrammes of legislatures are structured. In some legislatures, for example
the Hansard and language services unit is placed within the proceedings unit,
division or department, and in others within the House proceedings unit and the
National Council of Provinces (NCOP). The legislative sector needs to consider
standardised structures and terminology. This further means developing and
adopting common terminology starting from “unit” or “directorate”; “division” or
“department”, and so forth.
2. Skills relevant for and available in Hansard and languages services units A gap exists between skills deemed relevant for the functioning of a legislature
Hansard and language services unit, and skills currently available in the Hansard and
language services units. Broadly, units indicated the following as key relevant skills
(training/qualification/experience) for the functioning of a legislative Hansard and
language services unit:
• A bachelor’s degree, with one of the official languages as a major; or as some
put it, language skills (affinity for languages) and language-related
qualifications;
• Experience in editing, transcribing, recording, translating and interpreting,
preferably in a parliamentary environment;
• Impressive typing speed, at least 80 to 90 words/minute;
• Training in simultaneous interpreting.
A shortage of relevant skills in the Hansard and language services units is a concern
because it does impact on the quality of the services they have to deliver. Few
legislatures indicated that all these skills were available in their units. The National
60
Parliament and KwaZulu-Natal legislature indicated that the advanced skills they
were looking for were not available or were in short supply. The Northern Cape
legislature indicated that all skills were available but that constant training was
needed and other legislatures indicated that all skills were available, but in some
instances skills mentioned were lacking or unsatisfactory.
3.1. Policies, systems/processes, and procedures
3.1.1. Policies
Respondents highlighted a language policy as an important policy that each
legislative Hansard and language services unit should have. For most of the
legislatures though, this policy is pending. Regarding language policy, one of the
respondents commented as follows:
It is expected that Hansard (the published book) should appear in both isiZulu and English – i.e two separate books, two separate languages. We have not been able to do this as translations take up a huge amount of time. At other legislatures the practice is to produce the written record in the source language (the language in which a member of Parliament speaks when he delivers his speech), without any translation into another language OR to produce the written record in the source language with a translation into ENGLISH. The legislature wants a separate Hansard for isiZulu, a separate Hansard for English AND there is also an expectation to have a separate Hansard in Afrikaans. (We have only three Afrikaans-speaking MPLs in the legislature out of a total membership of 80.) Two opposing forces are at work here – the financial implications of having three Hansards (English/isiZulu/Afrikaans) instead of one (combination) and sensitivity to the treatment of minority languages.
[Respondent from a legislature]
Hansard and language services units have to render language support to members
who come from diverse experiences and backgrounds politically, linguistically,
culturally, racially and religiously. Language is but one way in which members
communicate and express themselves. It is important that this service is availed in
order to enable members to express themselves freely in their duties of exercising
oversight and engaging in law-making processes. This makes it important for
legislative institutions to adopt a language policy so as to give direction to all
language-related matters which include a focus on multilingualism.
61
Data shows that there is a need for legislatures to develop Hansard and language
services unit policies to specifically deal with inter-unit relations where, for instance,
other units require transcription, translation and interpretation services. Although
these required functions are rendered by the Hansard and language services units, it
is felt by the affected units that their use should be limited and prioritised to the
members and specifically for purposes of developing House debates or
parliamentary record. It is also felt by Hansard and language services units that
there needs to be strict compliance with such policies so as to avoid a situation
where Hansard and language services units spend their limited resources performing
other functions which result in backlogs when it comes to producing Hansards.
Furthermore, effective communication needs to happen from other units who request
the services of Hansard and Language Services, and, those units need to provide
essential documentation, reports and information timeously to the Hansard and
language services unit so as to ensure effective service delivery. It has been
mentioned by some respondents that legislatures need to develop, implement and
adopt policies geared towards staff promotions and the retention of scarce or critical
skills, particularly for the Hansard and language sector.
3.2. Systems/processes and procedures
As key challenges facing the unit, the majority of legislatures highlighted:
• the slow digitalisation process;
• non-compliance with Hansard procedures;
• lack of cooperation from some units in supplying necessary documentation
timeously in order to produce quality transcription;
• lack of communication when organising recordings, especially of outside
meetings, with regards to equipment and interpreting needs; as well as
• insufficient recording staff to cope with multiple meetings that are on schedule
for committees and for the administration.
The late submission of documents to Hansard and language services units has
especially been seen to have a negative impact on the services that the unit should
render to its clients. This in turn reflects negatively on the unit, with some
respondents commenting that, “late submission of documents or reports for
62
translations results in translations thereof being late, not a good reflection on the
section, although beyond its immediate control” and that “delivery of essential
services (recording and interpreting) is compromised”.
4. Facilities and equipment
4.1. Office environment facilities
Most legislatures have indicated having a combination of closed offices, mainly for
managers and supervisors; and open plan, mostly for staff. Privacy, quietness,
safety of information and equipment; close proximity and communication are factors
respondents have highlighted as contributing positively to the productivity of their
units. Key factors they have mentioned as having a negative effect on the
productivity of their units are noise levels either from the kitchen area, passage or
other units. Centralised air-conditioning was also mentioned as a serious problem
which affects productivity. Other negative factors mentioned in relation to office
environment included a lack of privacy for staff, as even telephone conversations can
be heard by everyone; a lack of office space, especially for keeping reference works
or copies of Hansard books.
4.2. Equipment: Specialised hardware and software
With regard to the availability and use of specialised hardware and software by
Hansard and language services units, there is a general trend towards digitalisation,
moving away from analogue systems. With the exception of the Western Cape
legislature which still makes use of the analogue system; all six other units have
indicated the availability and use of digital or specialised digital systems. For the
Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature this is however still in the process of installation
and forms part of its Chamber upgrade project. Variations were however seen in the
specialised software used by the legislative Hansard and language services units as
indicated below:
Gauteng KwaZulu-Natal Mpmalanga National Paliament
Northern Cape
Hardware Recording machine Archiving machine
Laniers for transcribers Speakers – Transcribers Earphones
For The Record server
Portable digital recorder Headsets
Footpedals
10x Digital recorders 10x TV
10x DVD Player 10x Transcription
kit with footpedals
Dig recording equipment
Interpreting equipment
Digital recorders
63
Software Quatro Pro for desktop archiving
For The Record Real-time Extract for accelerated
transcription
Digital recording and
translation system
Translation software
DZN software
Challenges and impact
The majority of Hansard and language services units indicated that they experienced
challenges in terms of a lack of facilities and information technology related
resources (IT). Respondents indicated that their IT units provided inadequate
backup to other units. They further reported that the IT unit was too slow to respond
to IT problems experienced by other units. Furthermore, IT was generally too short
staffed which resulted in a negative impact on outputs of other units. There was also
an indication that computer programmes and computers of especially Hansard and
language services units needed serious upgrading.
For one legislature in particular, the Hansard and language services unit is currently
experiencing an added challenge in terms of a transcription system used, which
impacts negatively on their service delivery. As the respondent put it:
The system that we use (For The Record) prevents us from transcribing audio while a debate is being recorded. We cannot access the audio that is being recorded at the time. Transcriptions can only commence once the House is adjourned and recording stops.
[Respondent from a legislature]
Another legislature mentioned a challenge of sharing a cable (specify) with all
legislature staff. This is experienced as impacting negatively on services that the
Hansard and language services unit has to deliver as it is found to be delaying
productivity as deadlines cannot be met and generally Hansard backlogs increase.
5. Human resources
5.1. Vacant posts
Vacant posts for the Hansard and language services units range among:
• language practitioners,
• senior recorders,
• senior transcribers,
64
• recording technicians,
• data typists, assistant editors,
• senior administrative officers, content advisors, and
• editors.
Respondents from different legislatures have indicated a challenge in filling these
vacant posts. There also seems to be a demand especially for the Afrikaans
language, as two institutions have specifically highlighted a need for a language
practitioner (English and Afrikaans) and transcriber (English and Afrikaans), for the
Gauteng legislature, and an assistant editor (Afrikaans), for the Mpumalanga
legislature.
The KwaZulu-Natal legislature is one institution that has indicated the highest
number of vacant posts for this unit, five in total. The National Assembly has
indicated four vacant posts as a result of high turnover. The Western Cape
legislature has indicated three vacant posts as a result of resignations – at least two
resignations and one unfunded position in the unit. The Gauteng legislature indicated
three vacant posts, two of which were said to be attracting no response from
advertisements. The reasons for this situation should be explored with a view to
addressing the situation.
Challenges and impact
Generally respondents highlighted the following challenges:
• High staff turnover as a result of workload;
• Staff shortages;
• A shortage of adequately experienced and skilled transcribers and language
practitioners;
• Difficulty in employing people with required skills and experience especially in
transcription.
The National Parliament in particular indicated a challenge of retaining technical skills
when it came to their Hansard and language services unit. One legislature indicated
that it needed an additional language practitioner so as to give effect to contributions
in multilingualism, as well as the promotion and enhancement of all languages.
65
Only two legislatures mentioned a crucial issue regarding sign language, in
mentioning that there was a lack of sign language interpreter services. No other
legislature mentioned it, which could suggest that sign language, at least within the
South African legislative sector, is still a matter to be explored. In the future, the
sector would need to ensure that it develops mechanisms of mainstreaming sign
language interpretation services.
All these challenges have a negative impact on support services rendered by
Hansard and language services units. They generally cause poor service delivery.
Staff shortages especially, are experienced as causing slow turnaround time for
services and this leads to managers having to perform operational functions instead
of focusing on strategic matters. One respondent from a legislature stated the
following:
[B]ecause of the legislature’s unwillingness to appoint a dedicated recording technician to this unit, managers are doing this job at the moment. It does not make sense to pay a manager a huge salary to do a technician’s job.
[Respondent from a legislature]
6. Financial resources
6.1. Challenges and impact
The majority of the legislatures, with the exception of National Parliament, highlighted
experiencing challenges as a result of inadequate financial resources. Most
legislatures stressed the need for financial resources to be improved or increased for
Hansard and language services functions. As one respondent put it,
…we are hamstrung by a provincial treasury who is populated by people who understand rands and cents, but who may not always get excited about new and revolutionary advances that are being made in technology related to language practice.
Conclusion and recommendations
From the analysis above, Hansard and language services units of legislative
institutions are trying their best to provide language-related support services to their
66
principals, despite the challenges, gaps and weaknesses noted. Their optimal
performance can be achieved if recommendations below are considered:
• All legislative institutions must address the issue of staff shortages by
filling vacant posts.
• Capacity building and skills development needs to be emphasised and
legislatures need to avail financial resources for staff to be employed,
trained, developed and retained.
• Information technology (IT) units also need to be capacitated with
financial and human resources, as well as with technical skills, so that
they are in a better position to serve the units that depend upon their
services for productive service delivery, of which the Hansard and
language services unit is an example.
• Legislatures need to do vigorous role clarifications so as to avoid a
situation where Hansard and language services units spend most of their
time, effort and financial resources performing functions other than what
are specific to Hansard and language services.
• Policies for staff promotions and retention of critical scarce skills relating
to language practitioners need to be reviewed.
• Mainstreaming of sign language interpretation services should be
considered.
• Uniform structural location of Hansard and language services should be
encouraged across all legislatures.
67
Section 3: Committee services
Committee services form part of the administrative support to assist members and
committees in fulfilling specific constitutional mandates of oversight, law-making and
public participation. On oversight specifically, which is where committee services
feature prominently across the legislative institutions, legislatures are mandated by
the Constitution to provide mechanisms of ensuring that the executive is held
accountable14
For committees and members to succeed in exercising oversight, a strong
administration comprising of capable, competent and professional staff is essential
so that effective support is provided. The section below provides an analytical report
of objectives; functions; policies, systems and procedures; facilities and equipment;
human resources; as well as financial resources relating to committee services.
1. Objectives and functions
Respondents from nine15 institutions indicated that the objectives of committee
services were to provide secretarial, administrative, advisory, logistical, legislative
and oversight support to committees. Some respondents responded as if they were
the ones performing the actual oversight and law-making. It should however be
understood that it is the members, through the committee system, who perform the
actual oversight, law-making and public participation functions, and that committee
services provide administrative support This support entails:
• coordinating committee activities such as meetings, public hearings, study
tours, fact-finding missions;
• compiling minutes, statistics and reports;
• processing questions and replies;
• tracking the implementation of House resolutions emanating from
committee decisions;
• giving procedural advice to chairpersons of committees;
• drafting strategic and operational plans for committees; and,
• drawing a legislative programme or calendar of activities.
14 Constitution Section 55 (2)(b)(i)
15 Responses were received from committee services units of nine legislative institutions. The Free
State legislature is the only legislative institution that did not submit a response for committee services.
68
The National Parliament, unlike provincial legislatures, has adopted a centralised
approach to its committee services. For instance, besides providing logistical,
secretarial and administrative support to committees, National Parliament committee
services also provide research and information services, language services
(interpreting and translating), and the production and publishing of the Hansard.
What this means essentially is that the National Parliament has centralised all
functional areas that broadly fall under parliamentary services under what it calls
“committee services”.
The committee services unit, in the case of KZNL, arranges for chairpersons of
committees to attend a South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) programme
every Sunday for purposes of profiling committee activities. This aspect is crucial in
enhancing public awareness, involvement and participation in the activities of the
legislature.
2. Skills16 relevant to and available in committee services units The relevant skills for committee services units to perform optimally are different for
each institution. What emerges however, as common skills for all institutions are
basic skills such as:
• report writing;
• minute taking;
• broad knowledge of government policy framework;
• basic research and policy analysis skills;
• computer literacy;
• communication skills; and
• coordination skills.
Some institutions such as the National Parliament, the Limpopo legislature and the
Gauteng legislature mentioned relevant qualifications/skills for committee services
as:
• a bachelor’s degree qualification;
• project management;
• procedural advice;
• advanced technical skills;
16 In the institutional audit questionnaire, skills were combined with categories: training, qualifications
and experience.
69
• advanced research skills; and also
• advanced policy and budget analysis skills.
The reasons for the identified differences should be explored.
The study reveals that few of the skills listed as relevant to the functioning of
committee services units are currently available. While most of the legislatures
indicated having all of the basic relevant skills, albeit at varying levels and with a
need to improve, the National Parliament gave an indication that advanced skills
were not available for the committee services functional area. This is worth noting
because it indicates the challenge faced by the South African legislative sector when
it comes to skills and staff capacity within the administration side of the legislative
institutions. This is a key area to which funding should be channelled so that the
sector’s administration side begins to have capable, competent, skilled and
professional staff to support members and committees properly.
3. Policies/processes, systems and procedures
3.1. Policies
The majority of institutions have policies/processes, systems and procedures in place
and these are policies such as the Constitution, Public Finance Management Act
(PFMA), Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), Treasury regulations and
procurement procedures applicable to all as policies, adopted by their committee
services units. Other relevant policies mentioned by respondents included the
following:
• rules of procedure
• a study tour policy/policy on study tours
• an oversight model for committees (KwaZulu-Natal legislature)
• facilities for members of the legislature
• a committee style manual (Mpumalanga)
• powers and privileges of parliamentary action (National Parliament)
• all policies applicable to parliamentary services (National Parliament)
• a policy governing funding of committee activities (National Parliament)
• standing rules relevant to committees
Only three institutions mentioned varying pending policies which included:
70
• a policy on international travel (Eastern Cape legislature);
• a policy on training of members for another institution (Limpopo legislature);
and
• a transport policy pertaining to committee coordinators (Western Cape
legislature).
For policies needed or needing improvement in order to allow committee services
units to perform optimally, respondents mentioned policies which fell between two
broad categories: functional-area-specific policies, as well as HR-related policies.
Functional-area-specific policies mentioned included:
• documented meeting procedures (Limpopo legislature);
• a committee style manual, oversight guide, electronic tracking system
(Mpumalanga legislature);
• a policy to govern parliamentary services (Northern Cape legislature); as well
as
• an oversight and accountability model (Western Cape legislature).
HR-related policies needed, or needing improvement, for optimal performance of
committee services units included:
• succession planning, career pathing, promotion policies (Gauteng legislature);
• retention of scarce or critical skills and promotion policies (National
Parliament);
• overtime policy so as to address the reality of committee coordinators having
to work beyond “normal” office hours, as members and committees
sometimes schedule meetings after hours (Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal
legislature); as well as
• telephone and cell phone policies (Mpumalanga).
3.2. Systems/processes and procedures
The systems/processes in place mentioned by committee services units vary from
institution to institution and they include:
• standing rules of procedure (Eastern Cape legislature)
• rules of procedure guide for committee coordinators (Eastern Cape
legislature)
• oversight procedure (Eastern Cape legislature)
• a unit procedure manual (Gauteng legislature)
71
• an induction manual for committee staff (KwaZulu-Natal legislature) good idea
• a business processes document (KwaZulu-Natal legislature)
• monthly performance reporting (KwaZulu-Natal legislature)
• quarterly reporting by committees (KwaZulu-Natal legislature)
• standing orders and rules of the legislature (Limpopo legislature)
• a committee style manual (Mpumalanga legislature)
• an oversight guide (CSF) (Mpumalanga legislature)
• a resolution tracking guide (Mpumalanga legislature) said to be “not very
effective”.
Only four institutions indicated varying pending systems and procedures, which
included the following:
• a members’ induction manual (KwaZulu-Natal legislature)
• performance reporting by committees (KwaZulu-Natal legislature)
• a digital legislative system (National Parliament)
• an oversight translation system (National Parliament)
• a document management system (North West); and
• an oversight guide for committee staff (Western Cape).
All respondents however, mentioned various systems and procedures that might
enhance optimal performance of committee services. These included the following:
• financial management systems and budgeting;
• a comprehensive procedure manual “based on all policies of the legislature
that will list the steps to be undertaken to effect policies” (Eastern Cape
legislature);
• electronic workflow systems;
• MS Project;
• an electronic document management system (Gauteng legislature);
• financial systems “to allow each committee coordinator the ability to monitor
the committee budget and compare it with the performance report” (KwaZulu-
Natal legislature)
• an electronic tracking system “to improve work of committees’ staff and
further strengthen the oversight function of committees” (Mpumalanga
legislature)
• a digital legislative system (National Parliament)
72
• a management development and performance appraisal system (North
West), as well as
• standard operating procedures (Western Cape legislature).
Challenges and impact
Challenges relating to systems and procedures, which committee services across
legislatures face are similar. Respondents expressed that the impact of such
challenges in systems and procedures, resulted in the following:
• delays in the execution of committee programmes;
• duplication of work as incorrect systems are applied;
• delayed implementation of action plans since there are no formalised systems
and procedures;
• under-utilisation of systems and inappropriate application procedures;
• and generally negative impact on the quality of work rendered by this
functional area.
4. Facilities and equipment
4.1. Office environment facilities
The majority of the respondents indicated having a combination seating
arrangement, mostly with closed offices for managers and supervisors and open plan
for committee coordinators and committee assistants. One institution in particular
indicated having “gross and extreme shortage of space to the extent that committee
coordinators have for a year had two or three of them sharing an office” (ECPL).
Office environmental factors that were mentioned by the respondents as contributing
to productivity were mostly linked with closed offices and they included:
• quietness,
• non-distraction with small talk and conversations with colleagues,
• privacy,
• an equipped office (that is, an office with basic office resources such as a
desktop, telephone and printer).
Office environmental factors that respondents regarded as negatively affecting
productivity were mostly linked with an open plan and included factors such as:
• noise levels;
• centralised air-conditioning temperatures causing discomfort and noise;
73
• walk-through disturbances; as well as
• limited office space available “leading to a situation where there has to be
sharing in certain instances, and this does not always augur well for the
attainment of required productivity levels in certain instances”, and it does not
allow for proper archiving of documents (ECPL).
4.2. Equipment: Specialised hardware and software
At least six institutions mentioned (digital) recording equipment as specialised
hardware their committee services units use to record committee meetings. One
institution mentioned the need for such hardware, as well as for digital camers to be
able to record evidence during committee site visits. At least two institutions, the
National Parliament and the Western Cape legislature mentioned interpreting booths
and equipment as part of specialised hardware used by their committee services
units.
The majority of the institutions indicated that the question relating to software was not
applicable to work done by committee services units. Only the National Parliament
mentioned software such as “[a] package used by researchers; library systems; as
well as translation systems” used by research, library and language services within
their committee services unit. It is to be remembered here that the National
Parliament has centralised and consolidated its parliamentary functional areas under
committee services. Only the North West legislature mentioned a financial software
system, mphatlalatsane/Oracle, used by their committee services unit.
There is general consensus across all nine institutions that for committee services
units to perform optimally, facilities and equipment are needed. Equipment needs
that were mentioned by most of the respondents as urgently needed for optimal
performance by committee services units were the following:
• laptops
• desktop computers
• Blackberries
• 3Gs
• cell phones
• scanners
• digital recording facilities for on-site and off-site committee meetings
• individual printers
74
• digital cameras
• all-in-one multipurpose colour copiers
• individual copying and fax machines “for senior managers dealing with
confidential and sensitive information”.
The National Parliament stands out as the only institution that mentioned having
“adequate” equipment and facilities for optimal performance of their committee
services. This could serve as a benchmark for the sector.
Challenges and impact
Almost all institutions have expressed difficulties as a result of not having resources
such as laptops, 3Gs and individual printers for committee coordinators. Some
legislatures indicated that they made use of outdated computers and equipments.
The issue of resource allocations to staff is critical and the approach of the allocation
of specific resources should be reviewed by legislatures. For instance, the
committee services unit is one unit that is key to offering direct support services to
members and committees of the legislature. For committee coordinators to perform
the secretarial, administrative and logistical support functions that support the
oversight role of members and committees, they need to be availed with resources
that will optimise their functioning.
