A total of 357 members of the local and international media applied for and received accreditation to cover the first sitting of parliament in Cape Town on Friday. The BBC and Agence France-Presse sent delegations of six journalists each. Al Jazeera’s headcount was seven, while the New York Times and France 24 each had two reporters covering the sitting.
In a year in which almost 70 countries are going to the polls — among them France, the UK, India and Mexico — the world’s attention was turned this week to an entry in the South African parliamentary calendar that, until last month’s seismic election outcome, was considered little more than a formality. This time, however, it was also a legitimate election day; one that had the nation riveted and whose outcome seemed uncertain even in the hours before the nominations for speaker, deputy speaker and president were announced.
We should all be delighted that South Africa’s march towards becoming a full parliamentary democracy — one in which the National Assembly is the true centre of government deliberations and decisions — is well and truly under way. And not a moment too soon.
In more good news, all indications are that the details of the multiparty coalition agreement helmed by the ANC and the DA will be made public. We should hope this means an end to government decision-making that takes place behind closed doors at party headquarters, only to be presented to parliament and the public for the perfunctory purpose of statutory assent.
A publicly available coalition agreement will also provide the parliamentary opposition with a blueprint for holding the government accountable for its commitments. This will be critically important as parliament navigates a new world in which the opposition is greatly reduced in both size and institutional capacity.
Herein also lies the biggest risk to the functioning of a newly resurgent parliament, which has too long been relegated to the status of a third-class organ of the state.
If speculation about the composition of the grand coalition is to be believed, then the government will soon occupy 272 out of 400 seats in the National Assembly, absorbing and neutering the most effective opposition caucus that parliament has ever had, and sailing well past the two-thirds mark in terms of legislative voting heft. What does a government occupying almost 70% of the benches in parliament have to fear from a now-fractured opposition whose biggest caucus is led by a man who doesn’t know what a quorum is, and seems not to understand even the very basics of the South African constitution? Not much, I would argue.
This is not to say that a small opposition cannot also be mighty. But the combination of reduced size and party caucuses largely comprising first-term MPs means that opposition parties will have to navigate a steep learning curve even as parliament finds itself in completely uncharted territory.
There is, for example, the question of which parliamentary party will bear the designation of the official opposition and which party leader will consequently take up the role of leader of the opposition. The constitution appears to be silent on this issue, while parliament’s rules make reference only to majority and minority parties without much in the way of distinction between governing and opposition parties. It stands to reason, however, that a political party cannot simultaneously govern and occupy the opposition benches.
It stands to reason, however, that a political party cannot simultaneously govern and occupy the opposition benches
This likely means that the opposition mantle will fall to the MK Party should its members survive the window of 15 consecutive sitting days before their membership of the National Assembly is terminated on the grounds of absenteeism without permission. It remains to be seen whether the rules of parliament can be enforced against MPs-designate who have not technically assumed office, given that they have yet to be sworn in. But it should be untenable for 58 seats in the legislature to stand empty while the MK Party exhausts its many improbable court challenges contesting the results of last month’s national and provincial elections.
In the event of the MK Party’s expulsion, oversight responsibility would move down the line to the EFF, which has already formed a 48-seat opposition party bloc dubbed the “progressive caucus” by its constituent members. This would make the official opposition the fourth-largest party in the National Assembly.
While we have been understandably preoccupied with figuring out who will govern South Africa, the question of which political party or parties will take on principal responsibility for impartial government oversight in parliament is, likewise, absolutely critical. Consensus and co-operation within a grand coalition is a beautiful thing, but democratic governments, regardless of their size, must be properly overseen and held accountable for their records in office. This is one of the legislature’s principal functions. If this question is not resolved sooner rather than later, parliament could risk being relegated once again to the position of ineffective onlooker while the business of governing South Africa is conducted behind closed doors, away from legislative scrutiny.
• Mazibuko is co-founder and CEO office of Futurelect
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