Civil society and WC Parliament strengthen collaboration

Stronger ties between civil society and provincial legislatures are essential to revitalising accountability and rebuilding public trust in South Africa’s democracy. This was the message that emerged from the Civil Society and Western Cape Parliament Symposium held in Cape Town on 21 October.

The event brought together representatives from civil society organisations (CSOs), administrative staff from the WCPP, academics and oversight bodies to discuss practical ways of improving cooperation between legislatures and civic actors. The symposium was organised by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) and was funded by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS). It follows a similar national-level symposium held last year with Parliament in Cape Town, also supported by KAS.

Building partnerships for stronger oversight

The symposium formed part of an ongoing series under the theme Strengthening Democracy: Fostering Collaboration for Effective Parliamentary Oversight and Enhanced CSO Participation. It aimed to establish a platform for structured engagement between the WCPP and civil society, focusing on joint problem-solving, better public participation and stronger legislative oversight.

Christiaan Endres of KAS set the tone in his keynote address, describing South Africa’s oversight system as being in crisis, with corruption, weak committee performance and declining public confidence. However, he noted that the emergence of the government of national unity (GNU) and coalition politics across provinces presents new opportunities for reform, as power-sharing demands negotiation, transparency and shared accountability priorities.

Provincial legislatures are not junior partners in governance, he said. They oversee nearly two-thirds of public spending , from schools to clinics to infrastructure, and must act as anchors of accountability.

Endres called for closer collaboration between legislatures and civil society through mechanisms such as open-data tools, participatory budgeting, structured committee partnerships and public forums that feed directly into oversight work.

Provincial perspectives on participation

Sunelle Fouché, Director for Public Engagement at the WCPP, situated the province’s challenges within global and African governance trends. She noted that public trust in legislatures has dropped dramatically, from 56% in 2011 to just 24% in 2023, according to Afrobarometer, and warned of the risk of citizens bypassing legislatures altogether if public participation does not become more meaningful and results driven.

Public participation must be meaningful, inclusive and sustained, she said.

Fouché  highlighted the need for data-driven oversight reviews, open-data transparency, institutionalised CSO engagement frameworks and stronger capacity building for both legislators and civic actors.

Insights from the panel

A high-level panel discussion followed, featuring Rashaad Ali (Parliamentary Monitoring Group), Dr Sarah Meny-Gilbert (Public Affairs Research Institute), Dr Marianne Camerer (Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance), Sunelle Fouché (WCPP) and Paul Hoffman (Institute for Accountability in Southern Africa).

Panellists agreed that civil society has a crucial role in enhancing oversight, providing research capacity, and bringing citizens’ perspectives into legislative processes. They also acknowledged barriers such as mistrust between CSOs and legislatures, political party dominance, and limited technological infrastructure.

Participants emphasised that public participation must be transparent, inclusive, and sustained beyond once-off hearings. They called for “structured collaboration” and “feedback loops” to demonstrate how public inputs shape final legislation.

Practical outcomes and next steps

Breakaway discussions generated practical proposals for improving collaboration and participation at the provincial level. Among the key outcomes were:

• Developing a central repository for all public submissions to WCPP committees.
• Producing plain-language summaries of legislation for public hearings.
• Creating a “report card” system to show how public input influences final laws.
• Leveraging AI tools to process and summarise public submissions.
• Extending public participation timelines to allow more thorough public engagement.
• Drafting a guide for CSOs on how to engage effectively with provincial legislatures.
• Establishing regular structured engagements between the WCPP and CSOs.
• Providing interpreters at committee meetings for language accessibility.
• Partnering with PMG to expand monitoring of provincial legislatures.
• Exploring municipal partnerships to improve internet access for online participation.

The symposium concluded with a shared commitment to sustained dialogue and a follow-up session planned for later this year.

OUTA’s perspective

OUTA thanked KAS for its continued partnership and commended the WCPP for its openness to working with civil society. “Our democracy depends on legislatures that listen, engage and act,” said OUTA’s parliamentary engagement team. “Civil society is ready to play its part in strengthening accountability and ensuring that public participation leads to impact, not just consultation.”

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