Respondents indicated that the impact when these challenges are experienced, is
seen in:
• delays in the printing of documents for committee meetings;
• communication breakdown as employees are forced to share network cables;
• conflicts arising from sharing small office spaces which in turn impacts
negatively on team work;
• overall delay in meeting targets;
• minimum use of available facilities;
• late production of documents, as staff can only work when they are in the
office;
• backlogs;
• inability to retrieve documents quickly; and
75
• slow turnaround time, since servers are slow and in some legislatures, such
as the Western Cape legislature, are even shared with other government
departments that they are supposed to oversee.
5. Human resources
5.1. Vacant posts
Across the legislatures, committee services units have indicated twenty three
vacant posts which are mainly for committee coordinators and committee
assistants. The legislature with the highest number of vacancies is Gauteng, which
has eight vacancies for newly created positions, followed by the National Parliament.
Only one legislature highlighted the challenge of not being able to get quality
applications for vacancies in their committee services unit.
The approach by the Gauteng legislature in terms of its vacant posts for committee
coordinators should be noted for three factors: one, the level of seniority of the
positions; two, the large number of the posts; and three, the newness of the posts (all
eight were newly created). This could be an indication that the Gauteng legislature
has seen the value of this functional area to the work of members and committees in
terms of oversight and law-making. It could also be regarded as a mechanism to
both attract and retain committee coordinators by offering senior levels. In addition it
could be an indication that the legislative institutions are growing and developing to
such an extent that more skilled or specialised areas and fields are required and the
nature of the work of committees is also growing and developing, especially now
having to focus not just on oversight through analysis of documents, but also through
site visits, and, in all of this process, to ensure that the public is aware and involved
in the activities of committees.
The issue of high staff turnover mentioned especially by the National Parliament is
also to be considered. Why are legislative institutions experiencing high staff
turnovers? Why can the sector not retain skills and people once it has been able to
attract and recruit them? What is the sector failing to do that other sectors or
institutions are successfully doing? How can the sector improve? What is it that the
sector should do to improve and to be able to both attract and retain skills and
people?
Challenges and impact
76
Legilatures mentioned challenges relating to vacant positions. There is a further
challenge of high staff turnovers with continuous appointment of staff which leads to
instability within the majority of institutional units. Only the Limpopo legislature
indicated that it is currently on full staff compliment. Other HR-related challenges,
though mentioned by few legislatures, need to be highlighted here so that they are
known and mechanisms can then be developed to address them. They include the
inability of the sector to retain technical and skilled staff. This is highlighted
especially by the National Parliament. Also mentioned is a lack of capacity building
programmes and the inability of human resources units to arrange training
programmes that are relevant to the functional areas within which committee
coordinators work.
Respondents have mentioned that the result is seen in:
• overload of work on some staff;
• loss of concentration as committee coordinators have to leave meetings to
copy documents and assist the committee and departments instead of
concentrating;
• delays in filling vacancies, resulting at times in managers having to perform
operational functions instead of focusing on strategic matters;
• inadequate resourcing and inappropriate skills fit in place;
• low levels of staff morale;
• production of substandard work; and
• general insufficient delivery of the services that this functional area is
supposed to render to members and committees.
6. Financial resources
Challenges and impact
With the exception of the National Parliament, which has indicated having adequate
financial resources, the rest of the legislatures mentioned that their committee
services units have limited or inadequate budgetary provisions. This under-funding
as one respondent stated, is informed by an inadequate understanding of the work of
committee services within a parliamentary setting.
Non-payment of overtime work done by committee coordinators was also mentioned
as a challenge. There was an indication that committee coordinators especially, work
77
overtime on weekends and beyond office hours as members and committees tend to
schedule meetings after hours.
Conclusion and recommendations
The realities expressed above in terms of challenges experienced by committee
services units in legislative institutions are serious and should be viewed as such by
the sector. They do need to be addressed as a matter of urgency because they pose
a threat in undermining the sector’s strategic goals and objectives as outlined in the
sector policy. These challenges impact negatively on the support services this
functional area is supposed to provide. The case of committee services outlined
above actually reveals the weak position of the legislative administration as a support
to members and committees. The following recommendations are made:
• Legislative institutions need to ensure that they allocate more funds to
committee services units.
• Legislatures should invest in purchasing and allocating proper and
adequate equipment and resources that are key tools of trade for
committee coordinators.
• Capacity building and skills development programmes for committee
coordinators and committee assistants are a necessity to be prioritised.
• More committee services staff need to be employed, and at higher levels
than is currently the situation.
78
Section 4: House proceedings
A total of five questionnaires were received from the respondents in legislative House
proceedings units. They were received from the following legislatures: Mpumalanga,
the National Assembly, the Western Cape, Eastern Cape and Gauteng.
1. Objectives and functions
Two of the units indicated that their objectives were to synchronise work processes
related to procedural advice and guidance, human resources and finance. The rest
of the units reported that their objectives were to develop institutional memory,
facilitate House sittings, provide support to members and improve relations with
stakeholders.
With respect to functions, two units responded that they provided support to office
bearers and committees. The other respondents indicated that they:
• compile and process House publications,
• manage House plenaries,
• coordinate legislative process,
• manage questions,
• provide translation and interpreting services,
• provide advice and guidance on parliamentary proceedings and
• produce order papers.
2. Skills relevant for and available in House proceedings units
Two units listed the following as relevant skills for House proceedings units to
perform their functions optimally: a legal background, report writing and transcribing
skills. The rest of the respondents listed a variety of skills and these included:
• analytical skills,
• communication skills,
• presentation skills,
• knowledge of the Constitution and politics,
• legal drafting, as well as
• protocol-related skills.
The respondents indicated that most of these skills were available in their units.
79
3. Policies, systems and procedures
3.1. Policies
Regarding policies, respondents reported that a number of policies had been
adopted to guide the work of House proceedings units. These policies included
National Assembly rules, joint rules, performance management policy and security in
the Chamber policies. The respondents did not answer the question about pending
policies and therefore an analysis regarding pending policies could not be made.
3.2. Systems and procedures
The respondents listed a range of procedures they are responsible for implementing.
These include, but are not limited to the following: programme and order papers,
registers, procedural briefs for sitting of the House and briefing of presiding officers
prior to a sitting.
3.2.1. Pending systems
The respondents further reported that there were a number of pending systems and
these included a practices and procedural developments book, training materials and
the oversight model.
For the House proceedings units two legislatures indicated a need for mostly human
resources-related policies. For instance, two legislatures specifically highlighted a
need for performance management policies, while the other units mentioned a need
for:
• remuneration policy
• succession planning policy,
• acting policy
• overtime policy
• recruitment policy
• training and development policies.
Systems and procedures needed to enhance the performance of House proceedings
units varied. For instance, the respondents listed among others:
• procurement systems,
• records management systems,
• reporting systems, and
80
• data capturing systems
as systems and procedures that are required to enhance their performance.
Challenges and impact
The respondents highlighted a number of challenges which relate to facilities and
equipment, human resources, as well as financial resources. For instance, for
equipment-related challenges respondents reported about:
• the scarcity of laptops
• outdated PCs, and
• poor records management systems.
With respect to HR-related challenges, they listed delays in completing their work
due to staff shortages, and an inability to fill posts timeously. They also cited
budgetary constraints as some of the challenges. There was a general indication
that all these challenges impacted negatively on the performance of House
proceedings units.
For challenges relating to facilities, specifically office seating arrangements, three
units indicated that they were housed in a closed office environment; one unit is in an
open space. Most respondents reported that a closed office environment was
preferable. One unit prefers an individual office for each staff member.
With regard to challenges relating to human resources, respondents listed:
• shortages of staff resulting in delays in completing work;
• inability to fill posts;
• low staff morale; and
• lack of experience.
These resulted in:
• poor performance,
• low staff morale, and
• deadlines that are not met.
Conclusion and recommendations
81
House proceedings form the core of legislative work which includes law-making and
oversight. It is therefore desirable that these units be fully equipped and capacitated
to perform optimally. The institutional audit however, revealed that there are serious
challenges relating to a lack of policies; a lack of facilities and equipment; and
unsatisfactory office seating arrangements. It is recommended that these be
addressed as a matter of priority so as to enable these units to discharge their
constitutional responsibilities. The following recommendations apply:
• Policies relating to House proceedings need to be developed and
implemented.
• Facilities and equipment that are currently lacking in this area need to be
availed for House proceedings units to perform optimally.
82
Section 5: Research, information and library services
Research, information and library services
1. Objectives and functions
Research, information and library services play an important role in support of
committees and members. The units provide technical support to committees by
analysing strategic documents of departments and public entities such as annual
reports, annual performance plans, quarterly reports (financial and non-financial)
budget speeches and policies in general. It is from these activities that members and
committees are empowered for effective decision- and policy-making.
A total of eleven responses were received. In four of the responding institutions, the
research unit includes the library and information centre. In at least three responding
institutions, the research unit incorporates policy and knowledge management
functions.
All respondents indicated that they provide research support to members and
committees. The second most commonly stated objective was the performance of
oversight on the executive branches of government both in national and provincial
spheres of government. It should be noted however, that these units do not perform
oversight themselves; they provide support to members, who in turn perform
oversight functions. Seven of the respondents indicated that as part of oversight
support, they analyse departmental reports, Auditor-General’s reports and budget
vote reports.
The rest of the responses were diverse and wide ranging. Some units listed as
objectives, the organisation of workshops, management of information and
knowledge in the institution and provision of library services. It is however,
appreciated that while the mandate of the institutions may be the same, the support
that the various units provide to members may differ. The question to be asked is
whether the existence of differences enhances or hampers performance. Should the
research units throughout the sector have exactly the same objectives or is flexibility
and variety preferable? This question should be considered by the decision makers
in the sector.
83
It should also be noted that in addition to research work the responding units
indicated that they perform other related functions such as managing a library,
establishing media centres, organising workshops and developing policies. It is
acknowledged that many of these objectives are related to research.
The second question under the broad subject of mandate, related to the functions
these units perform. For some reason the respondents repeated the answers they
gave when reporting the objectives of their units. The inability of the respondents to
distinguish between objectives and functions should be interrogated, because the
strategy for any organisation or entity is informed by its objectives. Strategic plans
are drawn and implemented for organisations to achieve their goals. Because of the
importance associated with the objectives of any organisation it is desirable that
there be a common understanding of these objectives. The lack of clarity and shared
understanding about the objectives in the various research units is a cause for
concern. Both this and the inability of many of the respondents to distinguish
between objectives and functions are matters that should be addressed.
2. Policies, systems and procedures
The respondents were also asked a number of questions regarding adopted policies,
pending policies, procedures and practices. The responding units cited six adopted
policies:
• general library policy,
• library lending policy,
• collection development policy for artworks.
It is noted that at least four of these policies relate more to the library services than to
research. This means that within the sector, respondents report the existence of only
two research related policies. This point should be considered by decision makers in
the sector.
The eleven respondents reported that there were four pending policies. Two of these
related directly to research. They were the research unit policy and the research
services policy. The rest were library-services-related policies.
84
The units were also asked to provide information regarding procedures and practices
within their units. The respondents reported the existence of six such systems and
processes. These included:
• an electronic research and information request procedure,
• research services procedure manual,
• information retrieval and maintenance procedures, and
• library procedures.
Respondents indicated that there were four pending systems and four processes.
The questionnaire went on to ask respondents to list policies, systems and
procedures and equipment needed or that need to be improved for the units to
perform optimally. Seven respondents answered the question. The responses
received should inform the way forward with respect to the issue of service delivery
and performance management. Three institutions indicated that they needed
operational policies in order to perform optimally. One institution responded that all
policies such as human resources, financial administration, transport claims and
allowance policies should be in place to enhance performance.
Of all eleven institutions responding, only one (the Western Cape) detailed the
specific policies needed for the unit to perform optimally. The respondent listed the
following policies:
• improved remuneration policy,
• cell phone policy,
• laptop policy,
• policy on 3G-cards,
• parking policies,
• car allowance for researches to do field work,
• provision for medical assistance and hospitalisation when injured on duty
policy, and
• external communication strategy.
What makes the subject of policies critical is that one needs policies to operationalise
or give effect to plans and strategies.
85
The respondents were further asked to indicate systems and procedures that would
enable their units to perform optimally. Five respondents answered the question.
One institution responded that it would need the following systems to perform
optimally:
• the electronic statistical package SPSS,
• electronic request system for research and information services,
• a proper document management system,
• hard copy following systems and an archiving facility.
One institution mentioned systems and procedures relating to travel and substance
allowance.
Facilities and equipment
The next section dealt with equipment and facilities. Eight respondents answered the
question. One institution listed the following needs:
• colour printer,
• high speed PCs,
• cameras,
• direct connection to organisation’s server,
• binder,
• full-time cafeteria,
• wellness programme.
The rest of the institutions mentioned:
• pool cell phones,
• fax and canner combination,
• photocopier and
• wireless Internet and e-mail facilities.
From the answers received, it is not possible to know what equipment each institution
has or does not have. A more profound question though is what each institution
ought to have in terms of equipment in order to be able to perform optimally. Should
all the legislatures across the board have exactly the same equipment? What
informs the acquisition of equipment for staff? In an ideal work environment, what
86
kind of equipment should a researcher have in order to perform according to
expectations? These are all the questions that need to be considered going forward.
The respondents were asked to list challenges that are experienced by the units in
performing their functions. One institution reported that the research unit did not
have control over its budget. Budget was controlled by the IT unit. The same
institution reported that the remuneration policy was a challenge.
Reporting institutions generally listed staff shortages, a lack of mentoring, and
insufficient budget as challenges. One institution reported that researchers were
undervalued. Shortages and budgetary constraints seemed to be the most common
challenges.
The units were also asked to indicate the impact of the above challenges on their
performance. The majority of the respondents did not answer this question. Those
that responded reported that:
• it took longer to complete tasks,
• that they were unable to carry out identified projects,
• they gave inadequate support to members, and
• rendered poor service delivery and
• experienced low morale.
Questions were asked around the issue of the office environment. All respondents
answered the questions. Five respondents are accommodated in a closed office
environment; three are in open plan.
Respondents were further asked to state factors in their physical space or office
environment that contributed to the productivity of the units. Three respondents
indicated that they preferred closed offices. Two listed a quiet office environment as
the ideal.
The respondents were further asked to indicate factors in their physical space or
office environment that negatively affected the productivity of the units. Many units
did not respond to this question. Two respondents listed noise as a problem. The
open plan and small size of the offices were also mentioned as negatives. One
respondent indicated that central heating was a problem.
87
4. Human resources
4.1. Vacant posts
With respect to human resources, the respondents were asked to report on vacant
posts that have been vacant for three months or more and to give reasons for them
not being filled.
A total of seventeen vacancies were reported by the eleven respondents. They
included:
• three senior research positions,
• one senior librarian,
• an archivist,
• a knowledge management officer,
• eight researchers,
• a librarian, and
• an administration assistant.
A reporting unit with five vacancies for researchers did not provide reasons as to why
the positions have not been filled. One institution with three vacancies indicated that
there was a new organogram that had not yet been implemented, hence the existing
vacancies. Only two units reported budgetary constraints as the reason for not filling
the positions.
The existence of seventeen vacant posts for three months or more must be of
concern to the principals. Vacancies include three senior officials such as senior
researchers, senior librarian and a knowledge management officer.
The respondents were asked to indicate the skills that were relevant to the
functioning of their units. Ten respondents answered the question. Six respondents
listed analytical skills as the most relevant to the work of the unit. This was followed
by communications skills (five respondents). Others mentioned project management,
computer skills, communication skills and research methodology skills. Few of these
institutions listed research skills.
88
The respondents indicated that most of the skills they had listed in response to the
preceding answer were generally currently available. Generally, the institutions
reported that the following skills were available: analytical skills, library skills,
research, report writing, monitoring and evaluation.
Conclusion and recommendations
Notwithstanding the autonomy of the institutions, and their need to apply their
Constitutional mandate differently in accordance with their local conditions, there are
questions about the need for widely differing resource allocation strategies. What
informs the allocation of resources to these different institutions? It is therefore
recommended that a sectoral standard for the resourcing of these functions be
worked out.
The following recommendations are made:
• More funds need to be allocated for research, information and library
services in legislatures.
• Legislatures should invest in purchasing and allocating proper and
adequate equipment and resources that are key tools of trade for
researchers in particular.
• Capacity building and skills development programmes for researchers,
information officers and librarians are critical at this stage.
• More researchers and information officers are needed and should be
employed, and at higher levels than is currently the situation, as a matter
of urgency.
89
Theme conclusion
The theme above has provided analytical reports on five sections or functional areas,
namely legal services; Hansard and language services; committees; House
proceedings; and research, information and libraries. It has presented an analysis on
the current situation or the status quo of these five functional areas in terms of their
objectives and functions; policies, systems and procedures; facilities and IT; human
resources; as well as financial resources.
Generally, what emerges out of the analysis are gaps and weaknesses in all five
functional areas covered, such that the support to committees and members that is
supposed to be provided by these functional areas is weakened. In general, this
weakens to a large extent, the role of legislative institutions to fulfil their specific
constitutional mandates of law-making and oversight.
Recommendations to address the gaps and weaknesses have however been
provided under each functional area. These have also been consolidated with
recommendations from other sections covered in this document, and have been
located under the chapter on recommendations.
For the sector to strengthen capacity in the law-making and oversight functions of
legislatures, the following is recommended:
90
3.4. Building an effective and efficient legislative sector
Contextual background
This theme is comprised of eight sections which are functional areas. These are
human resources (HR); information communication technology (ICT); finance,
provisioning and supply chain management; communication services; security and
protocol; office of the Speaker; general services and housekeeping; as well as
National Council of Provinces. The sector policy is forthcoming about the need for
South African legislative institutions to be strengthened in order to continue
advancing the country’s representative democracy. Part of achieving this requires
that the legislative sector “fortify its domain” and assert itself as a separate but equal
and independent arm of state when it comes to relationships with the executive and
the judiciary.
All eight sections or functional areas below are key to ensuring that this is realised.
The sections provide analytical status quo summaries of all eight functional areas in
terms of their objectives and functions; policies, systems and procedures; facilities
and equipment; human resources; as well as financial resources. Recommendations
are also provided for the sector to consider in an effort to build an effective and
efficient legislative sector.
91
Section 1: Human resources (HR) The analysis given below reflects contributions by 19 respondents, from eight
legislatures. Contributions show sufficient consistency to allow some valid deductions
to be made.
1. Objectives and functions
The responses tended to blur objectives with functions; one respondent actually
equated the two (ECPL). There was, however a certain degree of consensus that
the HR function is there to support institutional objectives by supplying and managing
capacitated human capital. But the absence of reference to the constitutional
mandates given to the sector should be cause for concern. At the very least, referring
to the purpose for which the institution has been called into existence will suggest to
the various HR units that they serve a higher purpose; that they exist to add value to
the institution’s outcomes.
The amalgamation of HR with other functional entities is to be expected in smaller
institutions: Limpopo, for example, places human resources admin alongside the
administration of other capital resources, such as transport. The ECPL’s placement
of wellness as a separate function within the broad HR management division gives
tangible expression to the fairly wide-spread, current trend that HR is not just about
the traditional management of humans as resources, but that the human capital
should even be contented.
The responses regarding functions overall show that HR management in the sector
follows standard practice for the profession. As mentioned above, responses indicate
that thinking in this area is tending towards adding value to standard practice.
Further research into the efficacy of HR in the sector (especially in institutions in
which there appears to be forward thinking) would definitely help indicate best
practice for both this sector and the public sector as a whole in the future.
2. Policies, systems and procedures
Answers supplied by respondents created a massive table (see addendum).
Examination of other functional areas showed a measure of overlap – a single
92
example illustrates the point: The cell phone policy is variously “owned” by HR,
finance and ICT.
A summary list of the responses is given below. All policies, processes and systemsi
were categorised, and tabulated.
WCape KZN NCape National Gauteng Mpu ECape Limpopo
Conduct and disciplinary
8 2 2 4 2 2 8 1
Conditions of service and benefits
11 1 5 3 2 5 7 1
Deployment and planning
1 1 1
Capacitation 2 2 2 2 4 6 2 Employer/ employee relations
1 1 1
Statutory compliance
3 2 1 1 3 2
Recruitment and selection
1 1 3 2 4 1
Systems and planning
1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1
Performance 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 Wellness, etc. 2 Financial and other assistance
1 2
TOTAL 30 9 14 17 15 14 31 8
Such a summary invites further investigation, because mere quantity of policies does
not necessarily mean excellence in HR; yet it is one of the many possible indicators
of good practice.
The following questions can be included in the proposed further study: whether this
policy environment is an effective method of creating a happy and productive
workforce; whether there is balance according to current best practice, between
constraints imposed on the workforce and benefits accorded to it; whether institutions
would respond as they have done, were they given a list of policies, systems and
procedures, and asked to tick the boxes.
93
A number of respondents identified specific policies, either in need of development
or review. One respondent reported that it had originally imported DPSA policies en
masse, and now found them to be inappropriate. Additionally there were four areas
of concern:
• Policies needed regular review, to stay abreast of the statutory or
institutional changes.
• There was an urgent need for draft policies to be ratified (not under
HR’s control).
• There was a need for procedures emanating from all policies to be
developed.
• There was a need for IT hardware and software resources and for
their integration with HR and finance policies and procedures.
Respondents chose to include ICT systems and processes under this heading and
to express concerns with the functionality thereof. Concerns with ICT are widespread
across the sector.
