ELECTION WEEK at the IEC (pics) and what it means for parliament

Gwede Mantashe speaks to the media on the open floor of the IEC centre

Zuma does a victory walkabout at the centre before the results are out, greeting rivals including Bantu Holomisa

The EFF dazzled in red at the IEC centre

Terror Lekota eats a hat after the dismal performance of his party, Cope

Miss Teen SA (yes) rocks up at the IEC centre. 

AFTER THE ELECTIONS: WHAT NOW FOR PARLIAMENT?

The elections results now out, the focus shifts to whether new MPs will add some muscle to parliament, which is perceived to have become increasingly lame and lacklustre in the past decade.

The MPs who will be make up the National Assembly include 249 ANC members (down from 264,) 89 Democratic Alliance representatives (up from 67) and 25 members from the Economic Freedom Fighters. A number of other rats and mice parties make up the 400 seats.

Robust, relevant parliament

An overriding challenge is for MPs to overcome innate structural flaws ‘’which tend to give the ruling party and its bosses an undue amount of power”, political analyst Richard Calland writes in his book “The Zuma Years”.

It was likely that the ANC – which was returned to power with a majority vote for the fifth time - would conduct itself in pretty much the same manner as before, said Calland during an interview at the weekend.

However, the potential for a more robust, relevant parliament was possible now that the main opposition party, the DA, had increased its share of the vote. “The DA, with more MPs, can spread themselves more thickly across the various portfolio committees and have more oversight”.

The impact of newcomers the EFF, the third biggest party, was unknown. Will they move beyond a ‘’noisy sound bite approach”, or organise themselves more seriously to navigate the painstaking terrain of complex parliamentary structures, he asked.  

The EFF would need to take ‘’strategic decisions’’ on which of the many portfolio committees to focus on. However, a single MP who was committed to the job could make a big impact.  For example, the DA’s David Maynier fought doggedly for transparency and answers in issues around defence and national security during the fourth parliament.  ‘’He was effective in an oversight role and in holding ministers to account because he used parliament committees, he dug deep for information and tabled difficult questions.’’

The key for an effective, accountable and transparent parliament was whether it could respond to the important political issues of the day. The pressing issue was job creation, and an immediate test for the new parliament was how it responded to the Nkandla saga - unfinished business from the fourth parliament, said Calland.

Business as usual

Political analyst Steven Friedman predicted it would be business as usual after May 21. “The ANC is returning with only a few less members. There will be a few more voices with one key new entrant, the EFF. This will bring more noise from MPs dressed in red overalls, making things literally and figuratively more colourful.”

However, the EFF’s lack of experience in parliamentary affairs could limit their effectiveness. “It is one thing to be on the campaign trail. Parliamentary business is hard work. It entails asking hard questions and reading documents.’’

Speaking from the floor of the IEC results centre in Pretoria, Friedman cautioned that there had been some “alarmist” responses to parliament’s handling of Nkandla, when the ANC used delaying tactics to stall a parliamentary process established to scrutinise the R246 million upgrades to President Jacob Zuma’s homestead. “Any ruling party in a parliamentary system in the world, who is fighting a corruption scandal will use their majority to kick the ball into touch. This is not unusual.”

The very fact that the ANC chose to delay the debate illustrated that parliament was a powerful, relevant institution, he said.

But at the end of the day, Friedman said it was unrealistic to expect vigorous oversight in a system where representatives were not directly elected by voters. ‘’ As long as you have a system where MPs are dependent on party leadership to be selected, you will have weak oversight.’’

By far the biggest challenge for parliament was the gap between formal politics and marginalised communities. ‘’Politicians, both from the ruling party and the opposition, are good at making speeches, but they need to listen and acquaint themselves with what is going on the ground.’’

Missing Mandela era

Leader of the Freedom Front Plus, Pieter Mulder, does not expect much change.  Mulder, among a handful veterans who has been in parliament since 1994, said that the ANC remained dominant and could still use their majority vote to ram through legislation, as they did with the Protection of State Information Bill.

Mulder, who has been Agriculture Deputy Minister, misses the early days of post-apartheid South Africa when Nelson Mandela was president. “Mandela would consult parties, he would compromise and negotiate behind the scenes in the best interests of South Africa. That atmosphere has now gone. The ANC has become arrogant.’’

“Our experience is that once in parliament, the ANC gets instructions from Cabinet. MPs do what cabinet tells them.”

The DA had not helped either, he said, adopting a “tit-for-tat’ style’’ instead of cooperating with other parties.

But he agreed with Calland power could lie with individuals. For example, the late Helen Suzman had demonstrated during the apartheid era that it was possible to make a difference as a lone opposition MP. However, Mulder felt that experience and knowledge of parliamentary process was dynamite. “If you don’t have members with experience, you are wasting your time.’’

Activist parliament

ANC parliamentary spokesperson Moloto Mothapo brushed aside criticism that parliament was at risk of losing relevance. The 2009 parliament was ushered in as an “activist parliament” he said, where all MPs were tasked with playing an oversight role over the executive “without fear or favour’’. There was always room for improvement, he acknowledged. “Any MP will be doing a disservice to his or her constituency if he or she does not take their job seriously”. Parliament consisted of multiple parties, all of which needed to work together to make the institution effective, powerful and accountable, he added.

On May 21, 400 MPs will be sworn in to this pillar of democracy with high expectations from the electorate.

·*An edited version of this article appeared in Rapport on 11 May. http://bit.ly/1ojBgAz