Parliament brings the people R14 million bill for shambolic event

The poor organisation of the recent People's Assembly, held in Mangaung between 21 to 23 September, meant that South Africans had little to show for the two day event apart from a R14 million bill.

These events are held periodically by Parliament as a means of encouraging interaction between the public, MPs and cabinet ministers.

I will today write to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Max Sisulu, to request that he commission an investigation into the hosting of this event, to ensure that those responsible for its mismanagement are held to account. In addition, I will ask Hon Sisulu to make public the names of those ministers and deputy ministers who confirmed that they would attend the event, but did not show up.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes initiatives which seek to increase public participation in our democracy. However, the disorganized and poorly attended Mangaung event did little to convince the public that their input is valued by Parliament.

Instead of bringing Parliament to the people, the People's Assembly brought the Mangaung community a shambolic event with a hefty price tag.

DA MPs who attended the event reported a number of examples of the poor management, including:

Transport failures- Flight bookings were not made for many of the MPs who were supposed to attend the People's Assembly, and the flight details for those flights that had been booked were allegedly incorrect. In addition, transport arranged by Parliament did not arrive in some cases, leaving MPs to find their own way to the venue. Flight shortages meant that MPs left early on the final day of the Assembly in order to arrange transport.

Poor events management- A gala dinner hosted on 21 September was poorly attended as many MPs who should have been invited, were not. Consequently, these members ate dinner at their hotels, meaning that the state had to foot the bill twice- once for the gala dinner, and again for the meals bought by MPs who were not on the guest list.

Insufficient public involvement- Few residents attended the first sitting of the Assembly. For the second sitting, hand-picked delegates specifically chosen by the organizers were bussed in from across the country, which somewhat defeated the purpose of bringing Parliament to the community of Mangaung.

Initiatives like the People's Assembly can play an important role in making parliament more accessible to the public. However, when events such as this are poorly organized and are held at vast expense to the state with few tangible outcomes, they do little to build public confidence in parliament, or encourage support for its work. 

Statement issued by Athol Trollip MP, DA Parliamentary Leader, September 26 2011

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