Challenges
The challenges referred to by respondents are few in number, but far-reaching:
• HR policies, systems and processes become outdated as institutional
needs and practices change.
• HR policies, procedures and ICT systems lack the capacity to talk to
other systems for an integrated overall management infrastructure.
This is particularly felt in the interface between finance and HR.
• DPSA policies, systems and procedures are not applicable to the
needs of the legislature.
• Internal stakeholders ignore the systems set up to ensure effective
and/or efficient service delivery.
• The issue of micromanagement by senior management.
Impact
The answers are logically consistent with the challenges mentioned in the
previous question. The respondents are well aware of the importance and
overall impact of their work, and of the total impact on the institution when HR
goes wrong.
94
The responses can be categorised according to the following:
• Impact on staff:
• Low productivity;
• Difficulty in performing tasks and meeting deadlines;
• Information is difficult to access and process;
• Lack of certainty.
• Impact on relations between HR and other units:
• Policy gaps result in disciplinary processes taking much longer;
• Poor communications between HR and the rest of the institution;
• Poor service delivery;
• Inconsistent HR practice;
• Negative perception of HR unit;
• Clients perceive that they are not receiving support from HR;
• Line managers in other units refuse to take ownership of their HR processes.
• Impact on the institution:
• HR’s services are underutilised;
• HR’s goals as stated in the strategic plan are not achieved;
• Audit queries;
• Excellence not attainable.
3. Facilities and equipment
The eight responses were equally divided between those that used closed offices for
all staff in the unit (four) and those that used a mixed system – manager
accommodated in a closed office and staff in an open plan configuration. Since all
respondents were managers accommodated in closed offices the relative utility of the
two systems was in all probability not objectively evaluated; a representative sample
from every discipline needs to be polled on whether open plan or closed offices are
best. The breakdown is as follows:
95
• In favour of combination (manager in an office; staff in open plan) the advocates stated:
o Open plan facilitates teamwork;
o Ease of communication with colleagues;
o “Everyone becomes a supervisor”.
• Against the combination: Unacceptable noise levels, disturbances.
• Against closed offices respondents cited:
o Distances to walk;
o Difficulties with shared facilities;
o The need for meeting places; and
o The promotion of “silo mentalities”.
Those in favour of closed offices cited factors such as security, privacy, and
confidentiality. Additionally, there was the fact that those offices were clustered
together, and that there was an available meeting room for the unit.
If additional facilities are provided, respondents view closed offices as good practice
for the following reasons:
• HR staff handle highly confidential documents and issues, therefore it is essential that work space should be locked;
• HR working space must also protect confidential documents from the eyes of casual visitors and passers-by;
• HR officials need privacy to be able to conduct counselling interviews;
• But closed offices, to be acceptable, need to be balanced with the following:
o Offices need to be of a reasonable size;
o Equipment such as printers, faxes and scanners cannot be communal;
o Additional space for unit meetings needs to be provided;
o Proper ventilation in a closed office environment is essential.
3.1. Equipment needed or that needs to be improved
96
Respondents mostly focused on IT. The 19 respondents mentioned the following
classes of equipment (irrelevancies were filtered out):
Class of equipment Number of mentions
Computer hardware (various) 7 Computer software (various) 3 Computer networking and access 6 Office equipment 5 17Hygiene factors 2 Training facility, and other rooms 2 Upgrades of existing equipment and facilities
1
The emphasis on IT challenges suggests that people are not being allocated the
basic tools of the trade to allow them to work productively. Some of the software
mentioned has to do with integrated or smart business solutions. There is an
apparent expression that status, rather than functional need is behind the allocation
of laptop computers.
There was a large number of responses relating to IT-networking. Respondents
expressed a need for access to e-mail, with integrated calendars as they indicated a
need for better levels of communication with each other – not for recreational access
to the Internet. There is also an expressed need for laptops and 3G-cards, to enable
respondents to work remotely.
Challenges Types of challenges faced
Number of citations
Old/not maintained equipment 5 Absence of laptops 4 Inappropriate/non-integrated systems; systems not available
4
Lack of ICT capacity in HR staff 1 Dependence on unreliable colleagues 2 Other, insufficient or lacking facilities 3
Once again, ICT-related problems are cited more often than all others. The need for
laptops is mentioned by respondents from more than one institution.
Among other facilities mentioned above the absence of no training rooms is included
17 Herzberg, F. 1983. Hygiene factors are those factors that, if absent, cause demotivation, but when
present do not themselves motivate staff. Examples of hygiene factors are policy, meaning, work
condition, salary, status and security …
97
Impact
Types of consequences Number of times cited
Substandard service delivery 4
Targets not met 3 Lower productivity 3 Excellence thwarted 1 Unhappy employees 1 Unsafe environment 1
It is noted that ten responses refer to poor service delivery as a direct consequence
of the challenges cited above. All these responses, when read together with the
comments on the provision of facilities and equipment, show that budget constraints
enjoy higher institutional priority than the achievement of strategic objectives.
The question regarding long-term vacancies was poorly answered: One respondent
gives reasons why the post had been created; not why it was still vacant. It is noted
that most HR units were able to report zero vacancies (six units/sub-units from eight
institutions).
Responses No. of Posts vacant
No. of legislatures reporting the problem
Unfunded 7 2 New post/not yet advertised/not yet on structure*
22 4
Scarce skill 1 1 Recruitment procedures
5 1
The results should have shown that new unfunded posts were in the majority. Only
one response indicates a scarce skill as the cause of long-term vacancy.
“Recruitment procedures” is more likely to have been caused by bureaucracy in other
parts of the institution than by HR itself.
4. Skills and training needed
A quick scan through the questionnaires shows differing views and interpretations of
the question. Some responders interpreted the question within the parameters of the
professional knowledge and understanding of HR; others elected to discuss business
98
or offices skills necessary for the effective exercising of professional knowledge. The
table below indicates this divide.
Legislature Skills required Skills available
Western Cape 1
Exhaustive list of both HR professional skills and business or office skills
All skills present “but not evenly spread” throughout section
Western Cape 2
As above All skills present
KZN List only covers business or office skills
Most skills listed are available
NCape List of specific qualifications is given, ranging from formal tertiary to short course
All qualifications are listed as present
National 1 List of business skills is given, with, as addendum, “specialised HR skills”
Analytical skills are omitted from the second list
National 2 Cited formal tertiary qualification
No staff unqualified
GPL 1 Cites three categories: management (post grad); specialist (post grad); admin (certificated). Extensive experience also cited
Answer given does not relate to skills stated as required
GPL 2 As above All staff suitably qualified Mpumalanga 1
As above Certain items on list omitted
Mpumalanga 2
As above Skills available
Mpumalanga 3
Lists HR skill set Cites good experience with limited formal qualifications
Mpumalanga 4
Professional HR skills with business skills
Lists the business skills only
Eastern Cape 1
Lists both categories of skills All skills available
Eastern Cape 2
Lists the business skills; interesting addition – “legal skills”
All skills mentioned are available
Eastern Cape 3
Lists business or office skills, but includes “job evaluation” and “job analysis” in the mix.
Implies that report writing; OD; records management and the job evaluation and analysis are not present
Eastern Cape 4
“multi-disciplinary” Lists counselling and wellness-related skills
Limpopo 1 n/a n/a Limpopo 2 Skills mentioned all relate to
transport management Skills available
99
Given that the intention was to audit available resources, both qualitatively and
quantitatively, the data is not very helpful as an indicator of where best practice will
lie.
Although formal qualifications (both a tertiary qualification and specialist certificate
courses) are the starting point, effective HR practice also requires communication,
end-user computing, basic financial and business skills. Financial skills, such as
“financial management for non-financial managers”, along with knowledge of
integrated financial and HR software, are essential skills for HR practitioners.
Challenges
Categories of challenges cited Number of mentions
Unfilled positions or vacancies 6 Staff capacity and experience 3 Systems that are inappropriate or absent
2
High staff turnover 1 Absence of support from administration
1
Absence of strategic plans 1
The above table should be read with the table on skills required and available. There
is a logical progression: High turnover means there are either vacancies or brand
new staff without either specialist skills or insight into the legislative environment.
This in turn leads to inadequate service delivery, stressed and demotivated staff.
The absent or inappropriate systems refer to the policy/procedures environment,
which depends on the strategic environment. That, with the comment about a lack of
support from administration, confirms HR perceptions that they have to function in a
vacuum which is unhealthy if the institution and sector wishes to extract the best from
this strategically important support functional unit.
Impact
Consequences cited No. of citations
Performance related: missed targets; excellence thwarted; poor service delivery; lack of monitoring of processes
6
Staff overload 3 HR processes not adding value 1
100
HR not getting its due attention in the institution
1
Staying in touch with latest HR professional developments becomes impossible
1
The respondents are obviously concerned about their performance, service delivery
and about adding value to the institution. The table is an insightful analysis, which
could only have come from a hard core of dedicated professionals, desirous of
serving their institutions.If the sector wants added value from its human capital, it
must resource this functional area as a key strategic priority.
Challenges
Challenges cited No. of citations
Insufficient budget 10 Lack of funding means that the following must be sacrificed:
• Skills development programmes
• Recruitment and selection quality
• Wellness programmes
1
There was a comment which is quoted here verbatim: “PFMA contradicts the work of
the legislature”. It might be worthwhile asking the respondent concerned to explain
this statement, especially in the light of the repeated comment that finance and HR
systems need to be integrated and appropriate.
Comments regarding insufficient budgets for the HR unit also came from institutions
claiming to receive sufficient overall funding from the treasury, although it is clear
from the responses that HR genuinely has insufficient resources to perform essential
functions.
Impact
An analysis of the responses shows more or less the same level of consequence as
given for human capital, but with the following additional comments:
• Inadequate quality assurance; • Projects listed in the strategic plan not implemented; • Audit queries.
Recommendations.
101
• Clarity should be gained as to the working definitions of function and similar
“grey” terms. Thereafter, a sectoral HR policy to be developed and monitored
for the creation and use in strategic planning to establish consistency, sound
business practice, and best practice;
• A comparative study should be done into levels of job satisfaction and
motivation, to establish whether or not wellness programmes are a productive
use of resources;
• The HR Forum needs to be encouraged to use the data so far gleaned to:
o research and develop the policy environment within the sector;
o create a comprehensive list of policies, processes and systems;
o share those policies and systems, to avoid duplication.
• A standard should be set for the provision of ICT throughout the sector, as
this is a major bone of contention across functional areas and across
institutions.
• ICT should be informed about HR’s aims, purposes and concerns; and be
required to deliver the services required.
• Space planners need to consider HR’s unique needs regarding security,
privacy and confidentiality and take into account the concerns as indicated for
office standards.
• That, with the development of a formal legislative sector, the communal
economic muscle of the sector should be used to negotiate the creation of
appropriate formal training for all function areas.
• The wellness programmes indicated should be subjected to scrutiny to
ascertain whether they improve job satisfaction and/or employee motivation
levels. Legislatures without such programmes can serve as a control;
• The integration of IT hardware and software with HR and finance policies and
procedures should be considered.
102
Section 2: Information and communication technology This analysis reflects contributions by ten respondents from eight legislatures.
1. Objectives and functions
Only two institutions, National Parliament and Mpumalanga, referred to the
constitutional mandate in response to this question. The rest use business plans
and/or functions as objectives.
Of all the sets of objectives, National Parliament’s is the only one that places ICT in
the role of an important enabler, not a free-standing facility The other institutions
gave an impression that ICT exists for the sake of ICT, and for clients to use or not
use, as it suits them.
The broad breakdown of responses is as follows:
Categories of objectives cited (or inferred)
No. of citations
Manage systems (including development and maintenance)
9
Manage IT security 3 Support institutional business goals 2 Manage the unit 1 Provide MIS 1 ICT for public participation and cooperative government
1
Training 1
Functions described by all respondents fall into seven broad categories. Every
institution’s respondent(s) highlighted some, or all, of the following:
• Management of the ICT team
• IT functions
• Networks
• IT security
• Evaluations and advising on trends
• Acquisition of hardware and/or software
• IT strategy and policy.
2. Policies, systems and procedures
103
Below is a table reflecting responses received. It is clear that the table is deficient,
hence the recommendation that it be referred back to ICT policy managers for
updating. The task team lacks the technical background to draw in-depth inferences
from the summary and recommends that ICT specialists be consulted for an expert
opinion as to the comprehensiveness of this list.
Key: Policies in black; systems and/or processes in red A= adopted policy; P=pending policy; I=system/process in place
ECPL
GPL KZNL LPL ML NP NCPL
WCCP
3G HSDP use
P
3G remote access
P
Antivirus A Antivirus auto update system
I
Backup and recovery policy
A
Best practice/std IT ops
I P
Central shared address book
P
Central shared calendar
P
Data backup P Disaster recovery
A P
Easidesk helpdesk system
P
Electronic chamber systems
I
Electronic comms
A
E-mail I ERP system P P Enterprise content management system
P
Hardware standards
A
104
and retirement
Hardware standards and replacement
P
InMagic I Intranet P Internet A Internet and intranet
P
Information security
A
ICT policies (all) ***
A; I
ICT strategies
P
IT A A A P IT end user computing
P
IT (staff) A IT (members)
A
Jutastat I Laptop A A Laptop (members) amended
P
MSP P Networking infrastructure (delinking from SITA)
P
Operational procedures
I
Password Management
A
PC and printer allocation
A
PGWC policies
A
PERSAL and general helpdesk support
I
RAS security
A
Stats Package for Social Sciences (SPSS)
P
105
Technical requisitions
I
Telecomms system
I
Telephone management
P
UNIQUE update
I
Video conferencing
I I
Website I Web-mail P WEB-streaming
I
Windows operating system auto update
I
X-pert project resources management system
P
2.1. Policies to be improved, or needed
Legislature Policies to be improved
Eastern Cape • ICT policy Gauteng • Implementation of ITIL and COBIT KwaZulu-Natal • Acceptance of current and future IT policies Limpopo • Disaster recovery plan Mpumalanga • Revised ICT policy incorporating best practice such as
ITIL and COBIT National • - Northern Cape • Hardware replacement policy Western Cape • MSP
2.2. Systems and procedures to be improved
Legislature Systems/procedures
Eastern Cape • IT helpdesk system Gauteng • ITIL/COBIT implementation
• Notice period for set-up of technical equipment for meetings
KwaZulu-Natal • Procedures based on policies: e-mail; Internet; ECM; network logging on
Limpopo • Networks management system • Software/hardware asset management system • Projectors, screens, audio recording system in
boardrooms
106
Mpumalanga • COBIT/ITIL • Disaster recovery plan
National • - Northern Cape • Integrated business solution
• Webmail • Intranet • Shared central calendar • Shared central address book • Automated backup system
Western Cape • MSP While there are systems and policies of a strictly ICT nature in need of improvement
or development, there are also requirements for systems which will improve the
business productivity of institutions.It appears that these two strains suggest two sets
of issues:
• There are policies and procedures which are, or ought to be, under the control
of ICT managers, and which are in need of creation and/or review.
• There are policies and systems which ICT managers would like to see
implemented within their institutions which would enhance the operational
effectiveness of the organisation as a whole.
Challenges
Responses can be classed in three categories: end-users; staffing challenges;
systems and suppliers. Having analysed the responses of ICT’s internal clients, ICT
units are caught in the middle between uncooperative end-users and inadequate
systems, with poor service provider support.
Comments about end-users include:
• poorly or tardily communicated problems;
• inadequate use of systems.
Comments about systems and service providers are:
• The systems are stand-alone (not integrated).
• Data are duplicated or out-dated.
• Poor support from service providers.
• It is difficult, even for managers, to obtain the necessary additional skills so as
to maintain an effective service.
107
Impact
The impacts cited are serious:
• Poor performance and service delivery (National Parliament, Northern Cape,
Western Cape);
• Poor usage of systems; and
• Low computer literacy levels among end-users (KwaZulu-Natal).
3. Equipment and facilities
The respondents were equally divided as to closed offices (four institutions) and open
plan or a combination (four institutions).
Proponents of open plan configurations indicated enhanced teamwork and
opponents indicated the accompanying disadvantage of high noise levels.
3.1. Equipment needed or in need of improvement
The responses of four institutions focused on tools of the trade, that is, the fact that
there are gaps in the supply of basic needs. Throughout the sector, and across
functional areas, this seems to be a constant gap.
Challenges
Types of challenges faced Number of mentioned
Insufficient facilities, including space 2 Need for new/replacement hardware 5 Need for new/upgraded software and systems
2
From the responses received, it is clear that the greatest need is for new or upgraded
hardware. One can safely accept that upgraded software will accompany the
procurement and installation of new hardware.
Impact
Types of consequences Number of times cited
Unstable/slow networks 2 Time wasted fixing what should be replaced
1
User complaints/poor service delivery 3
108
ICT is an important resource, but if poor ICT service delivery and increased user
complaints are not satisfactorily addressed, employees will not be able to take their
institutions to a higher level.
4. Human resources
4.1. Vacant posts
The respondents, collectively, did not manage to put together a coherent picture
regarding vacancies. Their answers are summarised as follows:
• Two indicated that there were no vacancies.
• Four indicated that there were vacancies, but then gave the reasons as to
why the vacancies occurred; not the reasons why those vacancies had not
been filled.
• One respondent reported four vacancies, but gave, as the reason for their not
being filled “posts not approved”. That would, however, suggest that the posts
had not existed in the first place.
� One respondent reported six vacancies because of “financial constraints”.
5. Skills, training and qualifications
All respondents indicated a formal training requirement in IT. Only National
Parliament required tertiary qualifications. The rest specified or implied industry
certification. Additionally, three institutions indicated that general business/soft skills
were also a requirement.
In response to the second part of the question, four institutions indicated that they
had all the necessary skills. The rest indicated varying degrees of partial fulfilment of
requirements. Overall, the suggestion is that the IT skills levels are satisfactory.
Challenges
Categories of challenges cited Number of mentions
Understaffing 5 High staff turnover, with difficulties in recruitment and retention; finding
4
109
staff with right skills Obtaining additional skills 1
The data indicates high levels of understaffing and a high staff turn-over as major
challenges. Finding ICT-staff with appropriate skills is also a challenge. Retaining
skilled ICT personnel becomes a challenge for the following reasons:
• Staff are attracted by higher salaries in more popular cities
• Promotion:
o Internal deployment
o Staff are attracted by private sector employers.
• Outlying centres do not attract suitable applicants.
Impact
Consequences cited No. of citations
Long turnaround time before service delivery
4
Poor quality service delivery 3 Excellence not achieved 1 Objectives not attained 1 Demotivated and overloaded staff 1
Extended turnaround time resulting in poor service delivery are consequences which
respondents rated high.
Challenges
Challenges cited No. of citations
Insufficient funding 5 “MSP output will determine our output”
1
Institutions citing no challenges: 2
Most respondents (five), cited “insufficient funding” with two indicating “no
challenges”. With the ever-changing technology readily available the task team found
it hard to accept that two legislatures did not experience any challenges: The
indication that staff is overloaded makes it difficult to send them to regular skills
training and development.
Impact
110
Five respondents cited no impact;.one instance of strategic goals not being achieved
was recorded; one instance of vacancies not being filled; one instance of software
tools not being acquired; and one instance of “excellence not being possible”.
Conclusion and recommendations
The analysis of the ICT functional area indicates some gaps and weaknesses. To
address these such that ICT units of legislative institutions are strengthened to play
their supportive role, the following recommendations are made:
• ICT to be a centralised function of the sector, thus pooling high-level
expertise in one agency, for the good of all.
• Competent, skilled end-user support teams still to be housed in each
institution, to ensure trouble-shooting, problem-solving, hard- and
software installation and maintenance.
• All other ICT-related aspects can be handled by a central hub,
supported by a strong network.
• A centralised ICT function also to be enabled to address all the
challenges regarding funding, procurement and service level
agreements, high staff turnover, and recruitment.
• The ICT Forum to be encouraged to use the data so far gleaned, to:
• embark on its own study of the policy environment within the sector;
• create a comprehensive list of policies, processes and systems;
• share those polices and systems, and so avoid duplication.
• Space planners to consider the functional area’s unique needs
regarding security, teamwork, and climate control.
• All ICT staff within the sector toundergo in-service training –a
comprehensive introduction to the work of legislatures – to enable
111
employees to appreciate the important role they perform in the bigger
picture.
Section 3: Finance, provisioning and supply chain management
The analysis given below reflects contributions by 14 respondents in finance from
eight legislatures, and six respondents in procurement from six legislatures.
Contributions show sufficient consistency to allow some valid deductions to be made.
These conclusions confirm the trends discovered in the quantitative analysis made
using SPSS. The summary document of that analysis is recommended to the reader.
Objectives and functions
The broad breakdown of responses is as follows:
Categories of objectives cited (or inferred):
No. of citations:
PFMA compliance 4 Treasury regulations compliance 3 Other legal compliance 4 Variations on “sound financial management of institution”
9
Manage the function 7 Support the “core function” of the legislature
3
Asset management 2 Supply chain management 7 Service delivery 3 Travel and transport 2
It is possible that “sound financial management of the institution” implies statutory
compliance, especially with the PFMA. That being the case, the focus of all
respondents is overwhelmingly on compliance to best practice as currently defined.
The purchasing managers seemed to be unable to distinguish between objectives
and functions and/or current business plan. Their responses were more operationally
oriented. It was also noted that four institutions listed supply chain management
under finance, and not under procurement.
112
The statement of functions by the two functional areas were standard. No deviation
from normal accounting/finance or procurement practice was found. This finding was
what had been expected.
2. Policies, systems and procedures
A. Finance
Various finance units listed the following as policies, systems and procedures they
were responsible for implementing.
