Impact of the hlp report on parliament’s Public Participation MODEL:

1. Impact of the hlp report on parliament’s Public Participation MODEL: Presented To: Joint Rules Committee of Parliament of RSA Date: 28 February 2018

2. Goals: Public Participation Model • Provide a written guideline and opportunities for alignment of Public Participation activities of Parliament and all its stakeholders; • Provide minimum norms & standards for Public Participation for the Parliament; • Improve performance and the practice of Public Participation in Parliament.

3. Salient concepts emanating from the HLP report DEMOCRACY, HUMAN RIGHTS, INCLUSIVITY • Constitutional mandate: Prioritise process values that support informed participation. • Democracy: Representation, Active Citizenship and Responsive Government • Deepen democracy, promote vibrant, engagedand active citizenry, claim rights and exercise responsibilities, co-creators in developing communities, influence decision-making • Inclusivity, diversity, transparency, flexibility, accessibility, accountability, trust, commitment, respect, integration of pp into mainstream policies and service, sustainability. Participatory approach • Effective implementation of the NDP

4. Salient concepts emanating from the HLP report ACTIVE CITIZENSHIP • Active citizenship: Moving beyond voting, participation in local governance and user involvement in basic services. It is also generating civic duty and responsible citizenship for the advancement of the ‘good society’ • Citizens that respect the of law and are empowered to hold those in power to account • Effective public participation in law making & policy cycle • Direct link to constituencies: Amendment to Electoral system: Accountability to constituencies / proportional representation • Citizens to drive change and to meaningfully participate in processes that affect their lives • Rethink the role of active citizens as co-drivers of change • Parliament’s interaction with citizens • Effective implementation of the NDP

5. Salient concepts emanating from the HLP report SOCIAL COHESION & NATION BUILDING • Human rights, Democracy through Active citizenship and governance • Social contract • Access to & public participation in Chapter 9 Institutions • Effective implementation of the NDP

6. Parliament’s Public Participation Model

7. Best-fit Approach to PP: Model Accountabilities & Responsibilities Process - Exemplar Mechanisms Outcome Accountabilities & Responsibilities Accountabilities & Responsibilities Accountabilities & Responsibilities DEEPEN DEMOCRACY Active Citizenry People’s Assembly / Taking Parliament to the People (NA and NCOP “outside” sittings) • Establishment of a programme Governance • Development of a high level programme plan • Development of a concept paper • Development of a detailed programme management plan • Development of a programme Budget • Development of a Stakeholder communication and management plan • Procurement of programme services and products • Hold pre-event public meetings • Development of a structured education and mobilisation plan • Undertake Sittings/Public /Hearings/Oversight visits • Compile and consolidate programme report • Review the programme outcome • Feedback to community • OFFICES OF THE: • NA Speaker & Deputy Speaker • NCOP Chairperson & Deputy Chairperson • House Chairpersons Sectoral Engagements (Thematic sector specific engagements, e.g. women, youth , people with disabilities, etc. ) Petitions / Submissions (Written) Pre-Hearings, Hearings, Post-Hearings (Invitations: Pre-Hearings Briefings, Pre-Hearings, Hearings, Post-Hearings) Public Participation & Communication Enablers: Political and Administrative Support Public Participation & Communication Enablers: Political and Administrative Support Public Participation & Communication Enablers: Political and Administrative Support Public Participation & Communication Enablers: Political and Administrative Support COMMITTEES: Chairpersons of Committees Education, Outreach, Information Dissemination (Education and Outreach Workshops, Institutional Tours, Formal Training, Information Dissemination via various Channels) Secretary to Parliament Involving civil society in oversight and law making (APP, Appropriation Bill/Dept. Vote, Annual & Quarterly Reports, Public Accounts Committee, Focused Intervention Study, Strategic Budget Review, Budget Review & Recommendations Reports (BRRR)) Process Disclaimer: The exemplar / guide is an internal framework for implementation and may apply slightly differently from mechanism to mechanism

8. Stages of Public Participation

9. HLP: Challenges - Inform / Educate • Inform / Educate • The Constitution (1996) prioritises process values that support informed participation. Public participation in existing legislation should provide an opportunity to tap into the capacity, energy and resources that vest within citizens to drive change and to meaningfully participate in processes that affect their lives. • Such processes would empower the public with more information and knowledge about the new members of the executive and their relative skills, experience and merits, and would provide a forum where appointees can publicly commit themselves to applicable standards and to certain objectives, against which their subsequent conduct and performance can be measured. An empowered public will, in turn, be able to assist the legislatures to ensure that executives are more accountable to electorates. • There is a lack of informed participation • Limited access to quality education • Lack of access to information • Lack of education and empowerment

10. HLP: Challenges - Consult • Consult • Participation is often confined to consultations with citizens, including in preparing Integrated Development Plans, intended to be a main instrument for participatory development planning and budgeting at municipal level (The World Bank, 2011). Actual participation, however, from ward committees to the Integrated Development Plan process to workplace forums, has been limited mainly to special interest groups or hindered by short-term self-interest (Public Service Commission, 2003). • There have been a series of judgments from the Constitutional Court about the need for effective public participation in the legislative process. • The Panel is concerned about repeated failures to sufficiently engage those directly affected through inclusive public hearings, as evidenced by these judgments.

