The Secretaries’ Association of the Legislatures of South Africa (SALSA), hosted a three-day seminar from 29 to 31 January 2019 in Cape Town under the theme: “Building the SA Legislative Sector Legacy Through Collaboration – Deepening 25 Years of Democracy”.
The objectives of the seminar included reflection and interrogation on the transition of the South African Legislative Sector towards achieving the country’s strategy and realising a strengthened arm of state and democracy through enhanced collaboration; benchmarking and strategising for enhanced sector administrative leadership and support in a robust political environment.
Experts were invited to engage delegates on future scenarios developed for South Africa. This was aimed at stimulating debate on the future of the country including implications of the 4th Industrial Revolution on the Sector (Parliament and Provincial Legislatures). The discussions focused on trends and developments in human capital management and opportunities that could be advanced by ICT and knowledge management to professionals of the Sector.
This year, topics for discussions included:
- The 4th Industrial Revolution – trends and implications for South Africa and the Legislative Sector;
- Parliamentary leadership and support in a robust political environment; and
- The role of Parliaments and progress towards ensuring delivery on African Agenda 2063.
- Those in attendance included the Secretaries to Parliament and Provincial Legislatures, leadership and senior officials of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures as well as invited stakeholders.
The motivational session for the Sector leadership led by Dr John Tibane set the tone for the engagement. Some of the presenters included development economist specialising on Africa and Global development Prof Haroon Bhorat, analysts from the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflections, Ms Suzanne Hattingh of Performance Improvement Solutions and Professor Tinyiko Maluleke who presented on “Parliamentary Leadership and Support in a robust political environment” and Ms Doris Viljoen, Senior Futurist at the University of Stellenbosch.
The wide-ranging recommendations would be taken into consideration in the handover to the 6th term of Legislatures and processed for actioning through Legislatures.