Key: Policies in black; systems and/or processes in red A=adopted policy; P=pending policy; I=system/process in place
KZN WCape NCape
National
Gauteng*
Mpu*
ECape
Limpopo
Accounting officer’s system
A
Acquisition plan
P
Allowances for political parties
A; I
Asset management strategy
A
Asset management (Hardcat)
I
Cell phone policy
I
Collating responses to I/A recommendations and A-G queries
I
Commitment register
I
Constituency allowance
A
Debt A Debt recovery
A; I A
Debtors A Declaration of interest policy/code
P
113
of ethics
Debtors management system
I
Enabling allowance
A
Enabling allowance (management (process and control map)
I
Enabling allowance service charter
P
Facilities for members with special needs
A; I
Finance and procedure manual
A
Finance and admin policies
A
Finance code
A
Finance code revision
P
Finance policies and procedures
A
Financial accounting (process map)
I
Financial and procurement
I
Financial policies
A
Financial regulations (PFMA)
A A A A
Financial regulations for Parliament and legislatures
P
Financial I I I
114
system (BAS)
Fixed assets A; I Fraud management policy
I
Fraud prevention strategy
A
Gifts, donations and sponsorships policy
P
Integrated financial system
P
Internal audit
I
Internal financial policies
A
Investment policy
P; P
Loss control system (LOCO)
P
Maintenance plan
P
LOGIS I Management accounting (process map)
I
Management and reporting of irregular expenditure
A
Members’ facilities handbook
A; I
Non-financial monitoring and evaluation
P
One-stop service centre for members
I
Online banking system
I
115
Oracle P Over-the-counter payments
P
Performing inspections
I
PERSAL I I Planning and monitoring
I
Policy on provisioning of goods and services
A; I
Post audit of financial transactions per month
I
Procurement policy
A
Procurement procedures
I
Procurement systems
I
Provincial parliament treasury directives
A
Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act
A
Revenue management
A A
Revenue system
I
Risk assessments
P
Risk datasbase
P
Risk management policy
P A
Risk management plan
I I I
S&T policy A SCM practices
I
116
(process map)
SCM policies and procedures
A; I P; P A
Secretarial allowance
A
Secretarial and constituency allowance management (process and control map)
I
Transport A Transport I Transfer payments
A
Updating of process and control maps
I
Voucher control (electronic)
P
N.B. Mpumalanga reported that all policies were under review
B. Procurement and supply chain management
Procurement and supply chain management units listed the following as policies,
systems and procedures they were responsible for implementing:
Key: Policies in black; systems and/or processes in red A=adopted policy; P=pending policy; I=system/process in place
North West
NCape National Gauteng* ECape Limpopo
Asset disposal policy
P
Asset management
P A P A
BBBEE P A Bids I Cell phone P A Chap 38 goods and services
I
Delegation of authority
I
117
Evaluation of tenders guide
I
E-procurement system (Intenda)
P
Ezeedex database
I
Implementation procedures Chap. 38
I
Oracle procurement module
I
Procurement
A A A
Procurement code of conduct
A
Revised procurement
P
SAP I SCM framework
SCM policy A P P A SCM procedures
P I
SCM workflow chart
I
Sourcing system
P
Transport management
P
Travel policy
A
Travel solution for staff
P
The following, are policies, systems and procedures mentioned by institutions as
needed for their optimal performance. A long and detailed list was supplied, which
can be broken down as follows:
Types of policy in need of
improvement
Number of citations
Policies dealing with the new 5
118
legislature finance management
Personnel-related policies 6
Business allowances 4
Other aspects of financial management/good governance. This section includes many references to integrated systems
21
Supply chain management 12
Service delivery 3
Asset management 3
Vendor management 1
Other, incl. transversal systems and BBBEE compliance
2
Respondents mentioned experiencing various challenges with regard to systems and procedures. The cited challenges can be classified as follows:
Types of challenge No. of citations
IT-related 4
Other staff and stakeholders ignoring/bypassing policies and procedures
12
Risk management 3
SCM 1
Documentation and processes 6
Staff shortages 1
Crime 1
The impact of the challenges mentioned above was identified as follows:
Impacts classified No. of citations:
Mistakes in budgeting and/or reporting
4
Unfair blame on unit for problems resulting from non-adherence to
2
119
procedures Risk management compromised 1 Delays in payments, services, etc. 8 Audit problems 4 Performance suffers 1 Failures in statutory and regulatory compliance
3
3. Equipment and facilities
3.1. Facilities: Office environment
Respondents showed an equal split between closed offices and combinations, seven
each. Open plan was seen as favouring team spirit and better communication. Better
communication was taken to mean colleagues shouting to one another from one side
of the room to the other. However, open plan was also seen as resulting in difficulty
in supervision.
Others, cognisant of the need for easy communications stressed the positive aspect
of offices close to one another (Gauteng). One respondent (KwaZulu-Natal),
however, encapsulated all the arguments most effectively, as mentioned above. Also
mentioned is the comment by ECPL, “One reason for open plan’s popularity with
management is that more staff can be crowded in.” Substantive issues were raised:
Whatever the seating plan, units and staff members need a meeting space; privacy;
productivity to go on; sufficient personal; and security.
For finance and procurement/SCM units to perform optimally, the following were
equipment mentioned as needed or that should be improved:
Summary: Needs: No. of citations
Attendance register should be phased out
1
Absence of first aid facilities 1 Cafeteria and other hygiene factors 2 ICT tools of the trade (includes laptops; PCs; copiers, printers, fax machines; scanners and tagging machine)
10
Office space (in same building – Eastern Cape)
2
Storage space 1 Furniture 1
120
From the above, it can be seen that there is a need for quality and the extension of
office space; ICT hardware (logical dots have not been connected: closed offices
means that more individual equipment is needed); laptops feature here too as people
want to be able to work off-site; software packages need to be in place and
operative. Three institutions reported a need for a scanner. In finance and
procurement, a scanner is a very basic tool of the trade, such that any unit dealing
with external hard copy (bank statements, invoices, quotations, etc.) needs a
scanner. The mention of copiers and fax machines in the Northern Cape was not
helpful: It needs to be ascertained whether there are any such machines there or
whether the unit needs more of them, as it would be impossible to run a procurement
unit without such facilities.
The following were challenges mentioned:
Types of challenges faced Number of mentioned
IT networks and IT support 4 Software 8 Filing systems (hard copy) 1 Space for staff – new and current 3 Inadequate training 1
Poor service delivery in IT is highlighted. The fact that staff feel that their workspace
is cramped or that there is no room for expansion should be cause for concern as
productivity, motivation and turnover are all impacted upon by this issue.
The impact of the challenges mentioned above is the following:
Types of consequences Number of times cited
Poor productivity 7 Physical chaos, resulting in poor records management and subsequent delays
2
Negatively impacted service delivery, reporting and accountability
4
Difficult/unreliable communication with senior management
1
Much of the negativity has been caused by non-provision of basic tools of the trade
since allocation of new equipment used favours the most senior people in the
institutions, and not the ones that need the equipment. Legislative institutions need
to understand that physical space in which to work and to store records is a basic
necessity and not a luxury.
121
4. Human resources
4.1. Vacant posts (finance/CFOs)
From the information supplied by respondents in finance units, there are long-
standing vacancies due to bureaucratic delays. Of the responding institutions, five
respondents from three legislatures have not had vacancies. Of the nine remaining
respondents, there have been a total of 40 vacancies in five legislatures. The
reasons given are as follows:
• New posts/organisational structure changes 22
• Unfunded posts 2
• “Being advertised/readvertised” 16
The 16 “being advertised posts” gives cause for concern: If the respondents had all
correctly read the question, then the conclusion to draw might be that posts take, on
average, much longer than three months to fill. It is very likely though, that many of
the respondents misinterpreted the question to mean all vacancies currently unfilled.
Vacant posts (Procurement/SCM)
Of the six responses from six institutions, two reported no vacancies. The rest
reported five vacancies between them. Of the five vacancies, there is only one which
provides certainty within the questionnaire’s parameters: A legislature reported that
the vacant post had been filled by an acting person for six months, only after which
period a decision would be made whether to advertise it.
4.2. Skills
4.2.1. Skills relevant to the functioning of CFO/finance units
Almost all respondents looked at the question in terms of professional skills: what
people should be able to do. This implied, and was sometimes explicitly said, that
staff must not only be qualified, but also experienced. One respondent (the Northern
Cape) listed appropriate tertiary qualifications. The Western Cape added a list of
122
competences (office skills and computer-literacy, for example) and attitudes such as
client-centredness.
4.2.2. Skills available within the unit (Finance/CFO)
Of the eight legislatures responding, four institutions (Gauteng, National Parliament,
the Northern Cape and Eastern Cape) reported that all staff were sufficiently skilled
by the standards implied in the previous question. Two additional institutions
(Mpumpalanga and North West) added a rider that there was always room for
improvement.
The Western Cape alone said that skills levels within the directorate or unit varied
among staff, and that skills development was needed.
4.2.3. Skills, training, qualifications or experience relevant to functioning of the
unit (Procurement/SCM)
A composite of the six respondents showed the same concern with skills as the
finance respondents. There was little interest in soft skills as only one respondent
referred to “negotiation skills”. There was consensus on the need for skills in related
areas and disciplines – especially financial management and accounting.
4.2.4. Skills available within the unit (Procurement/SCM)
There appears to be a tendency to indicate gaps by means of omission. Having
stated what skills were needed, two institutions implied that there were gaps in the
skills profile by listing the skills with omissions (Northern Cape and Eastern Cape).
These institutions need to be asked follow-up questions to ascertain what their
intended meaning was. Two institutions reported that the skills were present or that
there was ongoing training to close the skills gap (Gauteng and National Parliament).
North West was most revealing in indicating that all staff were formally qualified, but
not necessarily skilled in the functions to be productive.
Challenges relating to human resources were the following:
Categories of challenges cited Number of mentions
Staff shortages/overload 13 Functions not attended to because of 2
123
staff shortages IT-related challenges 1 Skills shortages/training needed 6 Unit structure not aligned to SCM 1 Staff graded at lower levels than other legislatures
1
The impact of the above-mentioned challenges is the following:
Consequences cited No. of citations
Poor performance; essential functions not performed; limited support given to institution; delays and inaccuracies
10
Staffing problems: overload and underutilisation; loss of morale; increased turnover
9
Poor compliance 1 Audit queries 1 Good name of institution coming into disrepute
1
5. Financial resources
5.1. Challenges and impact
All responding legislatures who cited challenges relating to funding or finance,
mentioned insufficient support to members, an inability to fill posts with the right
people or to tackle strategically important projects.
As a result of these challenges, respondents indicated that:
• posts would remain unfilled,
• projects would not be completed,
• unfunded activities would cease, and
• staff would seek greener pastures.
Conclusion and recommendations
The respondents in both functional areas, finance and procurement/supply chain management, were very clear about what they were there to do, and how to do it.
The only recommendations, therefore, that can be made have to do with the resource-challenges mentioned in the responses above:
• Money,
124
• Staff levels,
• Training,
• IT support,
• Support from senior management in the enforcement of policies and procedures, as well as
• Physical space.
125
Section 4: Communication services Communication services fall under sector policy outcomes. The sector policy is
forthcoming about the need for South African legislative institutions to be
strengthened in order to continue advancing the country’s successful representative
democracy. Part of achieving this requires that the legislative sector “fortify its
domain” and assert itself as a separate but equal and independent arm of state when
it comes to relationships with the executive and the judiciary. To do this effectively,
communication services play an important role in portraying the correct positive
image, content and messaging to both the internal and the external stakeholders,
clients and the public at large. The sector policy document does note the importance
of communication and information within the sector, and therefore the need for best
sectoral information and communication technology. It states:
A legislature is an information and communication intensive institution. It therefore requires the best possible information and communication technology (2007: 24).
The sector strategic framework gives recognition to the role of communication
services within the sector and highlights the strengthened positioning of the
legislative sector as key. This includes branding, communication, and production
capacity.
1. Objectives and functions
A total of seven legislative communication units responded. Most indicated a similar
objective of profiling, promoting and strengthening the image or identity of the
institution as well as communicating activities and programmes of legislatures. The
National Parliament puts it well in saying the objective of this unit is to provide
communication support to the legislature and oversight role.
At least three legislatures, the Mpumalanga, North West and Western Cape
legislatures, specifically referred to public participation as forming part of the
functions of communication services units. There was generally a common trend as
to the functions of these units, and these included:
• media liaison
• public relations/protocol
• corporate communication
126
• advertising, marketing and corporate branding
• graphic designing and publications.
The data gives an indication of slight variations in functions of communication
services units, with for example, the North West and Mpumalanga legislatures
mentioning petitions, specifically, as forming part of their functions. The Gauteng and
Western Cape legislatures added a specific function of events management to their
communication services.
2. Skills relevant for and available in communication services units
All seven institutions that responded mentioned similar standard communication-
related fields, qualifications and experience relevant for a legislative communication
services unit to function. Mostly these included the following:
• A degree, diploma or three-year qualification in communication/journalism
• Diploma in public relations
• Diploma or relevant qualification in web design and management
• Advertising and marketing and branding
• Media liaison
• Writing skills
• Internal/external communication
• Public relations
• Editing skills
• Graphic design
Other skills regarded by legislatures as relevant for the functioning of a legislative
communication services unit are the following:
• Experience in a government communication environment,
• Understanding political dynamics,
• Information management,
• Presentation and facilitation skills, as well as
• Project management.
This indicates the unique nature of the legislative sector and its demands on the kind
of support services it requires from a communication functional area. This also
shows how the communication functional area within the legislative environment is
127
being stretched to the limits, but in a positive way, which makes it grow, expand and
develop in a unique manner.
3. Policies, systems and procedures
Policies
Two legislatures indicated that they had adopted policies. It is a communication
strategy for the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, and a brand manual/corporate identity
manual for the National Parliament. Five legislatures mentioned having pending
communication functional area-related policies. For instance, for the Gauteng
legislature, it is a communication strategy and a memorabilia shop policy, while for
the KwaZulu-Natal legislature, it is a media policy. For the National Parliament it is
an editorial policy; a communication policy or strategy for the Northern Cape; and the
Western Cape legislature still has to develop both a communication strategy and a
public participation strategy. .
For optimal performance of communication services units of legislatures, four
institutions indicated a need for a communication policy or communication strategy.
The Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal legislatures indicated a need for a media
policy, with the KwaZulu-Natal legislature specifically stating that this media policy
should determine who is mandated to speak on behalf of the legislature. The
National Assembly and the North West legislature each indicated a need for an
editorial policy.
Also mentioned by communication services units of legislatures is a need for both
finance-related and human resources related policies. For instance the Mpumalanga
legislature indicated a need for a human resources policy; the KwaZulu-Natal
legislature specifically said it had a need for the filling in of all vacancies in the
communication services unit. National Parliament and the Mpumalanga and Western
Cape legislatures indicated a need for a procurement policy/supply chain
management policy, with the Western Cape legislature stating clearly a “need for
effective user-friendly procurement policy and service”.
3.2. Systems/processes and procedures
Communication services units of legislative institutions generally lack processes and
procedures. Only three legislatures responded, with the KwaZulu-Natal legislature
128
mentioning standard institutional processes, such as an annual performance plan
and an operational plan, which are not specific to the functional area of
communication; and the Gauteng legislature at least indicated having a
communication procedure manual.
The Western Cape legislature indicated having an innovative system, which makes
procurement processes easier for their communication unit, but which is not really a
communication-specific system. It is a supply chain management system adapted to
the needs of public participation. It enables the unit to pay service providers with
which it does business, but that have different payment methods, for example local
taxi operators and caterers who prefer to be paid in cash. Given that SCM has
procurement processes that are found to be challenging by most legislative units, this
system could be copied by other legislative institutions as well, especially by those
units that have to utilise services of service providers such as the ones given as
examples here.
Only two legislatures, the KwaZulu-Natal legislature and the National Parliament,
indicated having pending systems or processes, such as branding guidelines, as well
as a content management system and an editorial style guide respectively.
Systems and procedures needed or needing improvement for the optimal
performance of legislative communication services units varied. The Mpumalanga
legislature mentioned the challenge with supply chain management, stating a need
for SCM systems to be improved or put in place. The Western Cape felt their
financial procedures needed to improve for the communication unit to perform
optimally. At least the Gauteng and Northern Cape legislatures mentioned issues
that have more to do with internal institutional planning and coordination. For
instance, they stated a need for:
• structures systems and procedures;
• monitoring and evaluation systems and tools;
• systems to monitor and track alignment of the communication unit objectives
to the strategic plan;
• integrated planning guidelines;
• clear directives and procedures for people responsible for dissemination and
oversight, to ensure that information is provided timeously.
129
4. Facilities and equipment
4.1. Office environment facilities
There is a high indication of a combination of closed offices as well as open plan in
the legislative communication services units that responded. Closed offices are
usually allocated mainly to managers, while open plan is allocated to staff.
Factors mentioned as contributing to productivity were that open plan leads to
immediately shared information; promotes internal facilitation of information as issues
are discussed openly for better understanding. Closed offices were seen to be
creating a professional environment and were said to enhance the safety and
security of, especially, confidential information.
Office environmental factors which impacted negatively on productivity for legislative
communication services units included:
• noise-regarded as distracting for work that requires high levels of
concentration;
• lack of privacy;
• lack of appropriate furniture;
• lack of separate space for a unit that brings everything together;
• centralised air-conditioning that is either too hot or cold, creating discomfort
and noise;
• traffic;
• lack of meeting space or boardroom; as well as
• a “lack of respect as discussions just come up and people are forced to
listen”. A few respondents also raised a concern that open plan creates
supervision challenges.
The Western Cape communication unit has three dispersed offices in the building on
the ground floor among police officers. The respondent mentioned disturbances they
experience from the noise by the police officers. They also have no space where
they can hold meetings on the ground floor, and they do not have a boardroom and
the technology needed in order to provide the necessary communication services
support to the members and committees of the legislature.
4.2. Equipment: Specialised hardware and software
130
The majority of the institutions mentioned digital cameras as specialised hardware
used by their communication services units. The Mpumalanga legislature has a
communication services unit that is well equipped and resourced with specialised
hardware. For instance it listed having the following hardware:
• PowerBook Apple
• Digital cameras
• Video camera
• Editing video machine, and
• Specialised computers
• Ten professional field recorders and a digital camera
• DVD audio-visual recorder.
Following the Mpumalanga legislature in terms of well-resourced and equipped
communication services units is the National Parliament which has ten professional
field recorders and a digital camera. Again with specialised software availability in
legislative communication services units, the Mpumalanga legislature leads with the
following software:
• CorelDraw
• Freehand
• Photoshop
• InDesign
• Quark 7
• Studio Mix
• a 24 LCD Apple Display, and
• a 26 inch LCD screen.
Sectorally this places the Mpumalanga legislature in a leading role as far as
resource availability for communication services are concerned. It is followed
by the National Parliament and the Gauteng legislature which respectively have
Visio and Project Professional; as well as ACDSee for Graphics software in
their communication services units.
For optimal performance by legislative communication services units, institutions
indicated a need for a variety of standard and specialised hardware and software
resources. These range among:
• laptops,
131
• colour printers,
• graphics programmes,
• portable video equipment,
• digital cameras,
• desktop publishing hardware and software,
• printer for bulk printing, binding and trimming,
• access to e-mails and the Internet for out-of-office work,
• pool transport for the communication services units, and
• data projectors.
5. Human resources
5.1. Vacant posts
Only four legislative institutions gave an indication that they had vacant posts in their
communication services units. They are the National Parliament, the Gauteng,
Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal legislatures. Topping the list is the National
Parliament with a total of 14 vacant posts, followed by the Gauteng and Western
Cape legislatures, both six, and lastly, the KwaZulu-Natal legislature with four vacant
posts. Various reasons were given by the institutions for these vacant posts as can
be seen from the table below:
132
VA
CA
NT P
OSTS IN
LEG
ISLA
TIV
E C
OM
MU
NIC
ATIO
N S
ER
VIC
ES U
NIT
S
NA
TIO
NA
L
PA
RLIA
MEN
T
RE
ASO
N
GA
UTEN
G
RE
ASO
N
WESTER
N
CA
PE
RE
ASO
N
KW
AZU
LU
-N
ATA
L
RE
ASO
N
New
sroo
m s
peci
alis
t x2
New
pos
t E
lect
roni
c co
mm
unic
atio
n co
ordi
nato
r
HR
pr
oces
ses
of
eval
uatio
n
and
final
g
radi
ng,
then
re
crui
tmen
t.