11. HLP: Challenges - Involve • Involve • Limited public participation: Public participation is not compulsory in local government processes. Public participation not substantial and not meaningful • The period allocated to participation is too short due to voluminous and complex documents that need to be perused; difficulties for illiterate, potentially affected, communities to participate; and customary consultation and negotiation processes in traditional communities • Ward committees are failing to enhance participatory local governance. Among the main reasons for this failure is that: Communities sometimes perceive that ward committees are ‘owned’ by the ward councillor. • Animosity among political parties often hampers participation, and civil society is often deliberately excluded from governance. • The functioning of ward committees is affected by the lack of capacity of elected members. • The communication links among the councillor, the ward committee, and the community are insufficient. • Greater public understanding of ward councillor roles and responsibilities is a critical missing link in this public accountability mechanism (The World Bank, 2011).

12. HLP: Challenges - Involve • Involve • The World Bank study states that the main reasons for failure to implement public participatory approaches are: • The government developed ambitious delivery targets to overcome the backlog in services and provided ample financial resources to meet these targets, but national, provincial, and local institutions for service delivery were still weak, along with technical and managerial capacity. • Many sectors stressed community and user participation initially, but participation systems were time-consuming and hard to scale; policy-makers feared this would slow implementation. Consequently, the sectors relied on centralised mechanisms focused on outputs, rather than on more participatory approaches focused on outcomes. • The sector programmes invariably became ‘silos’ – supply-driven and focused on the delivery of sector outputs – and in the process took power from citizens (The World Bank, 2011). • 30-day timeframe for public participation: This period is too short due to voluminous and complex documents that need to be perused; difficulties for illiterate, potentially affected, communities to participate; and customary consultation and negotiation processes in traditional communities • LAMOSA ruling on inadequate public participation process.

13. HLP: Challenges - Feedback • Feedback • The feedback loop from communities to legislation is dependent on many factors, i.e. depends in part on the electoral system in place. • Communities are not getting adequate feedback on outcomes of legislation • Access to information is critical for citizens to hold Government accountable and to participate effectively. • Access to information is critical for citizens to hold Government accountable and to participate effect

14. HLP: Recommendations – Inform / Educate • Inform / Educate • Access to quality education, Access to information, Informed participation is critical for citizens to hold Government accountable and to participate effectively. • Nation-building goals: Knowledge of the Constitution, Foster constitutional values, equal opportunities, active citizenry, social compact, etc. • Empower citizens for citizenship • Greater understanding of ward roles and responsibilities essential • Build community participation: Capacity building as active empowerment of role players so they can clearly and fully understand the • Participation can be meaningful only if adequate, relevant and timely information is provided

15. HLP: Recommendations – Inform / Educate • Inform / Educate • Parliament should facilitate meaningful and effective public participation in the legislative and policy-making cycle. • Parliament should consider opening up debate on the desirability and feasibility of a system that incorporates public participation and Parliamentary oversight for certain categories of appointments to public office to increase independence (where required) and accountability, to achieve the objectives of a capable developmental state. • The legislative process should be overhauled. The accountability of Parliament to the public should be strengthened, by more direct linkages between Members of Parliament and their constituencies. The feedback loop from communities to legislation depends in part on the electoral system in place. The Panel recommends that Parliament amend the Electoral Act to provide for an electoral system that makes members of Parliament accountable to defined constituencies in a proportional representation and constituency system for national elections. • Parliament should consider opening up debate on the desirability and feasibility of a system that incorporates public participation and Parliamentary oversight for certain categories of appointments to public office to increase independence (where required) and accountability to achieve the objectives of a capable and developmental state.

16. HLP: Recommendations - Consult • Consult • Public consultation and involvement in the law-making process: Extensive public participation processes required • Parliament should consider opening up debate on the desirability and feasibility of a system that incorporates public participation and Parliamentary oversight for certain categories of appointments to public office to increase independence (where required) and accountability to achieve the objectives of a capable and developmental state. • Parliament should consider identifying and reviewing all legislation that includes a public participation component, including those that relate to Parliament’s interaction with citizens, and ensure that it conducts oversight of, and ensures adequate resources for, the implementation of these provisions such that where provision is made for the public to be consulted, this consultation is meaningful and effective. • The Panel would like to see a more active Parliament, one that ensures the strict enforcement of (or, where lacking, introduces) penalties for lack of performance by the Executive. • Parliament should also facilitate meaningful and effective public participation in the legislative and policy-making cycle.

17. HLP: Recommendations - Involve • Involve • Timeframes for public participation processes to be extended • Parliament should consider having regular annual mandatory dedicated intersectoral public hearings with departments and stakeholders to obtain feedback from departments and input from the public on progress with the implementation of the legislation • Parliament should consider identifying and reviewing all legislation that includes a public participation component, including those that relate to Parliament’s interaction with citizens, and ensure that it conducts oversight of, and ensures adequate resources for, the implementation of these provisions such that where provision is made for the public to be consulted, this consultation is meaningful and effective.

18. HLP: Recommendations - Feedback • Feedback • Collaborate / Partner with departments and civil society • Active citizenry: Become partners and co-creators • Intersectoral public hearings to obtain regular feedback from departments and input from public • Establish sustainable partnerships with stakeholders • Obtain feedback from departments and input from the public on progress with the implementation

19. Way forward • Review the Model to incorporate the HLP findings; • Develop an implementation plan for the revised Model; • Capacity Development: structural arrangements (personnel & technical resources) and internal process alignment to support public participation; • Montoring & Evaluation: M & E Mechanisms, including reporting

20. THANK YOU