The Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) will convene its first virtual house sitting this morning, to be led by speaker Ntombi Mekgwe.
The GPL’s transition to a digital legislature comes shortly after SA’s Parliament marked its 100th virtual meeting of its oversight committees.
The global outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent declaration of the state of national disaster required Parliament to put in place the necessary technology systems, to enable parliamentarians to connect to the virtual meetings of oversight committees and other parliamentary structures from their homes during the national lockdown.
The same was required of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, which was the first provincial legislature to convene a virtual sitting of the house.
In a statement, the GPL says the move to digital aims to ensure the business of the legislature remains in full force, and that citizens’ rights and views remain the centre of its focus in the fight against the virus.
“The virtual house sitting will offer Gauteng premier David Makhura, together with other Members of the Executive Council, an opportunity to respond to questions posed by Members of the Provincial Legislature as part of their oversight mandate and holding the executive accountable.
“Some of these questions relate to the decisions and activities of the Gauteng Provincial Government during the nationwide lockdown.”
The GPL indicates that proceedings of the virtual house sitting can be streamed live on the legislature’s social media platforms and YouTube.
To access the social media pages, click here.
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