Pub
lic
part
icip
atio
n of
ficer
s x2
Leng
thy
recr
uitm
ent
proc
ess
Snr
com
mun
icat
ion
offic
er:
Pub
licat
ion
Pen
ding
ad
optio
n of
or
gan
ogra
m
Info
rmat
ion
sour
cing
an
d de
velo
pmen
t co
ordi
nato
r X
9
New
pos
t In
tern
al
com
mun
icat
ion
coor
dina
tor
Sam
e
Med
ia p
rodu
ctio
n La
ck H
R
Snr
com
mun
icat
ion
offic
er: T
echn
ical
S
ame
Writ
er x
2
New
pos
t P
ublic
af
fairs
co
ordi
nato
r S
ame
Pet
ition
s of
ficer
(R
easo
n no
t g
iven
) S
nr c
omm
unic
atio
n of
ficer
: Web
site
S
ame
Cop
y ed
itor
N
ew p
ost
Sen
ior
med
ia
offic
er
Pro
cess
at
in
terv
iew
sta
ges
P
etiti
ons
man
ager
(R
easo
n no
t g
iven
) M
edia
lia
ison
of
ficer
R
esig
ned
N
ew p
ost
Med
ia m
anag
er
(Rea
son
not
giv
en)
Com
mun
icat
ion
man
ager
(R
easo
n no
t g
iven
)
133
6. Challenges and impact
6.1. Challenges
The majority of respondents mentioned a number of challenges that are listed below:
• Processes not clear;
• Seen as an add-on function which does not add value;
• Non-adoption of communication strategy and branding policy;
• A lack of consistency, and delays in approving terms of reference and proposals;
• No guidelines from which to work, projects are developed, but without clear guidelines on implementation;
• Delayed processes experienced as a result of procurement procedures that take too long;
• Delayed production of publications due to editing procedures;
• Inadequate and outdated IT equipment, for instance cannot load 2008 version of Windows;
• A lack of laptops, as a result confines people to offices, and yet they actually have to be working in the field;
• IT systems that do not allow people to send heavy or bigger information;
• A lack of content management systems which results in difficulty in managing and transferring content;
• Inadequate computers;
• A lack of IT skills in Public Participation;
• Clashes between communication and IT units regarding management and maintenance of institutional website;
• Staff resignations and loss of credible staff;
• Very slow HR processes;
• Low staff morale;
• High numbers of vacant posts and long time to fill vacant posts;
• A lack of human resources/staff shortages and a great need for additional staff;
• Inadequate budget for publications;
134
• Budget constraints/lack of funds;
• Unavailed budget for roll-out of implementation of key projects such as communication strategy and corporate branding campaigns; and
• Sufficient budget for present tasks, however a need for an increase:
Budget is available to carry out present tasks, however this is a downscaled public participation infrastructure and programme. Need to double the finances and the staff to a full compliment for all three units, petitions, public outreach, and communication.
6.2. Impact
The impact of the above-mentioned challenges on the performance of legislative
communication services units is negative. From the data, responses are listed
below, again not necessarily following a logical order of priority, but merely
representing the actual responses of respondents:
• Confusion is created;
• Unnecessary duplications are created, other units thinking they can do things better;
• New ideas are not considered;
• Processes are lengthened;
• Deadlines are not met and people do not take responsibility;
• Coordination and execution of communication activities is affected as the strategy is absent;
• Different branding approaches are used which affect the image of the legislature because branding of strategies are absent;
• Production gets delayed leading to outdated information;
• Staff work in limbo and without any movement according to the strategic plan;
• Only a minimum set of tasks and events can be performed;
• Communication unit staff are hindered from being proactive as infrastructure is slow and unaccommodating;
• Creativity is lost and progress hindered;
• Quality control is compromised and a lot of time is wasted by doing it manually;
135
• Websites are not updated and spelling mistakes abound, creating a bad impression on the image of the institution;
• Implementation is hampered;
• Staff is overworked as they compensate for vacant positions;
• Criticism and dissatisfaction with service delivery is expressed;
• A lot of activities are currently not being performed optimally, some having to be discontinued pending appointment of staff;
• Implementation of strategy is delayed;
• Late delivery and at times inability of service delivery;
• Continuous shifting of projects to next financial years; and
• Loss of focus.
7. Conclusion This institutional audit shows that legislatures are faced with a serious challenge
when it comes to providing basic resources essential for specialised functional areas.
It is imperative for the legislative sector to come up with a drastic plan of action or
turnaround strategy to begin to address these challenges. The following
recommendations are made:
• The sector should ensure that adequate funding is allocated for
essential resources in order to allow specialised functional areas to
perform optimally and to be in a better position to provide support
services to members and committees.
• Provision of essential resources should be made to communication
services in particular, since it is a critical functional area that is key to
portraying images of legislative institutions and the sector as a whole;
• Communication services; research and information services; as well
as information technology services should be encouraged to work in a
more collaborative approach that makes the concept of ICT more
effective.
136
• The sector approach should be entrenched and the sector should
ensure that all legislative institutions are provided with the necessary
funds and resources so that policies, systems, and resources are put
in place to enable the sector to play the role it needs to play in the
country.
Section 5: Security and protocol services
1. Objectives and functions
The information provided below was received from seven legislatures out of ten and
these are the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, the Northern Cape,
Western Cape and North West. Safety and security services within the legislature
render efficient safety and security for the members, staff and the buildings or
precinct. Security and protocol units in legislatures also maintain links with various
stakeholders and role-players both locally and internationally.
Moreover, it was mentioned that the security and protocol units exist to ensure
effective facilities’ management, records management and to develop and maintain a
security training capacity for the institution. Other responses pronounced the
objectives of security and protocol units as being not only the provision of safety and
security of members within the precinct of the institution but also outside, such as
during public participation or public hearings, or when delegates visit the legislatures.
In addition, security and protocol services units are responsible for monitoring and
coordinating the provision of security at the residential areas of the Speaker and
Deputy Speaker. In doing so, they ensure compliance with applicable laws such as
occupational health and safety regulations and the Compensation of Injuries on Duty
Act.
Seven respondents agreed that their specific functions related more precisely to the
following:
• The development of internal security policy and plans for the institution;
• Identification of security risks;
• Conducting investigations into security breaches;
137
• Facilitating vetting and security clearance of staff and potential service
providers;
• Conducting security awareness campaigns;
• Coordinating inter-parliamentary and international tours and visits;
• Attending to all matters relating to protocol.
As security and protocol units are entrusted with the duty of building the image of the
institution, they provide all logistical arrangements to ensure smooth sitting and
running of the legislature proceedings, as well as manage the movement of the mace
and ringing of the bells. Lastly, it was indicated that the units purchase corporate gifts
for the legislature, as well as ensure maintenances of the building in close working
relationship with the provincial Department of Public Works.
2. Systems, processes and procedures
2. Policies
Systems and processes within the legislatures in the seven provinces are guided and
operationalised within the policies. The majority of legislatures indicated that they had
a number of security and protocol policies which had been adopted. The Eastern
Cape, Western Cape and Gauteng legislatures indicated that they had a safety and
security policy pending or in draft form.
Adopted policies in the legislatures related to:
• security, procurement,
• financial management,
• smoking, contingency, and
• a business continuity plan in the case of the North West legislature.
A number of pending policies included:
• disaster management,
• occupational health,
• travel policy for staff in Limpopo,
• a security policy in the case of Gauteng, and the Eastern Cape,
• information security,
• a security audit and survey in the case of North West.
• policy around study tours by the Western Cape legislature,
138
• receiving foreign delegations, and
• involvement in international associations for staff and members.
2.2. Systems and procedures
Regarding systems and processes, all the legislatures, excluding the Western Cape,
indicated that they had:
• access control systems in place,
• national key points, and
• service level agreements with the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Few legislatures have physical security measures and CCTV and fire detectors in
place.
Challenges in relation to systems and procedures were identified. Many of these
challenges relate to IT system failure in many legislatures. These have implications
for access controls, lack of consistency from the services of SAPS, and non-
adherence to security policy and plan.
3. Facilities and equipment
All the security and protocol units have ICT and electronic facilities in place such as
desktop PCs, laptops with MS Office, e-mail facilities and Windows, printers, cell
phones and landline telephones. However, in almost all legislatures (excluding
Limpopo) it was found that there was one shared printer/fax machine for the entire
security services in the institution. Each security and protocol unit tended to have
either one or two telephones to use plus one cell phone. There were neither
individual printers nor fax machines mentioned in all legislatures except in Limpopo
where there were two. The Mpumalanga security and protocol services seemed to
be under-equipped, because following the data, there was only one laptop with no
printer or fax machine for the security unit. In addition, there was no telephone and
cell phone for the security and protocol unit. All the security sections in the
legislatures did not have a shredder machine, except for North West.
Legislatures recommended the following items for their security section:
• CCTV monitor,
• X-ray searching devices,
139
• Digital recording machine,
• Laminating machinem
• Video cameram
• CCTV access control,
• Laptop plus colour printers/scanners/fax machines,
• Shredders,
• 3Gs in order to access e-mails when out of the office, and
• X-ray searching devices.
It was indicated that a healthy working environment, such as a safe place and the
availability of required resources enhanced officials’ performance. In contrast,
redundant office furniture and non-functioning equipment affected productivity, as
well as proper management of information. In order to improve the working
environment and increase staff morale, it was therefore recommended that office
furniture should be acquired in offices where this was lacking.
4. Human resources
4.1. Vacant posts
A number of posts are not filled in a few legislative security services. The following
table provides some vacancies:
Legislature Vacant position
Eastern Cape Senior administration officer
Gauteng Security coordinator
North West Three protection services officers
Western Cape Office manager
The skills mentioned as applicable in the security services in the legislatures were:
• communication skills,
• computer literacy skills,
• risk and project management skills,
• training for national key points,
• public relations skills,
• administration skills,
140
• writing skills,
• security management skills, and
• fire prevention skills.
The following expertise and skills were identified as needed in some areas of the
security and protocol services:
• Investigations skills,
• Risk management,
• Project management,
• Treat and risk analysis skills,
• System advanced security standards,
• Computer literacy skills,
• Policy writing skills,
• Waste management skills,
• Communication and presentation skills,
• Negotiation and problem-solving skills,
• Fire prevention,
• TSCM training,
• CCTV skills and
• Electronic security operation skills.
Indications are that the above skills (both applicable and needed) overlap and differ
from legislature to legislature. Skills training would need to be organised for staff
members working in the security and protocol services. For costs savings, it is
recommended that all legislatures’ staff be brought under one roof and be trained by
one training provider.
5. Challenges in security and protocol services
The following challenges were mentioned:
• The identified challenges in the Eastern Cape’s security services included a
senior administration officer who reports to the HR business unit instead of
directly to the senior manager in the security and protocol services;
• A lack of capacity in security management and/or shortage of staff within the
security sections;
141
• Incorrect placement of staff; thus forcing officials to perform duties outside the
job descriptions or scope of their employment.
It is recommended that the HR should limit the amount of work that can be
undertaken by security and protocol services, taking into consideration the capacity
of the unit to perform during the peak periods of work.
6. Financial resources
Three legislatures (Limpopo, the Northern Cape and North West) indicated
inadequate funding for the improvement of the existing physical security equipment
or a lack of dedicated budget for protection services as the major challenge. This
impacts negatively on the security services because it leads to poor service delivery.
It further leads to ineffective physical security measures which could lead to threats
and risks emerging, as well as delays in implementing the required measures. It is
recommended that security and protocol services be adequately resourced both
financially and in terms of skills and human resources personnel.
Recommendations
1. Minimum standards for functions and objectives;
2. Reporting lines to be streamlined within security and protocol services;
3. Human resources development strategy required;
4. Pending policies to be finalised;
5. Access control systems must be improved while a fire detection and alarm
system, emergency plan and high security locking system should be installed
urgently in legislatures where they are non-existent. Furthermore, all
legislatures should vet staff and service providers;
6. The location of both safety and security, and protocol services to be
streamlined.
142
Section 6: Office of the Speaker The office of the Speaker falls under the sector policy outcome “building a strong
legislature. This office is key in the legislative institutions’ role of advancing the
country’s successful representative democracy and in maintaining good relations with
the executive and the judiciary.
Another role of legislative institutions is exercising oversight, and also “identifying the
needs of the people; articulating their experiences and views and thus determining
the national political agenda”18. Offices of Speakers are key to ensuring that the
above is realised. However, findings of the institutional audit as far as the offices of
Speakers are concerned, reveal the need for offices of Speakers in all legislative
institutions, to be strengthened, capacitated with adequate staff, and well-resourced
in order to empower them to lead and govern effectively within the sector first, and in
relating with other arms of state and institutions external to the sector. Below is an
analytical summary of responses from offices of Speakers in legislative institutions.
Responses were received from only four out of the ten legislative institutions. These
are the Limpopo, Mpumalanga and North West legislatures as well as the National
Parliament. The responses were filled in and submitted by people who occupy
different positions within offices of Speakers. This poses a challenge and has an
impact on the analysis that can be extracted from the data. It makes it difficult to
compare and see trends from even the very few responses that have been received.
The responses largely reflect objectives and functions pertaining more to the
positions of the the manager, head of office or coordinator operating within an office
of the Speaker. Not enough data refers directly to the role of the office of the
Speaker per se.
1. Objectives and functions
There were various ways in which respondents understood the objectives and
functions of the offices of Speakers. These included:
• the provision of political leadership and direction;
• enhancing and improving the core functions of the legislature which
were law-making, oversight and public participation;
18 Sector Policy and Strategic Framework. 2007.
143
• overseeing the performance of the functions of the legislature; as well
as ensuring achievements with regard to the functions of the
legislature.
Other responses were more direct in pronouncing the objectives and functions of
offices of Speakers as being:
• to ensure that legislatures meet their constitutional mandate;
• ensuring that participatory democracy takes place;
• ensuring that legislatures were sufficiently capacitated to hold the
executive arm of government accountable.
As indicated above, specific functions mentioned related more to positions of the
different officials within offices of the Speaker than to the offices of the Speaker as
such. At least two responses linked specific functions of the office of the Speaker to
the Speaker. The two respondents indicated these functions as being:
• to chair the Rules Committee;
• to preside over legislature sittings;
• to ensure that sectoral parliaments take place;
• to ensure the effective running of the legislature; as well as
• to establish cooperation and participation inter-governmentally.
2. Skills relevant for and available in offices of the Speaker
Respondents mentioned a variety of skills they deemed as relevant for the optimal
functioning of offices of the Speaker, however, this was again more aligned to what
the different officials within offices of Speaker do. Generally, respondents indicated
that these skills were available, albeit in differing degrees and with room for
improvement. These skills include:
• public relations;
• computer literacy;
• events management;
• protocol and etiquette;
• report writing;
• office administration and financial management.
For other officials, relevant skills for offices of Speaker are:
144
• research,
• corporate governance,
• legislation and drafting,
• change management,
• project management, and
• an understanding of political dynamics and leadership.
3. Vacant posts
There was very little mentioned about vacant posts, with only two respondents
highlighting having vacant posts. For the one respondent these posts were office
manager, personal assistants to the Speaker and Deputy Speakers respectively, and
one vacant post for a media liaison officer. However no reasons were offered for
these vacant posts. Another respondent mentioned vacant posts for a
communication specialist and for an administrative secretary. The reasons for the
vacancies were the resignation of the incumbent for the communication specialist
post, and the reconsideration of the office structure for the administrative secretary
post.
3. Policies, systems and procedures
3.1. Policies
There was an indication that all parliamentary policies approved by the presiding
officers were deemed as adopted policies for offices of Speaker. One respondent
mentioned a specific policy, the Custodian of the Executive Authority of the
Legislature, as an adopted policy in their office of the Speaker. For this same
institution there was a pending procedure relating to the treasury role of the Speaker.
Another institution mentioned the document management system for the office of the
Speaker as a pending system. In terms of the treasury role of the Speaker, the
sector policy has noted the importance of this matter, particularly because of
weaknesses and constraints experienced by legislative institutions as a result of the
current funding model.
For offices of the Speaker to perform optimally, respondents mentioned that human
resources-related policies need to be reviewed, including those that apply specifically
to conditions of service. This is informed by the instability staff experience
145
particularly towards the end of the term as employees are on contracts attached to
the five-year term of the Speaker. One institution expressed a need for the leave
policy to be implemented more stringently.
3.2. Facilities and equipment
3.2.1. Equipment: Specialised hardware and software
Hardware and software was available in all offices of Speaker of the legislatures that
responded. At least two institutions mentioned a data projector as specialised
hardware used by the unit. No mention was made regarding specialised software
used by this unit. It is only one institution that expressed the need for computers to
be replaced as well as for more efficient use of technology such as integrated
communication tools that allow staff to access e-mails when not in the office.
3.2.2. Office environment facilities
At least two institutions mentioned shortages of office accommodation as an office
environmental factor that affects the productivity of the offices of Speaker to perform
their functions optimally. The scattered offices were highlighted as posing challenges
when it comes to supervision and monitoring the performance of staff by managers.
Conclusion and recommendations
There is a need for offices of Speaker in all legislative institutions to be strengthened,
capacitated with adequate staff, and well resourced in order to empower them to lead
and govern effectively within the sector and externally as they relate to other arms of
state and regional, continental and global bodies.
The following recommendations are made:
• The treasury role of the Speakers should be noted as an important
development that seeks to address weaknesses within the current
funding model by the Treasury;
• With respect to the current funding and budget model, the sector
needs to:
o facilitate common understanding by all legislative institutions;
o develop a common approach for all legislatures;
146
o ensure effective participation in the process, by all legislatures.
• The sector should entrench the idea and approach thus far taken of a
sector approach to all legislative institutions, and develop mechanisms
to align al institutions to this approach.
Section 7: Document management and general services Document management in the sector is clustered with a wide-ranging group of other
functional areas, most often those named “general services”. General services and
housekeeping are also not uniformly dealt with across the sector: Some institutions
include cleaning services under this heading, others place the cleaners under
“administration”.
There were, in any case, too few responses to separate document management and
administration from general services and to make an informed analysis. Such as was
received is reported on below:
1. Objectives and functions
Once again respondents confused the objectives and functions of their unit as
requested, resulting in inputs mainly mentioned, as has been consistently noted in
responses received across all functional areas and all institutions.
Legislature Objectives Functions
GPL • Institutional document management
• Legal compliance • Central print room services
• Print room service • Document management • Registry
KZNL • Administrative support • Custodian of institution’s
records
• Registry – records management, archiving
• Mail room • Stationery (members) • Supply information to
departments • Supplier liaison • Courier service liaison
NP • Control and administration of all documents and records of the institution
• Facilitate tablings • Administer PAIA • Distribution and archiving of
papers • Printing and reproduction of
147
documents • Binding • Conservation and
preservation of paper-based art effects and records
• Classification and registration of records
NCPL • Facilities management • Develop comprehensive
records management system
• Records management and registry
• Telephone management • Facilities management • Building maintenance
NWPL • Render protection, household and document services to members, staff and visitors
• Protection services • Document services • Household services
WCPP • Effectively, efficiently and economically manage our financial human and physical resources
• Efficient and effective support service to members and staff
• Maintain and improve support services to members and staff to enhance service delivery
• Switchboard • Registry, health and safety,
catering, etc. • House duties • Facilities booking • Building maintenance • Security
Functions allocated to the units at this level have become a bit of a mixture of
different types, and unit boundaries have blurred somewhat. For this question to be
clear, all legislatures should have submitted their organograms and should have
responded to the survey for a comprehensive comparison to have been possible.
It should be noted that the various permutations of document management (records
management, archiving,) enjoy more exposure here than the other functions. This is
because it has become a recognised profession with its own standards and
qualifications. As a result, the other functions appear to be over-shadowed in this
functional area report. As recorded in the table, NWPL also renders protection
services; NCPL events management; and the WCPP transport services in this
functional area.
Every institution, however, has the following functions: housekeeping, mail room,
telephone exchanges and photocopying functions, and the National Parliament has
mechanisms to manage compliance with the Promotion of Access to Information Act
148
(PAIA). Despite all this information, the few responses that were received did not
facilitate meaningful analysis.
2. Policies, systems and procedures
2.1. Policies
Of the six institutions, four (GPL, KZNL, NCPL and WCPP) had no formally adopted
policies in this area. Three institutions have a records management policy – two
approved, one pending. There are five policies pending in three institutions. It is not
clear, however, whether NWPL’s household and document management policy is
one policy or whether it refers to two different policies – a household policy and a
document management policy.
TABLE
Institution Approved policies Pending policies Not approved, but operative
GPL - - - KZNL - • Records
management • Records
disposal
NP Records management
- -
NCPL - - Records management
NWPL Households and document management
• Security • Office allocation
WCPP - - -
Systems and procedures in place
This list is not comprehensive, as it does not necessarily relate to the functions listed
in the relevant table. Since the activities in this functional area are so strongly
administrative in nature, the need for support in the form of formalised administrative
procedures becomes paramount. Therefore, the task team suggests that if
institutions are functioning well, conventional practice needs formalisation.
TABLE
Institution Systems in place Pending Policies/systems to be
149
improved
GPL - - All policies need to be created
KZNL Registry procedures - Policies pending need to be approved Registry procedures
NP • Filing system • E-document
management • E-records
management • E-workflow • Document
management • Knowledge
management • E-faxing • E-signatures
- All current policies need to be updated/improved All systems and procedures need to be updated/improved
NCPL • Facilities maintenance guidelines and procedures
• Telephone management guidelines and procedures
• Telephone management system
• E-records management
Records management policy needs to be improved Systems mentioned need to be updated/improved
NWPL • Document management procedures
• Access procedures for goods entering and exiting
- Household, protection and document management security policy needs to be written Document management procedures need to be written
WCPP - - Records management E-document management system
Both GPL and WCPP cited the need for policies, procedures and systems to be
developed. NP has most policies and systems in place, but recognises the need to
regularly update these. KZNL indicates the pending policies, records management,
records disposal and registry procedures to be approved.
Challenges and impact
Two respondents stated that there was a need for compliance in some form:
KwaZulu-Natal reported a need for enforcement of compliance with registry
procedures, and NP cites “institutionalisation”. It is critical that stakeholders respect
150
due procedure in this area, or the undesirable situation of missing or lost documents
will prevail. Their concerns are therefore shared.
The impact of these challenges is far-ranging. In our knowledge-driven industry, good
document management is the foundation of all outcome achievement. NCPL cited
cumbersome document retrieval and NWPL security and safety compromised.
