Reflections of the KZN Legislature Sitting on the 26th of June 2008

By: Sbo Zamisa

As part of monitoring the oversight function CPP was part of the KZN Legislature sitting of the 26th of June 2008 and critical areas that were assessed were as folows: the effectiveness of the legislature in holding the executive accountable, the quality of policy debates, public involvement, and the impact of political party power struggle on policy and decision making.

The Centre for Public Participation’s (CPP) legislature monitoring program is aimed at assessing public participation in legislative processes, with a special focus on the legislature’s law making process and oversight functions such as holding the executive accountable.

CPP reflections are based on the day’s proceedings and observation on the following issues which were discussed:

IFP March.

The members of the ruling ANC acknowledged the right of the IFP to organize mass demonstrations, but noted with regret the damage caused to property and disrespect for the rights of citizens who were not taking part in the march in Durban. Most members expressed their concern over developments at the march and even went on to argue that the march itself was against democratic values and the rule of law. Parties were requested that their marshals control marchers and condemn any act of violence when there are mass demonstrations.¹

IFP Motion on KZN House of Traditional Leaders.

The IFP moved a motion that the MEC for Local Government and Traditional Affairs (LGTA) the KZN House of Traditional Leaders must be listed as a public entity, as it is stipulated in the Public Finance Management Act of 1999 (PFMA). The IFP further argued that the KZN Legislature should have a Budget Vote for the House of Traditional, and the MEC for LG&TA must provide support and capacity for the House of Traditional Leaders to conduct its business.

The ANC responded by reminding the IFP that when it was still in power (1999-2003) it never utilized that opportunity to recognize the House of Traditional Leaders as a public entity, hence it cannot place that burden on the ANC to speed up that process. The ANC argued that the Department of LG&TA has been spending on activities of the House of Traditional Leaders (the department has not allocating budget neither the legislature passed budget vote) and there has never been any problems and complaints raised with the responsible MEC.

Further that the MEC for LG&TA has been asking for records of meetings, minutes of meetings, quarterly reports, annual reports, financial reports and business plans as per requirements of the PFMA. All the requested documents were never availed to the MEC and such a lack of accountability has been a contributing factor towards the ANC’s reluctance to recognize the House of Traditional Leaders as a public entity.

The Legal Advice presented by the ANC, argued that the House of Traditional Leaders does not meet some requirements of the PFMA as it has even failed to present it business plan and reports, and that the PFMA delisted as a public entity the old KZN House of Traditional Leaders and does not refer to the KZN Provincial House of Traditional Leaders as per KZN Traditional Leadership Governance Act of 2005. Hence the ANC argued that the IFP does not have the legal bases to enlist the House of Traditional Leaders as a public entity.

The MEC for LG&TA made it clear to the legislature that his Department will never recognize the House of Traditional Leaders as a public entity and they will continue spending on the House activities as per request.

The SCOPA resolution presented another dimension into the debate on the House of Traditional Leaders by resolving that as per the recommendations of the KZN Legislature Legal Services, the House is listed as a public entity in the PFMA. SCOPA further stated that the HOD/MEC for LG&TA should take necessary steps for this application.

The 2007/2008 Mid-Year Assessment Report of Municipalities in Kwa-Zulu Natal.

The Finance and Economic Development, Local Government and Traditional Affairs Committee presented a mid-year finance performance assessment report for municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal. As per required by the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), the Provincial Treasury must provide support for effective financial management systems, and conduct finance performance assessment.

The focus will be on the low capacity municipalities² where the report raises critical areas for intervention in order to accelerate efficient service delivery and on site finding by the Provincial Treasury. It is reported that the findings of the on sites assessment for municipalities presented to the Portfolio Committee on the 06th of June 2008, and Portfolio Committee municipal hearings commenced on the 10-18 June 2008. There were 10 municipalities that participated in the hearing, and 7 of those were low capacity municipalities.

Low Capacity Municipalities.

