Parliamentary Office

SALGA Parliamentary Office falls under the Directorate of Governance, Intergovernmental Relations and International Relations.  The Office is situated in Cape Town at Eleven Adderley Building, 7th Floor, 11 Adderley Street, Cape Town.

The Parliamentary Office operates under the leadership of Johann Mettler, the Executive Director for Governance, Intergovernmental Relations and International Relations who is also acting as the Director: Parliamentary Services.  The staff component currently is as follows:

Janine Van Niekerk: Executive Secretary to the Executive Director
Telana Halley: Parliamentary Researcher
Nomawethu Xali: Parliamentary Programme Coordinator

The office is assisted by 3 interns who are placed by the Community Law Centre and the placement is envisaged to be effected every year.  For the period of May 2010 to February 2011 the parliamentary office took-in the following interns:

Raymond Eyiomen
Sylvester Marumahoko
Tinashe Chigwata

The Role of the Parliamentary Office

The Constitution (Act 108 of 1996) makes provision for SALGA, as the representative body of organized local government to participate in the proceedings of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).  Through this constitutional provision, SALGA has a platform to engage with NCOP and articulate local government interests.  The main role of the Parliamentary Office of SALGA is therefore to facilitate participation of SALGA in relevant parliamentary business and keep SALGA informed of issues raised in parliament pertaining to local government.  Another important role is to organize a platform in parliament for SALGA to advance its agenda.

The Parliamentary Office fulfils its role by monitoring the programme of the parliamentary committees and filtering information to National and Provincial Structures of SALGA.

Parliamentary Activities / Committees Targeted

By virtue of being part of the NCOP, SALGA is permitted to participate in all the meetings of the NCOP Select Committees and NCOP Plenary Sittings, including Joint Sittings of the two Houses of Parliament (National Assembly and NCOP).  SALGA has a standing invitation to meetings of the Portfolio Committee on Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs as well as those of the Joint Committee on Constitutional Review.  When there are committee agenda items relevant to local government, the Parliamentary Office organises councillors from the relevant Working Group in consultation with the relevant Executive Director.  SALGA also gets an opportunity to be invited by different committees to present the view of SALGA on a specific issue.  The Parliamentary Office liaises with the relevant Directorate for preparation and presentation to the said committee.

The Parliamentary Office target specific parliamentary committees and the selection is based on SALGA strategic objectives, namely:

• Finance;
• Appropriations;
• Economic Development;
• Energy
• Water & Environmental Affairs;
• Rural Development & Land Reform;
• Human Settlements;
• Public Works;
• Transport;
• Tourism;
• Women, Children & People with Disabilities;
• Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs

SALGA Parliamentary Briefing

The purpose of the Briefing is to share information to keep SALGA National and Provincial structures updated on relevant parliamentary activities.  The Parliamentary Briefing is produced weekly when parliament is in session and is circulated on Fridays.  The briefing reports on committee activities attended by the staff of the Parliamentary Office including activities where SALGA participated by invitation.  The Briefing also highlights upcoming parliamentary committee activities including special events relevant to local government.

SALGA Parliametary Programme

The SALGA Parliamentary Programme is a proactive lobbying vehicle through which SALGA can advance its agenda in parliament. It is therefore a parliamentary programme of action which is aligned to the strategic objectives and priorities of SALGA.   The Parliamentary Office develops the SALGA Parliamentary Programme in consultation with the relevant structures of SALGA.

Below is the table illustrating priority areas to be taken up with relevant parliamentary committees in 2011:

Research

The Parliamentary Office has also a research function.  It also supports the Governance and IGR components of the Directorate in conducting research.  The research undertaken in 2010 focused on the following areas:

• Interventions instituted under section 139 of the Constitution: reasons for the interventions, successes and challenges at the end of the intervention
• Formulated legal opinion for SALGA Western Cape on the following:
  • Speaker’s attendance of Mayoral Committee meetings and implications of this in respect of separation of powers.  
  • The establishment of the Committee for the Investigation of the Recoverability of Unauthorized, Irregular, Fruitless or Wasteful Expenditure and who is responsible for initiating and or conducting such investigations.  
  • Notice of s139 intervention by the Western Cape Provincial Government in Overberg Municipality
• Implications of the Local Government: Municipal Systems Amendment Bill, 2010
• Commentary on the Municipal Electoral Amendment Bill, 2010
• Advocating for full-time political leadership for SALGA and implications thereof
• Implications of voting rights for SALGA in the NCOP

Reports

The Parliamentary Office produces reports of all parliamentary activities/meetings where there has been SALGA representation and this include staff/interns of the Parliamentary Office.  These are compiled into a weekly report and brief highlights of the report are incorporated into the SALGA Parliamentary Briefing that is circulated on Fridays. Reports are also prepared for the Working Group on Gov, IGR and IR.