Parliament committee chairpersons create 43 Twitter accounts to reach out to young people
The sixth democratic Parliament is taking this route to open access to its business, through the committees, and seeks to involve all the citizens in the formulation of legislation.
National Assembly House Chairperson for Committees, Cedrick Frolick, and National Council of Provinces House Chairperson for Committees, Jomo Nyambi announced the launch of Twitter accounts for NA and NCOP Committees as one of the mechanisms of enhancing public participation.
According to the Parliament’s spokesperson, Moloto Mothapo the Constitution enjoins Parliament to facilitate public participation in all its business, thus committees are charged with the responsibility of ensuring that Parliament’s constitutional function of law-making, public involvement and oversight is realised.
The sixth democratic Parliament is taking this route to open access to its business, through the committees, and seeks to involve all the citizens in the formulation of legislation. The accounts will also enable Parliament to exercise better oversight on the executive, with guidance from the beneficiaries of the services offered by various government departments.
“The Twitter accounts will enable members of the public to participate in the business of the committees by responding to invitations for public comments, in writing, for Bills or any matters before the committees. The accounts can also be used to make representations or recommendations to the committees on Bills or any other matters before the committees. This is one of the mechanisms of reaching out to South Africans in the spirit of participatory democracy to enhance active participation, more so the techno-savvy young people, in the business Parliament,” said the chairpersons.
43 accounts for various Portfolio and Select Committees were signed up to directly communicate and foster inter-active participation between citizens and parliamentary committees.
Check out these handles:
