{"id":101896,"date":"2025-10-31T20:05:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T18:05:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=101896"},"modified":"2025-10-31T20:05:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T18:05:02","slug":"seventh-parliamentary-oversight-report-call-for-accountability-amid-promising-shifts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/seventh-parliamentary-oversight-report-call-for-accountability-amid-promising-shifts\/","title":{"rendered":"Seventh Parliamentary Oversight Report: Call for Accountability Amid Promising Shifts"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a> <\/em>
\n3-minute read | 31 October 2025 | 14:15 CAT<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

\ud83d\udcf8 Accountability in focus: OUTA\u2019s latest Parliamentary Oversight Report urges the Seventh Parliament to turn activity into real impact and place public interest above party politics.<\/p><\/div>\n

Oversight is one of the most vital components of any democratic institution, yet in South Africa, it remains a process too often without consequences. This is the concern raised in the Seventh Annual Report on Parliamentary Oversight<\/em> by OUTA (Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse)<\/strong>, which scrutinises the performance and accountability of the Seventh Parliament.<\/p>\n

Dr. Rachel Fischer, lead researcher on the report, highlighted that while Parliament remains active, its true impact is questionable. \u201cParliament is very busy, they have many meetings and packed schedules but are they really making an impact?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

The report, now in its seventh edition since 2019, evaluates the first year of the Seventh Parliament, one formed under the Government of National Unity (GNU). Fischer explained that the study measures not just activity but also follow-through, focusing on whether Portfolio Committees hold departments accountable. \u201cWe track whether committees follow up with departments, apply pressure, and produce visible results,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

One persistent weakness identified is the historical failure of Parliament to enforce consequences during the years of state capture. \u201cWe lost many productive years. Funds were stolen, and we saw extremely poor oversight by Parliament over implicated government departments,\u201d Fischer stated, adding that earlier intervention could have prevented much of the damage detailed in the Zondo Commission.<\/p>\n

While the Sixth Parliament was marked by apathy and resistance to external critique, Fischer believes there is a renewed energy in the current administration. \u201cWe are seeing a turnaround, not just in Parliament\u2019s willingness to engage with civil society, but also in the public\u2019s interest in Parliamentary processes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

However, transparency and access to information remain hurdles. Fischer noted that \u201cParliament\u2019s website is not user-friendly,\u201d forcing researchers to rely heavily on independent organisations like the Parliamentary Monitoring Group to obtain data. OUTA\u2019s solution to this gap has been the development of ParliMeter<\/em>, a public platform that makes Parliamentary data transparent and accessible.<\/p>\n

When asked about the way forward, Fischer stressed that \u201caction and follow-through are essential. There must be felt consequences that deter misconduct.\u201d She concluded with a powerful reminder: \u201cThe Seventh Parliament stands at a crossroads, its pluralism can either revitalise our democracy or weaken responsibility. Every political actor must put the Constitution and public interest above party loyalty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up<\/em> <\/a>with Moulana Junaid Kharsany and Dr Rachel Fischer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read | 31 October 2025 | 14:15 CAT Oversight is one of the most vital components of any democratic institution, yet in South Africa, it remains a process too often without consequences. This is the concern raised in the Seventh Annual Report on Parliamentary Oversight by OUTA (Organisation Undoing Tax […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":101897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/OUTA.jpg?fit=342%2C342&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-qvu","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-12 21:58:08","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}