EASTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL LEGISLATURE
- As a member of the public, you have the responsibility to voice your opinion on issues. If you are unhappy about certain issues in your community, make an appeal to your MPL to look into the matter on your behalf and for the MPL to take the matter up with the relevant MEC or provincial government department.
Further to this, you are entitled to attend sittings of the House and meetings of the Portfolio Committees in order to remain informed of what is happening within the province.
- The Legislature operates on the Westminister System that has been adopted from Britain and Canada. The Legislature opens at the beginning of year when the Premier gives his State of the Province Address; thereafter it has fixed times as to when the House sits. There is usually a recess towards the middle and end of the year respectively. MPLs debate issues of public importance, vote on Bills, pose questions to the Executive and deliberate on policy issues and budget votes.
- As a member of the public, the Eastern Cape Legislature is accountable to you as you voted MPLs into power during elections. You voted for a political party to represent you in the Provincial Legislature; therefore MPLs have the responsibility of ensuring that you are informed of all aspects within the province that affect you, your family or your community. You also have the responsibility to voice your support or disapproval on issues that affect your daily living.
- Political parties have constituency offices in as many areas as possible. MPLs regularly visit these offices so that they can interact with the public.
Each MPL has a constituency office with an administrator whose job it is to help the public and give them advice on problems. If you need the contact details of your nearest constituency office, contact the Legislature or the political party that you support.
MPLs have a responsibility to report back to their constituencies. This means that they must be ready to answer questions about what is happening in the Legislature. They can also hold public meetings to hear about the grievances or problems that the community is facing on a daily basis.
- Portfolio Committees are known as the engine room of the Legislature. All MPLs serve on Portfolio Committees, so that each political party has the opportunity to voice their opinion. Committees play a vital role in ensuring efficient and transparent governance and facilitate public input and participation in the legislative process.
- The Legislature is the law-making body in the province. It debates Bills (draft laws) that has been introduced by the Members of the Executive Council (MECs) and can reject or amend such Bills.
The Legislature has a constitutional obligation to consult the public about Bills that are a matter of public importance. The Premier and the Executive Council are accountable to the Legislature. MECs must report to the Legislature about the work done by their provincial departments. The Legislature consist of Members of the Provincial Legislature (MPLs) and their support staff.
- The Constitution has rules which make sure that power is separated between different parts of government, so that no part has too much power. This is called Separation of Powers. The three major role-players in the province are the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. Each of them have their own special responsibility, but they function in such a way that they complement each other so that effective governance is possible.
The Legislature (MPLs) is responsible for making laws in the province and ensuring that the Executive does its work properly. It is not a government department.
The Executive (Premier and MECs) is responsible for the effective running of the province as they head the provincial government departments (Department of Education, Department of Social Development etc). This means that the MECs are accountable to the Legislature for their actions or decisions and the Legislature is in turn accountable to the public. The Premier is appointed by the Legislature who in turn appoints MECs to head each provincial government department. The Premier and the MECs form the Executive Council.
The Judiciary (judges and magistrates who preside over courts) is responsible for interpreting the laws and decides what should be done when a law is broken.
- The public are welcome to contact the Strategy and Communications section of the Legislature in order to obtain more information. The Public Participation unit conducts educational tours for school-children and runs a public education programme that includes visits to communities, schools or organisations to create awareness about the role of the Legislature.
- The Eastern Cape Legislature is situated in the legislative buildings in Independence Avenue (Bhisho), opposite the satellite campus of the University of Fort Hare.
- MPLs are elected by the constituencies to represent their communities in the Provincial Legislature. MPLs are elected to the Provincial Legislature through a system called proportional representation. This means that, before an election, each political party draws up a list of candidates in order of preference. The candidates are elected to the Provincial Legislature in proportion to the number of votes that the party wins during the election. For example, if a party wins half the votes, it will hold half the seats in the Legislature.
MPLs have a duty to protect the rights and interests of the public. They are accountable to the public who elected them to represent them in the Legislature.
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