Chairpersons of Committees reflect on municipal oversight
On 27 July 2026 the National Forum of Chairpersons of Committees under the leadership of House Chairpersons of Committees in the National Assembly, Mr Cedric Frolick, and National Council of Provinces, Mr Dennis Ryder, met in the Eastern Cape. The Speaker of the Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature, Honourable Helen Sauls-August warmly welcomed all the legislature representatives to the provinces and wished them well on their engagement aimed at addressing the following common matters:
- Deliberations on the outcomes of municipal oversight based on which strategic resolutions were made towards enhancement of local government oversight, as a strategic contributor to the oversight ecosystem in South Africa.
- Reflections on the practices of Parliament and legislatures in coordinating with the offices of Leader of government business (LOGB), focus was on practices in the following areas:
- Agreement on oversight rules of engagement between legislatures and LOGB offices in the provinces;
- Agreement on reporting formats and requirements (government reporting in line with the oversight requirements of the sector); and
- Coordination of resolutions tracking, to ensure qualitative responsiveness to resolutions of the House.
- The Forum received updates on matters that are before the administrative forums of core business, with an intention of informing and soliciting inputs to project. The following areas were covered in the updates:
- “individual member oversight”
- Processing of ad hoc committees;
- Role of constituency offices in public participation; and
- implementation of Sector Oversight and Public Participation dashboards (intended to monitor implementation of Sector Oversight Model and Public Participation Framework).
- Presentation on National Programme Framework focusing on the work of the National Council of Provinces, including coordination of Section 76 legislation.
The meeting in the Eastern Cape facilitated strategic engagements, collaboration and coordination of core business in the legislatures, from the perspective of Chairpersons of Committees, as drivers of Committees as the “Engine Room” of Parliament and Legislatures.
Photo credit: Legislative Sector Support