Parliamentary Constituency Office makes participatory democracy possible

The Parliamentary Constituency Office (PCO) in Rosebank hosted a meet and greet to have a face-to-face informal meeting with the Parliamentary Liaison Officer (PLO) Jacques Meiring and his team.

According to the Member of Parliament Hein April, the meet and greet was aimed to address and inform the public about the PCO services they can offer to the Rosebank community and also allow the community to participate directly with parliament.

“The public can give feedback via our office, it is there for public participation and to hold parliament accountable and responsible via certain levels of reporting,” April said.

April added that civic issues such as drug dealing could be addressed by the community rallying together, compiling petitions, getting signed support, and then submitting it to the PCO officials who would take it to parliament for discussion and action.

“The past two years, we have been very quiet, the pandemic forced a total shutdown of services but we ask the public to talk to us continuously and add our numbers to the community WhatsApp groups, we want to know what is happening in the community.”

Meiring emphasised that the PCO was all about informing, educating, and creating meaningful opportunities for the public to participate in the decision-making on issues that affected their lives.

“The main purpose of our office is to listen to the public’s grievances and deal with them as quickly as we can,” Meiring added.

He highlighted that the areas covered by the PCO included among others, Alexandra, Highlands North, Killarney, Sandton, Hyde Park, Bramley, Parkview, Parktown, Rosebank, Westcliff, Richmond, Auckland Park and Melville.

People are encouraged to submit petitions, speak to the Member of Parliament or visit the PCO, Parliamentary Liaison Officer via email Jacques.meiring@mail.com

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