South Africa’s seventh parliament has just started its work, and it appears to be doing so with a far more collaborative spirit — and significantly less playing to the gallery — than it did during any of the previous three terms.
(Photo by Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images)
There was a distinct sense of political maturity and decorum at the plenary debate of the National Assembly on Tuesday to discuss Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s strategy in breaking the stranglehold over the economy held by construction mafia and other extortion groups.
Parties inside and outside of the government of national unity came to the debate armed with well-considered arguments and constructive contributions about dealing with extortion, which cost the industry R68 million last year.
None minced their words in drilling down into the weaknesses in the policing system, corruption in the police service, inefficiency and underfunding. The contributors from both sides of the house were clearly more interested in parliament assisting in finding solutions to South Africa’s problems, rather than using the debate to settle political scores.
The sensible and constructive nature of Tuesday’s debate is not the first indication that a change in mindset has taken place in the parliament and in the provincial legislatures.
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) president Julius Malema challenged President Cyril Ramaphosa in the house last week about an earlier promise by the head of state to build one million houses in Alexandra.
Malema demanded, and secured, an apology through a measured argument focused on the ethics of the president’s actions. This is a far cry from EFF members charging the stage or being removed for disrupting proceedings.
Malema was removed from the assembly’s online platform for unparliamentary language on Wednesday, but the green shoots are clearly showing.
South Africa’s seventh parliament has just started its work, and it appears to be doing so with a far more collaborative spirit — and significantly less playing to the gallery — than it did during any of the previous three terms.
At a local government level, there is little of this sense of rationality and of common purpose that is appearing in parliament, particularly in Gauteng’s hung metros.
There, the political chess game about control of the key portfolios in the cities continues, fuelled by toxic inter-party relations that have soured over the past decade of tit-for-tat collapsing of councils and ousting of mayors.Local government elections are coming and the leaders in our cities would be well served to follow the lead provided by their parliamentary colleagues, if they are to avoid being punished by the electorate come voting day in 2026.