TABLE
Legislature Challenges experienced Impact
GPL - - KZNL No mechanism to ensure staff
understanding and compliance with registry procedures
-
NP Ensuring that procedures are adopted and institutionalised
Hampers building of an effective and efficient institution
NCPL • Transition from manual to electronic records management
• Upgrading of telephone management system
Cumbersome document retrieval
NWPL Security policy manual Uniformity, security and safety compromised
WCPP - -
3. Facilities and equipment
3.1. Office environmental facilities
Only two respondents (KZNL and NWPL) indicate closed offices, however, the task
team could not ascertain from the answer supplied whether the closed offices are
restricted to managers or whether it includes all other staff in this specific unit.
All other respondents suggested open plan (WCPP) or a combination (GPL, NP,
NCPL). When comparing responses regarding the positive and negative impact of
office space on productivity, the combination office space seems to be the most
conducive to productivity in that it enables easier (i) team work in the form of staff
seated close to one another; (ii) easy access to colleagues for corroboration of
facts/informal discussion of work-related issues.
The only new idea is that approachability of superiors is enhanced if they are in the
same open plan office as their subordinates. Open plan offices elicited the same
negative responses as other functional areas – the noise factor and poor air
conditioning.
151
Legislature Office space Contribute to productivity
Negatively affect productivity
GPL Closed office – manager and some others; Open plan – 6 service officers
Closed office- • Low noise levels • Temperature • Business tools
accessible • Accessibility of
copier, fax, printer, scanner
Open plan • Noise • Temperature too
high Both
• Cleaning during working hours
• Unresolved technology issues
KZNL Closed office Own office • Status • Privacy • Uninterrupted
concentration • Independence – little
supervision needed
Closed office • Monitoring, coordination
difficult • No access to offices of
absent colleagues
NP Combination Closed office – less destruction
Open plan – high noise levels
NCPL Combination Registry staff seated close to one another
• Non-operative air conditioning
• Limited space • Lack of foresight in
building design by planners
NWPL Closed office Sufficient lighting, ventilation and silence
Noise causes lack of concentration
WCPP Open plan • Team work • Easy access to
colleagues • Communication
with superiors encouraged by open plan
• Poor air conditioning • Noise • Space constraints
3.2. Equipment and facilities needed
Once again, in the case of the Western Cape, we are presented with an expressed
need for a hygiene factor. Besides the expected list of tools of the trade, the WCPP
also cited the need for, among others, a staff “cafeteria”, an indication of the need for
social interaction between staff members. Four legislatures indicated “none”, a
response which needs further clarification in the follow-up study.
Legislature Equipment and facilities
152
GPL - KZNL - NP - NCPL - NWPL Copiers; fax machines; shredders; franking machines; scanner;
telephones; cell phones; computers; X-ray machines; CCTV cameras; office space
WCPP Shredder; binder; cafeteria; individual printers for admin clerks; office space
Challenges and impact
NCPL cited a defective building as a challenge and listed the impact as the building
not habitable at times. The NCPL legislative building is a relatively new building. In a
follow-up project researchers should engage NCPL staff and structural engineers
involved in the design and building of the building and collectively seek a solution to
the problem.
GPL mentioned the non-payment of user licences as a challenge, one which falls
outside the control of the employee responsible for general services/document
management. As a result of the poor performance of another unit and due to no fault
on the general services unit’s side, the impact on them is quite significant.
The WCPP cited the lack of a staff room as a challenge resulting in no group
dynamics prevalent among staff and low staff morale.
Legislature Challenges Impact
GPL Non-payment of user licences; lack of training in software; limited success with roll out of LIMS
• Ineffective service delivery
• Fruitless expenditure KZNL Training on e-records
management system – [quality] Not yet a productivity problem, but impacts on quality
NP - - NCPL New building defective Building not habitable at all times NWPL Lack of office space Lack of space causes congestion
and tension WCPP • Slow network, Internet
and e-mail • No staff room
• Delays in responding to mail
• Deadlines missed • Hours to research
elementary tasks • No group dynamics
among staff • Low staff morale
4. Human resources
153
4.1. Vacant posts
Of the six legislatures that responded only three vacancies were listed. There were
no reasons cited for the concern in the length of time taken to fill the vacancy. Once
again the development of a new organogram wasstated as the reason for the
vacancy.
Legislature No. of vacancies Reasons given
GPL - KZNL 1 post New organogram NP - NCPL - NWPL - WCPP 2 posts Reasons were given for the
vacancy, not for the long time taken to fill the post
5. Skills/training/qualifications/experience relevant to functioning of unit
A wide range of skills, qualifications and experience was cited by the respondents.
To make sense of these differing requirements, however, requires that a more
extensive study be done of the functions performed in the various legislatures, and at
what level employees are operating. Most of the qualifications and skills required
refer to document/record management and archiving.
Because facilities and maintenance management is lumped under general services,
KZNL and the NCPL also indicated a need for training in these skills. In the NWPL
security resorts under this functional area hence the need for training in security
matters. Training in GG transport procedures and finance for non-financial managers
are skills required by the WCPP. Diverse functions will inevitably require diverse
skills as are indicated in the following table.
Legislature Qualifications
required Skills required Availability in
unit
GPL - • DMC training • SAS data warehouse • Workflow management
All
KZNL Three-year tertiary qualification in records management or related field plus experience
• Records management • Information and
knowledge management
• Archiving • Disposal management
Experience; training; some of the training
154
• Registry management NP B degree/diploma in
archiving/document management/info management/conservation/records management/public admin
All
NCPL • Facilities management • Maintenance
management • Project management • OHS • Computer literacy • Report writing • Management and
supervisory • Records management • Telephone management
• Facilities management
• Maintenance management
• Records management
• Project management
• OHASA • Computer
literacy • Management
and supervisory NWPL • Security
• Document management • Filing skills • Facilities management
security
WCPP • Basic computer literacy • Mail sending • GG transport training,
procedures, etc. • Financial management
for non-financial managers
• Customer focus • Communication • Planning and
organising
Computer literacy
6. Challenges
6.1. Challenges experienced in performing functions, and impact
The GPL and NWPL respondents indicated capacity constraints (human resources)
as a challenge with the resultant impact identified as: inefficiency, unnecessary work
pressure and staff being demotivated. Three respondents reported training gaps due
to a lack of financial resources, and one respondent cited the inconsistent application
of policies as challenges.
155
The impact of abovementioned challenges is clear: compromised service delivery
and low staff morale.
Legislature Challenges experienced Impact
GPL • Need for extra person in print room
• Absence of supervisor function in unit
• Slow production • Unnecessary work
pressure • Staff demotivated
KZNL Training for effective e-records management
-
NP - - NCPL Insufficient funds for relevant training Lack of relevant training NWPL Need for additional employees for
households, document and protection services
Lack of efficiency
WCPP • Inconsistent application of policies
• Staff not always up to date with new HR developments
Staff have no confidence in HR section
Challenges with regard to financial resources and the impact thereof
Four legislatures did not respond to this question or indicated “none”. NCPL and
NWPL reported insufficient funds for new offices; and NCPL the need for extra
funding to achieve the unit objectives.
Two important aspects regarding the impact thereof are highlighted: the fact that
strategic objectives cannot be met; and the dependency on the Department of Public
Works and the treasury to meet the legislatures’ needs.
Legislature FINANCIAL RESOURCES Impact
GPL - - KZNL - - NP - - NCPL Insufficient funds prevent
achievement of objectives Strategic objectives not met timeously
NWPL Insufficient funds for new offices/partitioning current offices
Dependency on public works and treasury
WCPP - -
Conclusion and recommendation
156
This combined functional area unit elicited more or less the same responses as
previous functional areas. What stands out, however, is the indication that all the
functions that have not been accommodated elsewhere are lumped in this area
(hence maybe the name “general services”): mail room service; GG transport
service; health and safety; security (CCTV cameras, X-ray machines).
The following recommendation is made:
• The current practice and situation of lumping all functions not accommodated
elsewhere in the legislative institutions should be reviewed and corrected.
(such functions as mail room services; GG transport services; health and
safety; security with CCTV cameras, X-ray machines).
Section 8: National Council of Provinces (NCOP) The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa consists of two Houses: the National
Assembly (NA) and the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). Therefore, the NCOP
is not a standalone institution but is a part of the larger body, Parliament.
Consequently, many of the support structures that exist in Parliament support both
the NA and NCOP. As a result, responses received from Parliament are to a large
extent relevant to both the NCOP and the NA.
In terms of responses from the NCOP and related units in the provincial legislatures,
five responses were received. One questionnaire was from the NCOP in Parliament
and the rest were from the Northern Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, and
Mpumalanga.
1. Objectives and functions
The questionnaire from the NCOP indicated that the role of the particular official
(head of office) is to support presiding officers in the execution of their political and
constitutional duties. It should be noted that the presiding officers consist of the
Speaker of the NA and the chairperson of the NCOP. This illustrates once more the
point made earlier that the NA and NCOP are integrated in their functions.
The other respondents reported that they liaised between the NCOP and their
legislatures. They are essentially responsible for the integration of NCOP work into
157
legislative activities. The Western Cape Provincial Legislature does not have a liaison
officer as is the case at other legislatures, but has a single committee coordinator
who has the NCOP as an additional responsibility.
As there are too many gaps in the data to allow analysis and further discussion, the
following is recommended:
• Uniform operational standards should be developed to guide the operations of
NCOP liaison officers at sectoral level.
Theme conclusion The theme above has provided analytical reports on the eight sections or functional
areas of human resources (HR); information and communication technology (ICT);
finance, provisioning and supply chain management; communication services;
security and protocol; office of the Speaker; general services and housekeeping; as
well as the National Council of Provinces. It has presented the status quo
summaries of these eight functional areas in terms of their objectives and functions;
policies, systems and procedures; facilities and IT; human resources; as well as
financial resources.
There are few successes and strengths, and once more, the challenge of the
autonomy and difference in legislative institutions emerges. For legislatures that do
have the above in certain areas, the task team cannot conclude as to their
effectiveness, such that they can be regarded as benchmarks in the sector. Mere
quantity of policies or systems or resources and so forth, does not necessarily mean
excellence and/or best practice. However, it is one of the many possible indicators of
good practice.
All the eight functional areas under this theme are key and play an important role in
building an effective and efficient legislative sector. The task team is of the view that
they should be strengthened such that they are able to provide effective support to
members and committees which would result in the sector fulfilling its role and
responsibility as outlined in the Constitution.
158
159
4. CONCLUSION
This institutional baseline audit has provided a comprehensive and objective
analytical report on the current situation of the legislative institutions of South Africa,
per functional area. It covered specific information that had to be audited such as
purpose and mandate; objectives and functions; skills and vacancies; policies,
systems and procedures; facilities and equipment; and human resources; as well as
financial resources of functional areas as linked to the four sector policy outcomes.
Through the analysis done, gaps, shortages, weaknesses and challenges in
functional areas across legislative institutions have been identified and
recommendations provided to address these in an effort to assist the sector to
develop.
The gaps, weaknesses and challenges identified in functional areas of legislative
institutions weaken the sector’s role of fulfilling constitutional mandates of law-
making, oversight and public participation.
With respect to law-making, the functional area of legal services showed gaps,
weaknesses and challenges of financial constraints; a lack of properly skilled human
resources who understand the legislative sector; a lack of necessary policies and
systems for legal units; a lack of tools of trade appropriate for legal personnel; as well
as the problem of being located under different structural programmes in different
legislatures with no proper role of this functional area during petitions and public
hearings.
In terms of oversight, key functional areas that render direct support services to
committees and members, such as Hansard and language services; committee
services; House proceedings; and research, information and library services, also
showed gaps, weaknesses and challenges. The findings showed staff shortages;
low staff morale; skills shortages; lack of policies and procedures; lack of tools of
trade appropriate for each of these functional areas; and inadequate funding for
these functional areas. This affects both the nature and quality of service delivery of
these areas in directly supporting committees and members to do proper, effective
and efficient oversight.
With regard to public participation, the functional area of public participation also
showed gaps, weaknesses and challenges. The location of public participation under
160
units dealing with communication and public relations, creates confusion on the role
of public participation as it is at times seen and treated as public relations. The lack
of IT systems that can help legislatures to disseminate information while also
ensuring public access to institutional information easily, is impacting negatively on
public participation. Also, the weakness and lack of succession, promotion,
retention, finance and supply chain management policies at institutional level weaken
public participation sections or units and result in an overall weak sectoral public
participation drive.
Pertaining to international relations, gaps and weaknesses are seen in the lack of
guiding policies; as well as the lack of dedicated sections or units specifically
responsible for international relations matters. A number of institutions have only one
person taking responsibility for this area and it is linked to the Secretary.
Pertaining to building an effective and efficient legislative sector, gaps,
weaknesses and challenges have been shown in functional areas key to this
outcome. These are human resources; ICT; finance and supply chain management;
communication services; security and protocol services; office of the Speaker; as well
as in document management and general services. All these functional areas are
challenged when it comes to funding; skills and capacity building programmes; staff
levels; and IT support. The silo approach currently evident, hampers progress
towards building effective and efficient legislative institutions. Lack of cooperation
and collaboration especially among key functional areas such as HR; finance and
supply chain management; communication services; research; as well as information
technology services, weaken the building of a strong sector such that legislative
institutions have not yet been able to effectively portray proper imaging and
messaging that distance them from other organs of state.
With the current autonomy and differences in legislative institutions, it has been
difficult to compare the institutions adequately, such that benchmarks within the
sector are rare, as these institutions vary in terms of the structures, terminology,
policies; systems; equipment, and procedures they use. Mere quantity of policies,
systems, resources, and so forth, does not necessarily mean excellence and/or best
practice, but it is one of the many possible indicators of good practice. The chapter
that follows, however, provides comprehensive recommendations that the task team
is making to the decision makers in the sector. One such recommendation is that for
sectoral benchmarking, the South African legislative sector should consider
161
legislative institutions at an international level who have managed to lay foundations
of key standardised and uniform sectoral structures, systems, policies, procedures,
and resources. In undertaking such an international benchmarking exercise, findings
of this institutional baseline audit, together with those of the assessment study done
by the European Commission, on South African legislative institutions, should be
considered and used as a foundation to inform the benchmarking exercise.
162
5. RECOMMENDATIONS Currently South African legislative institutions are autonomous and different. Their
autonomy and difference affects whatever comparative analysis and assessment can
be made concerning them. Overall though, this study confirms the finding of the
European Commission assessment study, that the ten legislative institutions do
possess capacity to deliver on their mandate. However, this institutional baseline
audit further reveals that the South African legislative institutions are at a weak level
and show gaps to a large degree, with regard to objectives and functions; policies,
systems and procedures; facilities and equipment; and human resources; as well as
financial resources.
Essentially this means benchmarks within the sector are rare. This can undermine
the good intentions of the legislative sector as set out in the sector policy and
strategic framework. For sectoral benchmarking, international legislative institutions
should be targeted through a separate comprehensive research project that would
focus solely on benchmarking, using findings of this audit as well as those of the
European Commission study as a foundation.
To address gaps, weaknesses and challenges identified in functional areas across
legislative institutions, the following comprehensive recommendations are made,
which could also serve as possible benchmarks for the sector. These
comprehensive recommendations are presented on functional areas linked to sector
policy outcomes.
163
Sector policy outcome: Theme 1: “Deepening and entrenching people-centred
democracy in South Africa”:
Public participation
• Gauteng’s new strategic projects listed below can be emulated by other
legislatures as this is a possible benchmark in the field of public participation
aimed at reaching the greater public:
o Rural outreach strategy: Mobile office to reach out to all Gauteng
citizens
o Social inclusion of people living with disabilities (comprehensive
approach)
o Strengthening local government on the petitions system (petitions
campaign).
• The gap at corporate/HR level regarding succession policies, promotion
policies and staff retention policies to be addressed as a matter of urgency by
tasking the HR Forum to develop these policies in collaboration with the
SALSA and all other forums.
• The gap at IT level regarding lack of user-friendly IT systems to be addressed
so as to facilitate easy public access to legislative institutions information.
The IT Forum can be tasked to develop an IT system that would benefit the
sector as a whole, the Gauteng legislature could be explored in this regard.
• The gap at finance and supply chain management level regarding the lack of
user-friendly procurement policy and procurement service should to be
seriously looked into. The CFOs Forum should be tasked with the project of
looking at a mechanism of adapting Treasury SCM policy and regulations to
suite the unique environment of the legislative sector.
• The gap with regard to a Braille machine could mean that the sector is not yet
reaching historically marginalised people and communities. The request by
KZNL for a Braille machine to translate documents for the blind can be
considered by other legislatures.
164
• The PPP Forum can be mandated by the SALSA to develop a more
comprehensive PPP policy/strategy that can be adapted by all legislatures.
Sector policy outcome: Theme 2: “Strengthening capacity to engage, participate in, and oversee international relations”
• Policies to be developed and to be uniform regarding international relations
matters which include study tours; receiving foreign delegations; involvement
in international associations; as well as gifts and donations.
• Legislative institutions to be encouraged to establish sections or units to
specifically take responsibility for all matters relating to institutional relations.
• Offices of Secretaries to be capacitated with skilled personnel who will pro-
actively assist the Secretary with strategic matters and risk management.
165
Sector policy outcome: Theme 3: “Strengthening capacity in law-making and oversight functions of legislatures” Legal services
• Location and role of legal services within the administration (human
resources and commitees) and during petitions and public hearings to be
clarified.
• Necessary policies and systems for the legal unit be identified, and a
guideline on the provision of legal services to be in place
• Legal services to be supplied with access to necessary tools of trade
applicable to this specialised area.
• A document management system to be implemented.
• Legislative review and monitoring and evaluation processes to be in
place.
• Main reasons for vacancies, the lack of properly skilled human resources
with understanding of the legislative sector to be addressed by running
accredited short courses for interested attorneys and advocates.
• Financial constraints should be addressed at top management level by
putting into place contingency fund that should reside in the Secretary’s
office which can be accessed when necessary. This will alleviate the
pressure currently experienced in this respect.
Hansard and language services
• All legislative institutions must address the issue of staff shortages by
filling vacant posts.
166
• Capacity building and skills development needs to be emphasised and
legislatures need to avail financial resources for staff to be employed,
trained, developed and retained.
• Information technology (IT) units also need to be capacitated with
financial and human resources, as well as with technical skills so that
they are in a better position to serve the units that depend upon their
services for productive service delivery, of which Hansard and language
services is an example.
• Legislatures need to do vigorous role clarifications so as to avoid a
situation where Hansard and language services units spend most of their
time, effort and financial resources performing functions other than what
are specific to Hansard and language services.
Committee services
• Legislative institutions need to ensure that they allocate more funds to
committee services units.
• Legislatures should invest in purchasing and allocating proper and
adequate equipment and resources that are key tools of trade for
committee coordinators.
• Capacity building and skills development programmes for committee
coordinators and committee assistants are a necessity to be prioritised.
• More committee services staff need to be employed, and at higher levels
than is currently the situation.
House proceedings
• Policies relating to House proceedings need to be developed and
implemented.
167
• Facilities and equipment that are currently lacking in this area need to be
availed for House proceedings to perform optimally.
Research, information and library services
• More funds need to be allocated for research, information and library
services in legislatures.
• Legislatures should invest in purchasing and allocating proper and
adequate equipment and resources that are key tools of trade for
researchers in particular.
• Capacity building and skills development programmes for researchers,
information officers and librarians are critical at this stage.
• More researchers and information officers are needed and should be
employed, and at higher levels than is currently the situation, as a matter
of urgency.
Sector policy outcome: Theme 4: “Building an efficient and effective legislative sector” Human resources (HR)
• A sectoral HR policy to be developed and monitored for the creation and use
in strategic planning to establish consistency, sound business practice, and
best practice.
• The HR Forum to be encouraged to use the data so far gleaned, to:
• research and develop the policy environment within the sector;
• create a comprehensive list of policies, processes and systems;
• share those policies and systems, to avoid duplication.
168
• A standard to be set for the provision of ICT through the sector, as this is a
major bone of contention across functional areas and across institutions.
• ICT to be informed about HR’s aims, purposes and concerns; and to be
required to deliver the services required.
• That space planners consider HR’s unique needs regarding security, privacy
and confidentiality and, taking into account the concerns as indicated,
recommend office standards.
• That, with the development of a formal legislative sector, the communal
economic muscle of the sector should be used to negotiate the creation of
appropriate formal training for all function areas.
Information communication technology (ICT)
• ICT be a centralised function of the sector, thus pooling high-level
expertise in one agency, for the good of all.
• Competent, skilled end-user support teams still to be housed in each
institution, to ensure trouble-shooting, problem-solving, hard-and
software installation and maintenance.
• All other ICT-related aspects can be handled by a central hub,
supported by a strong network.
• A centralised ICT function also be enabled to address all the
challenges regarding funding, procurement and service level
agreements, high staff turnover, and recruitment.
• The ICT Forum be encouraged to use the data so far gleaned, to:
• embark on its own study of the policy environment within the sector;
• create a comprehensive list of policies, processes and systems;
• share those polices and systems, and so avoid duplication.
169
• Space planners consider the functional area’s unique needs
regarding security, teamwork, and climate control.
• All ICT staff within the sector to undergo in-service training –
comprehensive introduction to the work of legislatures – to enable
employees to appreciate the important role they perform in the
bigger picture.
Finance, provisioning and supply chain management
Resource challenges relating to the aspects below should be addressed:
• Money
• Staff levels
• Training
• IT support
• Support from senior management in enforcement of policies and procedures
• Physical space.
Communication services
• Adequate funding to be allocated for essential resources in order to allow
specialised functional areas to perform optimally and to be in a better
position to provide support services to members and committees.
• Provision of essential resources to be made to communication services in
particular, since it is a critical functional area that is key to portraying
images of legislative institutions and the sector as a whole.
