{"id":199706,"date":"2021-08-26T03:13:21","date_gmt":"2021-08-26T01:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/south-africas-new-speaker-of-parliament-has-sparked-controversy-for-good-reason\/"},"modified":"2021-08-26T03:13:21","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T01:13:21","slug":"south-africas-new-speaker-of-parliament-has-sparked-controversy-for-good-reason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/south-africas-new-speaker-of-parliament-has-sparked-controversy-for-good-reason\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa’s new Speaker of parliament has sparked controversy \u2013 for good reason"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On Thursday 19 August the members of South Africa\u2019s National Assembly convened physically for the first time in a while<\/a>. They met in several locations in parliament to achieve sufficient distancing in the pandemic. And there was only one item on the order paper: the election of a Speaker. <\/p>\n

This was duly done and the former minister of defence, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, was elected to the office<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The Speaker in South Africa presides over proceedings in the National Assembly. They also are the titular head of parliament as a whole, including the National Council of Provinces<\/a>. The Speaker is elected by a majority of members of the assembly, and may be removed in the same way. <\/p>\n

The Speaker is responsible for providing political leadership and strategic direction to the National Assembly. And they should do so in a nonpartisan manner. <\/p>\n

Why was this an important temperature check for the state of health of South Africa\u2019s constitutional democracy?<\/p>\n

This question must be answered against the background of the ingrained identity politics which characterise the country\u2019s long history of racial oppression and its relatively recent reversal<\/a>. It would, therefore, have been unrealistic in the first years of democracy to expect conscientious adherence to the unwritten rules and conventional spirit that ideally should prevail in parliament. But the expectation was that this would gradually be achieved. <\/p>\n

Indeed, those who served in the position immediately after the country\u2019s first democratic election in 1994<\/a> did so with distinction. However, over most of the past 15 years the Speaker has been both weak and partisan, and was responsible for allowing the executive, particularly that of former president Jacob Zuma, to conduct themselves in ways that have brought the government into disrepute.<\/p>\n

The election of the new Speaker was thus a significant moment for the governing African National Congress (ANC) to show that it was moving away from its \u201cwasted years\u201d<\/a> under Zuma.<\/p>\n

It failed the test. Mapisa-Nqakula\u2019s elevation to this significant constitutional office reflects extremely poorly on the party leadership. It contrasts starkly with President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s oft-stated commitment to uncorrupt governance and to the values of the constitution<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A brief history of the role<\/h2>\n

The title given to the highest authority in parliament originated in the English parliament in the late 1300s. It then described the person who \u201cspoke\u201d on behalf of the monarch. After the \u201cGlorious Revolution\u201d of 1688<\/a>, the Speaker became the presiding officer in the House of Commons. <\/p>\n

South Africa inherited that office and title as a former British colony, together with almost all other members of the Commonwealth<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Any legislature needs someone to chair its proceedings, to manage and administer the support services, to oversee the exercise of discipline among its members, and to represent it in discussions with the executive and judicial arms of government.<\/p>\n

Various approaches are taken towards the impartiality and independence of the office of Speaker. <\/p>\n

In the UK, an MP is elected as Speaker immediately after a general election<\/a>. The person is generally a member of the governing party, but does not have to be. On election the MP ceases to be a member of the party caucus. <\/p>\n

In the US the Speaker of the House of Representatives<\/a> is drawn from the senior ranks of the majority party in the lower house of Congress. They play a partisan role, balanced with a degree of fair play towards all members of the house. <\/p>\n

Most other national constitutions position their equivalent of the Speaker between these two approaches.<\/p>\n

What the job entails<\/h2>\n

As the parliamentary website <\/a> provides, the Speaker\u2019s responsibilities include:<\/p>\n