South Africa

National Assembly National Council of Provinces

National Assembly

Political system: Parliamentary system
Structure of parliament: Bicameral
IPU membership: Yes

Openness and transparency

Information about access to parliamentary documents, parliament’s reporting to the public, parliament’s relation to Freedom of Information laws, and lobbying.

Parliamentary documents

The agendas of plenary meetings are published online in advance: Some
The agendas of committee meetings are published online in advance: Some
Results of votes on draft legislation are published on the parliamentary web site: All
Draft legislation is published on the parliamentary website: Some
Citizens can submit comments on draft legislation on the parliamentary web site: Yes

Annual reporting by parliament

Parliament publishes an annual report on its activities: Yes

Notes:
Monthly financial statements, quarterly performance reports, a mid-year performance report and the annual report are all published in the ATC which is available on the Parliamentary website.

https://www.parliament.gov.za/business-publications
The annual report is available on the parliamentary web site: Yes
Parliament publishes the parliamentary budget: Yes
Level of detail of the parliamentary budget made available to the public: The complete budget
The parliamentary budget is available on the parliamentary web site: Yes
Link to the parliamentary budget: https://www.parliament.gov.za/business-publications

Access to parliament

Plenary meetings are open to the public: Yes
Committee meetings are open to the public: Yes

Notes:
No cameras or weapons of any sort are allowed.

Meetings of committees and subcommittees are open to the public and media. They cannot be excluded except when the committee is closed (National Assembly Rule 184), for instance, for considering a matter which is of a private nature that is prejudicial to a particular person; protected under parliamentary privilege by law; confidential legislation; or for any other reason justifiable in an open and democratic society. E.g., meetings of the Joint Committee on Intelligence are closed.
There is a dedicated channel for broadcasting parliamentary meetings: Yes
Media used for the dedicated channel: TV

Webcast
Meetings broadcast on the dedicated channel: Plenary sittings

Committee meetings

Freedom of information

There is a freedom of information law in the country: Yes
Parliament is subject to the freedom of information law: Yes
Parliament has an office/division dedicated to FOI requests: Yes
Categories of Information that are exempt from disclosure: Promotion of Access to Information Act of 2000, Articles 7,12 and 33-46.

https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/acts/2000-002.pdf

Lobbying

There are rules about the activities of lobbyists in parliament: Yes

Notes: Rules of the National Assembly regulate the media and lobbyists' access or attendance of committee meetings, in particular.
There is a register of accredited lobbyists: No

South Africa

National Assembly

Openness and transparency

Parliamentary documents

Annual reporting by parliament

Access to parliament

Freedom of information

Lobbying

Historical data for IPU membership