• Communication services; research and information services; as well as
information technology services to be encouraged to work in a more
collaborative approach that makes the concept of ICT more effective.
170
• The sector approach to be entrenched and the sector to ensure that all
legislative institutions are provided with the necessary funds and
resources so that policies, systems, and resources are put in place to
enable the sector to play the role it needs to play in the country.
Security and protocol services
• Reporting lines to be streamlined within security and protocol services.
• Human resources development strategy to be developed.
• Pending policies to be finalised.
• Access control systems to be improved while fire detection and alarm
system, emergency plan and high security locking system should be
installed urgently in legislatures where they are non-existent.
• The location of both safety and security, and protocol services to be
streamlined.
Office of the Speaker
• The treasury role of Speakers to be noted as an important development
that seeks to address weaknesses regarding the current funding model by
the Treasury.
• With respect to the current funding and budget model, the sector should
facilitate common understanding by all legislative institutions; to develop a
common approach for all legislatures; as well as to ensure that all
legislatures participate effectively in the process and no legislature is left
behind with regards to the funding model.
• The sector should deeply entrench to all legislative institutions, the idea
and approach thus far taken – a sector approach – to which all legislative
institutions need to align themselves.
171
Document management and general services
• The current situation of lumping all functions not accommodated
elsewhere in institutions be reviewed [mail room service; GG transport
service; health and safety; security (CCTV cameras, X-ray machines)].
National Council of Provinces
• Uniform operational standards should be developed to guide the
operations of NCOP liaison officers at sectoral level.
172
6. SOURCE MATERIAL 1. Sector Policy and Strategic Framework: South African Legislative Sector. 2007. 2. European Delegation to South Africa. 2007. Seven Assessment Study: Sector Policy Support Programme for the RSA Legislative Sector. 3. Constitution of the Republic of South Africa. 4. Budget statements of legislatures. 5. Annual reports of legislatures. 6. Audit reports of legislatures. 7. Organograms of legislatures.
Annexures
1
Nar
rativ
e: D
ata
from
bud
get
sta
tem
ents
for
prov
inci
al le
gis
latu
res.
1.
Tot
al B
udg
ets:
N.B
. A
ll s
um
s o
f m
oney thro
ughout th
is p
resenta
tion a
re in thousands o
f R
ands.
N
ote:
The
rea
son
for
the
Fre
e S
tate
and
Lim
popo
sta
rtin
g on
ly in
200
6/7
is th
at t
he b
udg
et s
tate
men
ts fo
r pr
evio
us y
ears
wer
e no
t ava
ilabl
e on
th
e N
atio
nal T
reas
ury
web
site
. Tim
e co
nstr
aint
s im
pose
d on
thi
s pr
ojec
t mad
e it
impo
ssib
le t
o ob
tain
bud
get
sta
tem
ents
for
prev
ious
yea
rs f
rom
ot
her
sour
ces.
2
The
Nat
iona
l Ass
embl
y is
not
rep
rese
nted
in th
is c
hart
, as
the
shee
r si
ze o
f its
bud
get
wou
ld d
isto
rt th
e ap
pear
ance
of t
he g
raph
. In
all c
ases
, th
e fig
ure
used
is th
at g
iven
at t
he v
ery
beg
inni
ng o
f th
e bu
dget
sta
tem
ent,
with
out
adju
stm
ents
of
any
kind
.
2.
Tota
l budgets
: M
em
bers
hip
T
he g
raph
bel
ow,
and
its a
ccom
pany
ing
tab
le s
how
an
incr
easi
ngly
con
verg
ent t
ende
ncy
with
in t
he s
ecto
r: fr
om a
wid
ely
disp
erse
d ra
nge
of
R18
59 0
00 p
er m
embe
r in
200
4/5
(min
imum
of
R11
8 00
0 pe
r m
embe
r to
a m
axim
um o
f R
1 97
7 00
0 pe
r m
embe
r), b
y 20
08/9
, the
ran
ge
has
narr
owed
to
R86
1 00
0 –
with
a s
ing
le o
utrid
er, t
he W
este
rn C
ape.
3.
Exp
endi
ture
on
parli
amen
tary
ser
vice
s
3
Whi
le th
e ab
ove
tota
ls w
ere
take
n st
raig
ht fr
om th
e un
edite
d/ad
just
ed b
udg
et s
tate
men
ts fo
r th
e cu
rren
t med
ium
ter
m e
xpen
ditu
re fr
amew
ork
(MT
EF
), w
hat f
ollo
ws
resu
lts fr
om a
mor
e rig
orou
s an
alys
is.
Sub
seq
uent
wor
k w
ith t
he d
ata
giv
en in
the
bud
get
sta
tem
ents
sho
ws
that
the
trea
tmen
t of
mem
bers
’ sal
arie
s (i.
e. d
irect
cha
rges
) va
ried
cons
ider
ably
fro
m le
gis
latu
re t
o le
gis
latu
re.
In o
rder
, the
refo
re, t
o fa
cilit
ate
com
paris
ons
whi
ch a
re m
ore
accu
rate
, the
inco
nsis
tent
trea
tmen
t19 o
f to
tal m
embe
rs’ r
emun
erat
ion
has
been
ad
just
ed f
or. R
atio
s an
d to
tals
hav
e th
en b
een
extr
acte
d fr
om t
hese
adj
uste
d am
ount
s.
a.
Wor
king
def
initi
on o
f “p
arlia
men
tary
ser
vice
s”
The
def
initi
on is
by
no m
eans
pre
scrip
tive,
but
mer
ely
atte
mpt
s to
fin
d a
shor
t phr
ase
to d
escr
ibe
the
prac
tice
by a
maj
ority
of
leg
isla
ture
s. M
ajor
ity p
ract
ice
incl
udes
the
follo
win
g bu
sine
ss u
nits
und
er th
e um
brel
la h
eadi
ng:
Libr
ary,
Res
earc
h an
d In
form
atio
n S
ervi
ces;
Hou
se P
roce
edin
gs;
Com
mitt
ee S
ervi
ces;
Leg
al S
ervi
ces;
NC
OP
; P
ublic
Par
ticip
atio
n an
d A
war
enes
s an
d H
ansa
rd a
nd L
ang
uag
es.
T
he v
ario
us in
stitu
tions
use
slig
htly
diff
eren
t ter
min
olog
y, b
ut, w
ith t
he h
elp
of t
he b
udg
et s
tate
men
ts,
it ha
s be
en p
ossi
ble
to
harm
onis
e pr
actic
e an
d bu
dget
ing.
An
assu
mpt
ion
is m
ade
that
“pa
rliam
enta
ry s
ervi
ces”
is c
lose
eno
ugh
to a
des
crip
tion
of
activ
ities
dire
ctly
sup
port
ing
the
over
all c
onst
itutio
nal m
anda
tes
to p
erm
it dr
awin
g a
n eq
uiva
lenc
e.
Bel
ow
is a
cha
rt fo
r 20
08/9
, sho
win
g t
he r
elat
ive
budg
ets
for
the
inst
itutio
ns:
19 Gauteng, for example completely omits any reference to members’ remuneration, while many others include it in total staff and in total staff remuneration, and one
legislature placed the direct charge under goods and services.
4
T
he N
atio
nal A
ssem
bly
budg
et s
tate
men
t di
d no
t pro
vide
the
nec
essa
ry d
etai
l to
perm
it its
incl
usio
n in
thi
s ch
art.
The
rel
evan
t da
ta ta
ble
is in
App
endi
x 3.
It
is,
how
ever
pos
sibl
e to
pla
ce a
ll in
stitu
tions
on
the
sam
e ch
art i
f pe
rcen
tag
es a
re c
ompa
red.
In th
is c
ase,
the
Nat
iona
l A
ssem
bly’
s pu
blic
aff
airs
sub
prog
ram
me
has
been
add
ed to
the
leg
isla
tion
and
over
sig
ht p
rogr
amm
e to
tal.
In li
ke m
anne
r, G
aute
ng’s
pro
gram
me,
par
liam
enta
ry o
pera
tions
, ha
s be
en a
dded
to th
e pr
ogra
mm
e In
form
atio
n an
d Li
aiso
n to
g
ive
an e
xact
eq
uiva
lent
of
prog
ram
me
desc
riptio
ns u
sed
in m
ost o
f th
e ot
her
prov
ince
s.
The
cha
rt is
giv
en b
elo
w. T
here
is a
spr
ead
of 1
8.27
% b
etw
een
the
Fre
e S
tate
’s 1
8.01
% a
nd t
he N
orth
ern
Cap
e’s
36.2
8%,
giv
ing
an
aver
age
perc
enta
ge
expe
nditu
re o
f 26
.73%
, with
a m
edia
n of
25.
82%
.
b.
E
xpen
ditu
re o
n pu
blic
par
ticip
atio
n an
d aw
aren
ess
5
The
dat
a fo
r th
is is
not
com
plet
e, a
s tw
o pr
ovin
ces
(the
Fre
e S
tate
and
Mpu
mal
ang
a) ju
st g
ive
an a
ggre
gat
ed t
otal
for
pa
rliam
enta
ry a
ctiv
ities
. Nev
erth
eles
s, th
e av
aila
ble
data
sho
ws
wid
e di
spar
ities
in th
e appare
nt
leve
l of
impo
rtan
ce g
iven
to t
his
part
icul
ar c
onst
itutio
nal m
anda
te.
Tab
le: P
erce
ntag
e of
tota
l bud
get
spe
nt o
n P
P&
A,
acco
rdin
g to
200
8/9
budg
et s
tate
men
ts
E
aste
rn
Cap
e F
ree
Sta
te
Gau
teng
K
waZ
ulu
N
atal
Li
mpo
po
Mpu
mal
ang
a N
orth
W
est
NC
ape
WC
ape
Nat
iona
l A
ssem
bly
Per
cent
age
expe
nditu
re
3.03
%
#DIV
/0!
0.97
%
14.5
9%
4.16
%
#DIV
/0!
3.66
%
9.82
%
7.89
%
4.24
%
Tota
l popula
tion
6,39
3,25
9 2,
855,
673
10,0
25,5
89
10,0
52,4
5 5 5,
302,
194
3,
675,
997
3,47
5,27 9
1,06
0,4
34
5,02
3,6
44
47,8
64,2
60
6
Popula
tion
density (per
sq.
km
) 37
.82
21.9
7 60
4.72
10
7.65
42
.07
47.9
6 32
.57
2.84
38
.80
39.1
9
Siz
e o
f are
a (km
²)
169,
063
130,
007
16,5
79
93,3
78
126,
04 2 76
,642
10
6,71
0 37
3,35
1 12
9,47
5 1,
221,
246
The
spr
ead
of p
erce
ntag
es v
arie
s fr
om G
aute
ng’s
0.9
7% to
Kw
aZul
u N
atal
’s 1
4.59
% o
f tot
al b
udg
et e
xpen
ditu
re o
n fa
cilit
atio
n of
pu
blic
invo
lvem
ent
in le
gis
lativ
e pr
oces
ses.
A
lthou
gh
it is
cle
ar th
at th
ere
are
cert
ain
varia
bles
influ
enci
ng t
he c
ost
of p
ublic
par
ticip
atio
n an
d aw
aren
ess,
suc
h as
phy
sica
l si
ze o
f th
e pr
ovin
ce, t
rans
port
infr
astr
uctu
re, u
rban
isat
ion
and
liter
acy,
the
se f
acto
rs a
re r
elat
ivel
y m
inor
. The
sim
ple
fact
is th
at
ther
e is
a r
easo
nabl
e as
sum
ptio
n th
at th
e le
vel o
f ex
pend
iture
on
an it
em in
dica
tes
the
rela
tive
impo
rtan
ce o
f th
at it
em;
Kw
aZul
u N
atal
pla
ces
a ve
ry h
igh
stra
teg
ic im
port
ance
on
the
third
con
stitu
tiona
l man
date
.
The
com
para
tive
size
s of
pro
vinc
es,
urba
nisa
tion,
lite
racy
leve
ls,
etc.
are
incl
uded
in A
ppen
dix
6 fo
r th
e pu
rpos
es o
f co
mpa
rison
.
c.
Sta
ffin
g ra
tios
(Clic
k he
re t
o g
o to
the
data
tabl
es):
A t
able
of
head
cou
nts
follo
ws.
Obv
ious
ly,
such
a f
igur
e is
not
ver
y re
veal
ing
in it
self.
It h
as t
here
fore
bee
n de
cide
d to
rel
ate
tota
l hea
d co
unts
to
tota
l mem
bers
hip,
and
to
the
num
ber
of le
gis
lativ
e co
mm
ittee
s (s
tand
ing,
por
tfolio
, et
c.)
– on
the
assu
mpt
ion
that
all
staf
f sup
port
the
m
embe
rshi
p an
d th
e ov
ersi
ght
func
tion,
eve
n in
dire
ctly
. S
ince
the
Tre
asur
y ha
s as
ked
for
it, t
he u
nit s
alar
y is
als
o co
mpa
red
acro
ss t
he s
ecto
r.
T
otal
hea
d co
unt a
cros
s th
e se
ctor
EC
ape
Fre
e
Sta
te
Gaute
ng
KZN
Lim
popo
Mpu
National
NW
N
Cape
WC
ape
237
140
302
176
150
139
1280
16
1 15
9 94
7
8
T
he a
bove
cha
rt c
ompa
ring
the
unit
sala
ry c
osts
of t
he v
ario
us le
gis
latu
res
is,
in it
self,
not
ver
y re
veal
ing
. In
the
first
pla
ce, t
he u
nit
cost
is a
n av
erag
e fo
r th
e en
tire
staf
f com
pone
nt, f
rom
the
prov
inci
al S
ecre
tary
dow
n.
Suc
h an
ave
rag
e co
uld
(tak
ing
arit
hmet
ic lo
gic
to
its m
ost
silly
ex
trem
e) h
ide
a hy
poth
etic
al s
ituat
ion
in w
hich
a s
ing
le p
erso
n ea
rned
the
entir
e am
ount
allo
cate
d to
“co
mpe
nsat
ion
of e
mpl
oyee
s.”
Sec
ondl
y, t
he lo
cal c
ost o
f liv
ing
is n
ot ta
ken
into
acc
ount
. Unt
il th
at is
fact
ored
in, t
here
can
be
little
poi
nt in
mak
ing
com
paris
ons.
F
inal
ly,
ever
y co
mpa
rativ
e su
rvey
has
to
stat
e (a
s is
her
e st
ated
) th
at e
ach
inst
itutio
n is
an
inde
pend
ent
body
, an
d th
eref
ore
has
the
right
to
neg
otia
te w
ith s
take
hold
ers
wha
teve
r sa
lary
str
uctu
res
it w
ishe
s to
. N
ever
thel
ess,
a m
ore
in-d
epth
com
paris
on is
indi
cate
d, e
spec
ially
if H
R u
nits
wan
t to
ben
chm
ark
sala
ries…
4.
Rec
omm
enda
tions
: a.
T
hat
a un
iform
app
roac
h to
fun
ding
for
leg
isla
ture
s be
ado
pted
. b.
T
hat
unifo
rm s
ecto
ral s
tand
ards
be
wor
ked
out w
ith r
egar
d to
the
prov
isio
n of
all
reso
urce
s: fi
nanc
ial,
hum
an, e
qui
pmen
t an
d fa
cilit
ies.
c.
T
hat,
reco
gni
sing
the
wor
k al
read
y do
ne b
y th
e fo
rum
, P
P&
A b
e fu
rthe
r m
ade
unifo
rm, t
o g
ive
the
nece
ssar
y le
vel o
f pr
iorit
y to
thi
s co
nstit
utio
nal m
anda
te.
9
d.
Tha
t a
sect
oral
sal
ary
benc
hmar
king
exe
rcis
e be
don
e, th
at in
clud
es r
ecog
nitio
n of
the
actu
al c
osts
of
livin
g in
the
var
ious
ca
pita
l citi
es, t
o en
sure
eq
uity
, an
d th
at e
ach
leg
isla
ture
be
reg
arde
d as
equ
ally
attr
activ
e.
10
Appendix
1: D
ata
table
for G
raph 1
.
G
aute
ng
E C
ape
KZN
M
PU
N
Cape
WC
ape
Nort
h
West
Fre
e
Sta
te
Lim
popo
2004/5
93
322
8554
9 95
00.9
50
513
3367
2 33
300
6525
5
2005/6
11
3064
99
371
1294
54
5668
5 42
265
4068
1 91
111
2006/7
12
9010
12
9039
13
9235
10
0109
51
819
4789
1 89
319
7392
8 96
844
2007/8
16
4866
15
4525
17
8081
52
911
6586
3 56
997
9729
8 82
064
1002
75
2008/9
20
0525
18
8094
20
8708
97
223
8838
6 63
690
1064
11
9524
0 11
5799
A
ppendix
2: D
ata
table
for G
raph 2
G
aute
ng
E C
ape
KZN
M
PU
N
Cape
WC
ape
Nort
h
West
Fre
e
Sta
te
Lim
popo
National
2004/5
B
udget:
M
em
bers
12
78.3
836
1357
.920
6 11
8.76
125
1683
.766
7 11
22.4
79
2.85
71
1977
.424
2 0
0 14
70.3
425
2005/6
B
udget:
M
em
bers
15
48.8
219
1577
.317
5 16
18.1
75
1889
.5
1408
.833
96
8.59
52
2760
.939
4 0
0 16
93.1
375
2006/7
B
udget:
M
em
bers
17
67.2
603
2048
.238
1 17
40.4
375
3336
.966
7 17
27.3
11
40.2
62
2706
.636
4 24
64.2
67
1976
.408
2 19
55.3
325
2007/8
B
udget:
M
em
bers
22
58.4
384
2452
.777
8 22
26.0
125
1763
.7
2195
.433
13
57.0
71
2948
.424
2 27
35.4
67
2046
.428
6 26
95.2
35
2008/9
B
udget:
M
em
bers
27
46.9
178
2985
.619
26
08.8
5 32
40.7
667
2946
.2
1516
.429
32
24.5
758
3174
.667
23
63.2
449
2896
.277
5
11
Appendix
3: D
ata
table
for G
raph 3
E
aste
rn
Cap
e F
ree
Sta
te
Gau
teng
K
waZ
ulu
N
atal
Li
mpo
po
Mpu
mal
ang
a N
orth
W
est
NC
ape
WC
ape
Tot
al B
udg
et
1552
86
8132
9 20
0525
16
8137
11
5799
84
056
9111
3 73
178
6369
0 P
arl.
serv
ices
41
572
1464
9 68
108
4898
7 27
882
2477
4 22
653
2655
0 15
131
Per
cent
age
of
tota
l bud
get
26
.77
18.0
1 33
.96
29.1
4 24
.08
29.4
7 24
.86
36.2
8 23
.76
Tot
al h
ead
coun
t 23
7 14
0 30
2 17
6 15
0 13
9
159
60
Par
l. se
rvic
es
head
cou
nt
64
48
163
70
57
61
58
34
A
ppendix
4: D
ata
table
for G
raphs 6
and 7
Easte
rn C
ape
Fre
e S
tate
G
aute
ng
Kw
aZulu
-Nata
l Lim
popo
Mpum
ala
nga
National
Nort
h W
est
NC
ape
WC
ape
Tot
al h
ead
coun
t 23
7 14
0 30
2 17
6 15
0 13
9 12
80
161
159
94
Mem
bers
63
30
73
80
49
30
40
0 33
30
42
M
embe
rshi
p le
ss
exec
utiv
e 52
19
62
69
38
19
34
9 22
19
31
S
taff
: Mem
bers
4.
6 7.
4 4.
9 2.
6 3.
9 7.
3 3.
7 7.
3 8.
4 3.
0 N
o. c
omm
ittee
s 15
8
17
23
14
13
46
17
18
14
Sta
ff: C
omm
ittee
s 15
.8
17.5
17
.8
7.7
10.7
10
.7
27.8
9.
5 8.
8 6.
7
Sta
ff u
nit c
ost
279.
24
262.
15
292.
33
298.
11
319.
76
287.
3 23
4.05
24
1.69
21
2.59
27
2.18
12
Appendix
5: Sum
mary
table
s fro
m the b
udget sta
tem
ents
for 2008/9
Easte
rn C
ape 2
008/9
2008
/9
allo
catio
n
Com
pens
atio
n of
em
ploy
ees
G&
S
Tra
nsfe
rs,
subs
idie
s,
etc.
Bui
ldin
gs
M&
E
Hea
d co
unt
Uni
t sa
lary
Pro
g. 1 A
dm
inis
tration
70012
38818
27956
3238
136
285.4
265
O
ffic
e of
the
Spe
aker
76
24
O
ffic
e of
the
Sec
reta
ry
8147
Fin
anci
al m
anag
emen
t
2432
3
Cor
pora
te s
ervi
ces
2618
0
Cat
erin
g
11
12
In
tern
al a
udit
977
S
afet
y
1649
Pro
g. 2 F
acilitie
s for
mem
bers
and p
olitical
part
ies
43702
8318
6242
29142
37
224.8
108
F
acili
ties
and
bene
fits
55
12
P
oliti
cal s
uppo
rt s
ervi
ces
38
190
Pro
g. 3 P
arlia
menta
ry
serv
ices
41572
19043
22529
64
297.5
469
Li
brar
y, r
esea
rch
and
info
S
ervi
ces
34
32
H
ouse
pro
ceed
ing
s
2780
Com
mitt
ee s
ervi
ces
22
735
Le
gal
ser
vice
s
2446
NC
OP
2216
Pub
lic p
artic
ipat
ion
and
awar
enes
s
4699
Han
sard
and
lang
.
