Parliament’s failure is at the heart of our problems

South Africa’s parliament, particularly in the past two terms, has failed to hold the cabinet, the public service and state-owned enterprises accountable, contributing to state failure at all levels.

We often talk about the failure of the state, of the public service, of SOEs, but we now have to talk about parliamentary failure, the inability of the national and provincial legislatures to do their jobs. They have been unable to hold the executive accountable and that has contributed to systemic state failure, poor public services and runaway corruption.

One obvious reason for this state of affairs is many ANC legislators wrongly see the ANC as above parliament, the state and the constitution. This means MPs toe the party line ahead of that of the constitution, of their lawful and moral duties to hold parties, the executive, public service and SOEs accountable.

In 2022, ANC chair Gwede Mantashe warned the party’s MPs they faced expulsion if they voted against the party line on the section 89 independent panel of experts’ report that suggested President Cyril Ramaphosa may have contravened the constitution in his management of the theft of foreign currency at his Phala Phala farm.

Mantashe was quoted in the City Press newspaper as saying: “Ask Makhosi Khoza what happens when you defy the ANC. She had to leave.”

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula recently revealed that the ANC had lied to parliament in 2014 to protect Jacob Zuma from accountability after he spent R246m of public funds to renovate his Nkandla compound. Zuma had denied doing so. This is a clear undermining of parliament’s authority — and civil groups must investigate whether those who misled the legislatures in this scandal can still be held accountable.

Parliament in 2015 adopted a new mission to provide “effective oversight over the executive by strengthening its scrutiny of actions against the needs of South Africans”.

Its strategy plan said: “In any democracy the link between the legislature and the executive is critical for ensuring that government delivers, the executive is held to account, that policies are subject to rigorous debate and that questions are asked when things go wrong.” It conceded that “there are several weaknesses in the accountability chain, with a general culture of blame-shifting”.

The quality of MPs in South Africa has declined sharply when compared with former president Nelson Mandela’s immediate post-apartheid generation who came to power in 1994. Now, outdated ideologies, anti-intellectualism, violent behaviour, shouting insults and slogans have become the norm, replacing evidence-based engagements, reason and common decency.

This parliamentary term has seen the highest level of absenteeism, with some MPs rarely attending committee meetings, where key decisions are made. In cases where MPs are in attendance, many frequently doze off, or are obviously unprepared or aren’t mentally present.

This term’s parliamentary session also has been the most unproductive since the end of apartheid. The fewest laws have been approved. Often committees can’t function because insufficient members turn-up. That means committees often aren’t in a position to properly scrutinise policies, institutions and public officials.

Absenteeism has undermined parliament’s capacity to ensure that government delivers, the executive is held to account and that policies are subject to rigorous scrutiny.

Not surprisingly, multiple laws proposed by parliament have been rejected by the Constitutional Court as unconstitutional, irrational and faulty. A number of MPs have been accused of corruption or other wrongdoing. Former speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula was forced to resign and charged with multiple counts of corruption.

The new parliament that comes to power after the May 29 elections has to introduce harsher sanctions for absenteeism and corruption, and introduce the principle of secret voting on all critical issues.

A key part of electoral system changes to be introduced by the new parliament, as per the ruling of the Constitutional Court, must include a provision for voters to have a bigger direct say in selecting candidates for parliament —not just parties choosing candidates, as is the case now.

Finally, unless the May elections usher in MPs of better quality and capability, better policies, better public services and a more capable state will remain a distant dream.