Parliament to hear the people
Karen Pretorius
27 June 2005
A People's Assembly in Kliptown, Soweto will give lawmakers an opportunity to listen to the voices of ordinary South Africans - and commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Congress of the People, where the Freedom Charter was adopted.
The assembly - under the theme "people's voices - shaping the future" - will take place on 26 and 27 June.
Launching the People's Assembly last week, Speaker of the National Assembly Baleka Mbete said the public would be able to engage with legislators on issues such as poverty and crime.
"We will also give people a sense of being directly in touch with their representatives and getting to have an experience of this thing called Parliament," she said.
More than 1 300 people are expected to attend the event, including representatives from the nine provinces, members of Parliament and veterans who attended the Congress of the People in 1955.
Similar events are expected to take place in provincial
legislatures on 27 June. These are to be linked to the Kliptown event via satellite.
"In the end, we will really feel that we have been talking to our people and that the people's voices have been heard," Mbete said.
She said some of the veterans of the 1955 Congress would address the assembly on the progress that has been made since they adopted the Freedom Charter in Kliptown 50 years ago.
"We will get feedback from people who started to lead us along the lines of the constitutional order we now have," she said.
Delegates are expected to stay in Soweto for the duration of the event.
The chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Mninwa Johannes Mahlangu, said the event was an extension of Parliament's mission to encourage public participation in the legislative process.
Source: BuaNews
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