3264
Pro
g. 4 D
irect charg
e
(mem
bers
' sala
ries)
32808
32808
52
630.9
231
13
155286
66179
56727
29142
3238
0
237
279.2
363
Note
: th
e 5
2 M
PLs a
re rem
oved fro
m this
sum
mary
Fre
e S
tate
2008/9
2008
/9
allo
catio
n
Com
pens
atio
n of
em
ploy
ees
G&
S
Tra
nsfe
rs,
subs
idie
s,
etc.
M
&E
S
oftw
are,
et
c.
Hea
d co
unt
Uni
t sa
lary
Pro
g. 1 A
dm
inis
tration
48117
22559
24058
1425
75
92
245.2
065
O
ffic
e of
the
Spe
aker
10
406
O
ffic
e of
the
Sec
reta
ry
1296
9
Fin
anci
al m
anag
emen
t
1313
1
Cor
pora
te s
ervi
ces
1161
1
Pro
g. 3 F
acilitie
s for m
em
bers
and
political part
ies
18563
1923
16640
0
#D
IV/0
!
F
acili
ties
and
bene
fits
1923
Pol
itica
l sup
port
ser
vice
s 16
640
Pro
g. 2 P
arlia
menta
ry s
erv
ices
14649
14142
362
145
48
294.6
25
Li
brar
y …
leg
isla
tion
and
over
sig
ht
12
665
Le
gal
1984
D
irect charg
e (m
em
bers
' sala
ries)
13911
19
732.1
579
81329
36701
26343
16640
1570
75
140
262.1
5
14
Gaute
ng 2
008/9
2008
/9
Allo
catio
n
Com
pens
atio
n of
em
ploy
ees
G&
S
Inte
rest
an
d re
nt
Bui
ldin
gs
M&
E
Sof
twar
e,
etc.
H
ead
coun
t U
nit
sala
ry
Pro
g. 1 P
olitical re
pre
senta
tion
35279
9501
25778
9
1055.6
67
M
anag
emen
t un
it
1030
6
Mem
bers
' fac
ilitie
s
2497
3
Pro
g. 2 O
ffic
e o
f th
e S
peaker
7031
3606
3425
9
400.6
667
Pro
g. 3 O
ffic
e o
f th
e S
ecre
tary
9642
4493
5149
9
499.2
222
Pro
g. 4 P
arlia
menta
ry o
pera
tions
36332
25679
10653
93
276.1
183
M
anag
emen
t
2584
6
Com
mitt
ees
64
62
P
roce
edin
gs
37
6
PP
P
19
55
N
CO
P
92
5
Lang
uag
e an
d H
ansa
rd
76
8
Pro
g. 5 ISS
41357
16449
23497
1411
74
222.2
838
M
anag
emen
t
1712
8
Fin
ance
2876
HR
6807
Adm
inis
trat
ion
14
196
P
rocu
rem
ent
35
0
Pro
g. 6 O
SS
39108
8076
27290
1002
2246
658
38
212.5
263
M
anag
emen
t
8221
Tec
hnol
ogy
12
282
D
ocs.
and
ser
vice
s
2069
Sec
urity
6709
15
B
uild
ing
man
agem
ent
98
27
Pro
g. 7 I&
L
31776
20479
11237
60
70
292.5
571
M
anag
emen
t
2093
1
Info
cen
tre
22
37
R
esea
rch
10
39
P
ublic
rel
atio
ns
75
69
200525
88283
418
5000
3657
718
302
292.3
278
Kw
aZulu
Nata
l 2008/9
2008
/9
allo
catio
n
Com
pens
atio
n of
em
ploy
ees
G&
S
Tra
nsfe
rs,
subs
idie
s,
etc.
Bui
ldin
gs
M&
E
Sof
twar
e,
etc.
H
ead
coun
t U
nit
sala
ry
Pro
g. 1
Adm
inis
tration
66118
31364
23300
2466
1124
4859
3005
106
295.8
868
O
ffic
e of
the
Spe
aker
1218
3
Off
ice
of th
e S
ecre
tary
5329
Fin
anci
al
man
agem
ent
17
500
C
orpo
rate
se
rvic
es
31
106
Pro
g.3
Facilitie
s for
mem
bers
and
political part
ies
53032
12789
40243
0
#D
IV/0
!
F
acili
ties
and
bene
fits
1278
9
Pol
itica
l sup
port
ser
vice
s 40
243
Pro
g. 2
Parl
iam
enta
ry
serv
ices
48987
21104
27883
70
301.4
857
16
Li
brar
y, r
esea
rch
and
info
se
rvic
es
3641
Hou
se p
roce
edin
gs
5310
Com
mitt
ee s
ervi
ces
7345
Leg
al s
ervi
ces
2850
NC
OP
11
04
P
ublic
par
ticip
atio
n an
d aw
aren
ess
2453
7
Han
sard
and
lang
. 42
00
Dir
ect C
harg
e
(mem
bers
' sala
ries)
40571
69
587.9
855
168137
52468
63972
42709
4859
3005
176
298.1
136
Lim
popo 2
008/9
2008
/9 a
lloca
tion
C
ompe
nsat
ion
of
empl
oyee
s G
&S
T
rans
fers
, su
bsid
ies,
et
c.
M
&E
S
oft
war
e,
etc.
Hea
d co
unt
Pro
g. 1 A
dm
inis
tration
45898
21840
17978
3200
2880
90
O
ffic
e of
the
Spe
aker
52
62
Off
ice
of th
e S
ecre
tary
34
67
Fin
anci
al m
anag
emen
t
1128
6
C
orpo
rate
ser
vice
s
21
783
Inte
rnal
aud
it
1101
S
afet
y
2999
17
Pro
g. 2 F
acilitie
s for m
em
bers
and p
olitical part
ies
42019
8042
696
7410
F
acili
ties
and
Ben
efits
2587
1
P
oliti
cal s
uppo
rt s
ervi
ces
16
148
Pro
g. 3 P
arlia
menta
ry s
erv
ices
27882
18082
9800
57
Li
brar
y, r
esea
rch
and
info
se
rvic
es
41
28
Hou
se p
roce
edin
gs
38
65
Com
mitt
ee s
ervi
ces
92
27
Leg
al s
ervi
ces
19
51
NC
OP
1054
P
ublic
Par
ticip
atio
n an
d A
war
enes
s
4820
H
ansa
rd a
nd L
ang
.
28
37
D
irect C
harg
e (m
em
bers
' sala
ries)
25871
38
115799
47964
28474
7410
3200
2880
150
Hea
d co
unt g
iven
in b
udg
et s
tate
men
t in
clud
es 3
8 M
PLs
, an
d th
eir
sala
ries
are
incl
uded
in t
he to
tal "
com
pens
atio
n of
em
ploy
ees"
.
18
Mpum
ala
nga 2
008/9
2008
/9
allo
catio
n
Com
pens
atio
n of
em
ploy
ees
G&
S
Tra
nsfe
rs,
subs
idie
s,
etc.
M
&E
Hea
d co
unt
Uni
t sa
lary
Pro
g. 1 A
dm
inis
tration
42045
22616
18229
1200
70
323.0
857
O
ffic
e of
the
Spe
aker
40
70
O
ffic
e of
the
Sec
reta
ry
2964
Fin
anci
al M
anag
emen
t
4740
Cor
pora
te s
ervi
ces
3027
1
Pro
g.2
Facilitie
s for m
em
bers
and p
olitical part
ies
17237
2083
6074
9080
8
260.3
75
S
alar
ies
(sta
tuto
ry)
13
167
P
oliti
cal s
uppo
rt s
ervi
ces
11
999
C
omm
ittee
act
iviti
es
27
83
F
acili
ties
and
bene
fits
24
55
Pro
g. 3 P
arlia
menta
ry s
erv
ices
24774
15235
9539
61
249.7
541
Dir
ect C
harg
e (m
em
bers
' sala
ries)
13167
19
693
84056
39934
33842
9080
1200
0
139
287.2
95
If sa
larie
s fo
r m
embe
rs in
clud
ed:
5310
1
19 M
PLs
are
incl
uded
in th
e 15
8 re
port
ed in
the
bud
get
sta
tem
ent
19
National A
ssem
bly
2008/9
2008
/9
allo
catio
n
Com
pens
atio
n of
em
ploy
ees
G&
S
Tra
nsfe
rs,
subs
idie
s,
etc.
Bui
ldin
gs
M&
E
Hea
d co
unt
Uni
t sa
lary
Pro
g. 1 A
dm
inis
tration
215677
149119
61202
5356
#D
IV/0
!
O
ffic
e of
the
Spe
aker
2132
2
Off
ice
of th
e C
hairp
erso
n
1190
5
Off
ice
of th
e S
ecre
tary
71
897
C
orpo
rate
ser
vice
s
4886
3
Inst
itutio
nal S
uppo
rt s
ervi
ces
6169
0
Pro
g. 2 L
egis
lation a
nd o
vers
ight
178268
115218
59261
3789
0
#D
IV/0
!
N
atio
nal A
ssem
bly
12
969
N
CO
P
21
615
C
omm
ittee
s
1436
84
Pro
g. 3 P
ublic a
nd inte
rnational
part
icip
ation
64489
12784
46607
2625
2473
#D
IV/0
!
P
ublic
aff
airs
4912
9
Inte
rnat
iona
l aff
airs
1536
0
Pro
g. 4 M
em
bers
' fa
cilitie
s
183025
22459
158550
2016
N
atio
nal A
ssem
bly
15
5130
NC
OP
2789
5
A
ss. serv
ices
263073
263073
P
oliti
cal p
arty
sup
port
5496
4
C
onst
ituen
cy s
uppo
rt
20
2801
P
arty
lead
ersh
ip s
uppo
rt
53
08
Dir
ect charg
e (m
em
bers
' sala
ries)
253979
349
727.7
335
20
1158511
299580
325620
265698
13634
0
1280
234.0
469
Nort
h W
est 2008/9
2008
/9
allo
catio
n
Com
pens
atio
n of
em
ploy
ees
G&
S
Tra
nsfe
rs,
subs
idie
s,
etc.
Bui
ldin
gs
M&
E
Hea
d co
unt
Uni
t sa
lary
Pro
g. 1 A
dm
inis
tration
68460
38912
28248
1300
161
241.6
894
O
ffic
e of
the
Spe
aker
18
39
Off
ice
of th
e S
ecre
tary
19
39
Fin
anci
al m
anag
emen
t
8570
C
orpo
rate
ser
vice
s
55
612
Inte
rnal
aud
it
500
Pro
g.2
Mem
bers
' sala
ries
15298
22
695.3
636
Pro
g. 3 P
arlia
menta
ry s
erv
ices
22653
27883
250
#D
IV/0
!
Lo
gis
tics
(mem
bers
)
1046
1
E
xpos
ure
to p
arl.
activ
ities
1010
P
roce
edin
gs
15
36
Com
mite
es
41
20
NC
OP
659
Pub
lic p
artic
ipat
ion
33
33
Lear
ning
and
KM
1534
91113
38912
56131
0
1550
161
241.6
894
Incl
udin
g m
embe
rs' r
emun
erat
ion:
19
7524
21
Nort
hern
Cape 2
008/9
2008
/9
allo
catio
n
Com
pens
atio
n of
em
ploy
ees
G&
S
Tra
nsfe
rs,
subs
idie
s,
etc.
Bui
ldin
gs
M&
E
Hea
d co
unt
Uni
t sa
lary
Pro
g. 1 A
dm
inis
tration
27595
15874
11578
143
59
269.0
508
O
ffic
e of
the
Spe
aker
36
24
Off
ice
of th
e S
ecre
tary
30
54
Fin
anci
al m
anag
emen
t
6899
C
orpo
rate
ser
vice
s
72
66
Sec
urity
and
rec
ords
m
anag
emen
t
67
52
Pro
g.2
Facilitie
s for m
em
bers
and
political part
ies
19033
3599
10214
5220
42
85.6
9048
F
acili
ties
and
bene
fits
23
10
Pol
itica
l sup
port
ser
vice
s
1672
3
Pro
g. 3 P
arlia
menta
ry s
erv
ices
26550
14329
11600
621
58
247.0
517
S
tand
ing
com
mitt
ees
20
81
Por
tfol
io c
omm
ittee
s
378
Pub
lic p
artic
ipat
ion
and
awar
enes
s
7183
P
roce
dura
l and
NC
OP
8967
H
ansa
rd a
nd la
ngua
ge
serv
ices
2923
D
eput
y S
ecre
tary
: P
arlia
men
tary
se
rvic
es
11
70
Libr
ary,
res
earc
h an
d in
fo s
ervi
ces
21
36
[???
]
Leg
al s
ervi
ces
17
12
Pro
g. 4 D
irect charg
e (m
em
bers
' sala
ries)
12979
12979
22
589.9
545
22
73178
33802
33392
5363
621
159
212.5
912
Weste
rn C
ape 2
008/9
:
2008
/9
Allo
catio
n
Com
pens
atio
n of
em
ploy
ees
G&
S
Tra
nsfe
rs,
subs
idie
s,
etc.
M
&E
Hea
d co
unt
Uni
t sa
lary
Pro
g. 1 A
dm
inis
tration:
23178
15310
5205
138
2525
60
255.1
667
O
ffic
e of
the
Spe
aker
24
56
O
ffic
e of
the
Sec
reta
ry
5645
Fin
anci
al m
anag
emen
t
5912
Cor
pora
te s
ervi
ces:
8940
HR
1745
ICT
4467
General
2478
Catering
250
Inte
rnal
aud
it
22
5
Pro
g. 2 F
acilitie
s for m
em
bers
and
political part
ies:
25381
3187
3239
18955
0
#D
IV/0
!
F
acili
ties
and
Ben
efits
:
7630
Allowances
3239
Contributions
4391
Pol
itica
l par
ties
supp
ort s
ervi
ces:
1775
1
Secretarial
allowance
4075
Constituency
allowance
13676
Pro
g. 3 P
arlia
menta
ry s
erv
ices
15131
7088
8033
10
34
208.4
706
Li
brar
y, r
esea
rch
and
info
ser
vice
s 13
89
23
H
ouse
pro
ceed
ing
s 85
6
Com
mitt
ee s
ervi
ces
5397
Leg
al s
ervi
ces
376
P
ublic
par
ticip
atio
n an
d aw
aren
ess
5022
Han
sard
and
lang
. 20
91
Dir
ect C
harg
e (m
em
bers
' sala
ries)
15689
31
506.0
968
63690
25585
16477
19103
2525
0
94
272.1
809
Appendix
6: R
ela
tive g
eogra
phic
al, s
ocia
l and e
conom
ic s
tatistics o
f th
e p
rovin
ces (ta
ken fro
m G
lobal In
sig
ht’s R
egio
nal Econom
ic
Explo
rer)
•
Geogra
phic
al
24
•
Socia
l: P
opula
tion
Fig
ure
s g
iven a
re for 2007 (estim
ate
d)
Pro
vin
ce
Afr
ican
White
Colo
ure
d
Asia
n
Wes
tern
Cap
e 1,
389,
904
1,03
9,35
0 2,
541,
112
53,2
77
Eas
tern
Cap
e 5,
549,
880
339,
865
485,
509
18,0
05
Nor
ther
n C
ape
508,
989
110,
826
438,
611
2,00
9
25
Fre
e S
tate
2,
500,
830
269,
018
80,9
89
4,83
5 K
waZ
ulu
-Nat
al
8,56
1,78
6 53
1,78
8 12
6,02
2 83
2,85
9 N
orth
-Wes
t 3,
144,
846
280,
103
41,5
05
8,82
5 G
aute
ng
7,49
8,02
9 1,
919,
421
337,
811
270,
328
Mpu
mal
ang
a 3,
421,
854
222,
947
18,3
61
12,8
36
Lim
popo
5,
159,
160
130,
663
4,79
6 7,
576
•
Socia
l: P
eople
liv
ing in p
overt
y
Race
gro
up
WC
ape
EC
ape
NC
ape
Fre
e
Sta
te
KZN
N
ort
h-
West
Gaute
ng
Mpu
Lim
popo
Afr
ican
31
.4%
68
.9%
60
.8%
55
.9%
57
.3%
51
.5%
28
.7%
53
.9%
59
.2%
W
hite
2.
9%
4.1%
5.
0%
6.5%
3.
2%
5.9%
3.
0%
6.0%
5.
7%
26
Col
oure
d 14
.7%
24
.0%
36
.3%
25
.8%
12
.5%
32
.9%
11
.3%
22
.7%
41
.2%
A
sian
7.
1%
9.0%
7.
7%
2.0%
7.
2%
9.6%
4.
3%
6.6%
6.
0%
T
he d
ata
is la
rgel
y se
lf-ex
plan
ator
y: P
over
ty r
emai
ns a
big
pro
blem
. Afr
ican
peo
ple
in p
over
ty r
ange
from
nea
rly 7
0% o
f to
tal
popu
latio
n in
the
Eas
tern
Cap
e, to
abo
ut 3
0% in
Gau
teng
and
the
Wes
tern
Cap
e. A
mon
g th
e co
lour
ed c
omm
uniti
es, t
hose
livi
ng
in L
impo
po a
nd t
he N
orth
ern
Cap
e ar
e w
orst
off
, and
tho
se in
Gau
teng
are
bes
t off
.
•
Socia
l: litera
cy
Race
gro
ups
WC
ape
EC
ape
NC
ape
Fre
e
Sta
te
KZN
N
ort
h-
West
Gaute
ng
Mpu
Lim
popo
Afr
ican
81
.9%
59
.1%
64
.2%
66
.7%
61
.6%
62
.3%
78
.3%
59
.7%
56
.5%
27
Whi
te
98.4
%
97.3
%
97.9
%
95.8
%
96.9
%
97.4
%
96.3
%
96.4
%
94.7
%
Col
oure
d 79
.4%
83
.0%
66
.6%
67
.8%
87
.1%
69
.8%
92
.0%
79
.2%
82
.8%
A
sian
83
.2%
91
.3%
86
.6%
90
.6%
87
.1%
91
.3%
92
.1%
91
.5%
91
.7%
T
he d
ata
conf
irms
wha
t is
exp
ecte
d: W
hite
s an
d A
sian
s ar
e co
nsis
tent
ly th
e be
st o
ff, a
nd m
aint
ain
a re
ason
able
fla
t gra
ph li
ne
acro
ss t
he p
rovi
nces
; A
fric
ans,
exc
ept
in t
he W
este
rn C
ape
are
the
wor
st o
ff a
cros
s th
e co
untr
y an
d lit
erac
y ra
tes
are
low
er in
pr
ovin
ces
with
larg
e ru
ral p
opul
atio
ns; a
lso,
a tr
end
that
is s
een
in m
any
othe
r in
dica
tors
, the
col
oure
d co
mm
unity
suf
fers
wid
e flu
ctua
tions
in li
tera
cy fr
om p
rovi
nce
to p
rovi
nce.
•
Socio
-Econom
ic: U
rbanis
ation r
ate
Race
gro
upin
gs
WC
ape
EC
ape
Nort
hern
C
ape
Fre
e
Sta
te
Kw
aZulu
-N
ata
l N
ort
h-
West
Gaute
ng
Mpu
Lim
popo
28
Afr
ican
94
.5%
31
.9%
57
.5%
77
.5%
38
.4%
41
.0%
91
.4%
34
.0%
8.
2%
Whi
te
94.3
%
93.1
%
84.7
%
88.4
%
95.2
%
85.9
%
93.2
%
87.3
%
83.8
%
Col
oure
d 83
.1%
79
.9%
84
.3%
78
.0%
89
.0%
66
.0%
98
.0%
76
.0%
53
.7%
A
sian
97
.5%
98
.4%
92
.3%
99
.3%
97
.3%
96
.3%
98
.1%
91
.9%
93
.4%
T
he p
atte
rn s
ugg
este
d in
the
lite
racy
rat
e is
con
firm
ed h
ere:
mon
g A
fric
ans,
esp
ecia
lly,
the
high
er th
e ru
ral p
opul
atio
n, t
he lo
wer
th
e lit
erac
y ra
te f
or th
at c
omm
unity
. The
oth
er p
opul
atio
n gr
oups
con
form
mor
e lo
osel
y to
tha
t gen
eral
isat
ion.
•
Econom
ic: U
nem
plo
ym
ent
Race
Gro
up
WC
ape
EC
ape
NC
ape
Fre
e
Sta
te
KZN
N
ort
h-
West
Gaute
ng
Mpu
Lim
popo
29
Afr
ican
30
.9%
59
.5%
44
.0%
44
.3%
47
.9%
42
.7%
34
.6%
38
.5%
48
.8%
W
hite
6.
0%
7.6%
7.
3%
10.5
%
8.4%
9.
8%
7.9%
8.
7%
9.5%
C
olou
red
21.5
%
37.7
%
45.8
%
50.6
%
30.1
%
58.8
%
31.1
%
42.5
%
66.1
%
Asi
an
16.0
%
21.6
%
37.6
%
7.8%
21
.4%
14
.0%
12
.2%
12
.2%
13
.6%
T
he tr
ends
are
onc
e m
ore
conf
irmed
: The
deg
ree
of u
rban
isat
ion
gen
eral
ly v
arie
s in
dire
ctly
with
the
deg
ree
of u
nem
ploy
men
t, po
vert
y an
d lit
erac
y. T
his
fact
will
und
oubt
edly
influ
ence
the
exe
cutiv
e’s
stra
teg
y in
eac
h re
agio
n, a
nd t
here
fore
eac
h le
gis
latu
re’s
ove
rsig
ht a
nd P
PP
str
ateg
ies.