The Birth Pains of Bureaucracy

IN RECENT months I have had the privilege of attending some parliamentary committee meetings and if there is one thing that is prominent throughout these meetings, it is the occasionally irritating and pedantic nature of these meetings.

It is often said that parliament is merely the rubber stamp of government and approves of all or most of the legislation proposed by the body. From what I have witnessed in my time at parliament sittings, that does not seem to be true. Members are genuinely interested in interrogating policies and proposed legislation before it is approved. Most committees are interested in carrying out their oversight role and ensuring that the taxpayer’s money is spent wisely and used for realistically helpful projects.

The processes and machinations of committee meetings are however painfully slow and often raise the ire of ordinary citizens who cannot understand why good policies and proposals take so long to implement or be approved. Members of parliament are sometimes prone to talking simply for the sake of talking and endangering the climate and ozone with the amount of hot air that emanates from their mouths.

Time is wasted on asking sometimes repetitive and unnecessary questions and nitpicking on small issues of little consequence. Legislative bodies and their regulatory rules across the world are frustrating and annoying but when committee meetings drag on simply for the sake of people wishing to hear the sounds of their own voices it becomes necessary to ask whether these meetings are necessary. In a country such as this with great socio-economic challenges, slow delivery is unacceptable and has in recent times been widely decried.

Showing an interest in legislation and policy proposals is commendable and should be widely encouraged among Members but the slow pace and bluster shown in some sessions should be done away with and replaced with a sense of urgency. Social justice demands immediate action in this country and the bad reputation parliament has for being slow and boring needs to change if it is to live up to the billing of the highest law making body in the country as opposed to being a rubber stamp for the ANC government.

Parliamentarians need to move away from the perception that they are superior and removed from ordinary people and their problems. One of the best ways to do this is to take parliament to the people, an initiative already being undertaken by the body, and increase member visits to their constituencies in order to gauge what the problems affecting them are. In my view this would assist in improving the overall imagery and outlook people have of the body.

Ultimately however South Africa must move away from a Proportional Representation electoral system to a more direct system in order to ensure that MP’s exist to serve their constituents as opposed to serving their respective parties. If people are the main intended beneficiaries of legislation then surely the people who work on legislation should serve them directly. Changing the electoral system would improve service and hold members more accountable to the people. Only after this shift shall parliament truly be for the people.


Written by Tatenda Goredema, the Deputy Editor of Varsity Newspaper.