• Ezinqoleni (KZ215)
• Mpofana Municipality (KZ223)
• Indaka Municipality (KZ233)
• Nquthu Municipality (KZ242)
• eMandlangeni Municipality (KZ253)
• Nongoma Municipality (KZ265)
• Ulundi Municipality (KZ266)

The report raised critical issues about the state of financial and performance management in low capacity municipalities. Some of the issues are as follows:

• Some municipalities do not have sufficient cash flow to sustain their operations;
• No proper financial management systems and controls;
• No proper budget monitoring and control;
• High rates of debts owed by consumers;
• Lack of record and accountability for conditional grants;
• Unspent conditional grants not returned;
• Lack of action plans to Auditor General’s concerns;
• Lack of staff and vacancies to finance personnel;
• High reliance on consultants without proper consultants performance mechanisms;

The portfolio committee through its Municipal Support Programme (MSP) provides support for municipalities to develop cost recovery plans, update their financial records, develop proper financial management systems and controls, this will include more resource mobilization for the sustainability of MSP.

REFLECTIONS.

The observations and analyses are based on the KZN Legislature Sitting of the 26th of June 2006.

Oversight Function.

The legislators demonstrated fair understanding of their oversight responsibility through engaging with the executive, on report that was tabled by both MECs and committees. The legislators still need to be capacitated on research skills and/or recruit competent research personnel in order to engage vigorously on policy debates and provide policy alternatives within the principles of participatory governance and human rights.

According to the World Bank report legislators should oversee the policy implementation by the executive branch, scrutinizing its work and holding it accountable.³

The UNDP concept paper on Legislature and Good Governance emphasize the need for capacity building on legislator: one goes to law school to become a lawyer, and to medical school to become a doctor, but how does one learn to be an effective legislator? The job of a legislator is complex yet there is lack of adequate training opportunities for legislators to be effective to their work. ⁴

There is also a need to have adequate legislature support professional staff and have sufficient numbers of professional personnel as developing countries in most of the cases tend not to prioritize this in order to improve on their mandate. ⁵

Democratic Culture.

The legislature demonstrated openness in allowing for a robust policy debate, information on critical policy issues being availed and debated amongst members, the principle of accountability being applied as the executive account for Government business to the legislature. There was plurality of ideas from members of the legislature high level of tolerance in terms of language and cultural diversity.

The conduct and behavior of the members of the legislature did not demonstrate respect for the legal authority and integrity of the House as it is grace by the Constitution, as members would often interrupt each other randomly through yelling and shouting.

Public Participation.

Even though the KZN Legislature has committed itself to ensuring that, there is public involvement in legislative processes, the sitting did not demonstrate this commitment, as in the public gallery section and there were few civil society organizations observing the proceedings of the legislature. The critical questions are: What is it that the Legislature does to encourage public involvement in the sitting of the Legislature? Does the Legislature have database of Civil Society Organization (CSO), and if they have, why they (CSOs) are not involved? Do CSOs get invited?

The critical contradiction is that during regular annual opening of parliament communities and CSO’s are invited and transported to get to the venue. This might be for public relations purposes, not meaning public participation due to the level of high publicity both in print and electronic media. The challenge of the legislature is to get these organizations involved and play a meaningful role in all the legislative processes.

The Power Struggle among Political Parties.

The ruling party has a majority rule in the KZN Legislature and appoints the executive hence it has a power to initiate, influence and decide on policies. The debate on the House of Traditional Leaders being recognized as a public entity and MEC make a clear statement that his department will never act on that recognition is clear position of powers vested in the ruling party. The challenge with this power is that the decisions might be made to serve the interests of the ruling party rather than, the public interest and compromising the strength of legislature.

The opposition party had very minimal powers to influence and/or change the policy position of the ruling party on recognition of House of Traditional Leaders as a public entity. The argument of the opposition party might have been biased since their constituents are rural based communities, traditional leaders in fact some of the traditional leaders are senior members of the opposition party.

There is a need to strike the balance between political party interests and public interests, to also ensure that there is participation of all political parties in policy decision making, representative of major and minority political parties in committees.⁶

1. IFP March took place on the 21st of June 2008, protesting against renaming of Mangosuthu Highway in Umlazi to Griffiths Mxenge.
2. Low Capacity Municipalities - municipalities with serious administrative and financial problems.
3. The World Bank, Prem Notes: Public Sector, No. 74, 2002
4. The UNDP Concept Paper on Legislatures and Good Governance, by John K. Johnson and Robert K. Nakaruma, 1999.
5. The UNDP Concept Paper on Legislatures and Good Governance emphasize a need for training programmes on professional staff (research, budget, information library, committee secretariat, etc.)
6. The UNDP Concept Paper on Legislatures and Good Governance, by John K. Johnson and Robert T. Nakamura, 1999

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