MANAGING THE PROCESSING OF BILLS IN THE PARLIAMENT OF THE

REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

BY

Bhekizizwe A. Radebe

Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirement of the degree of

Master in Business Administration at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan

University.

PROMOTER: Prof William Fox

Date: November 2014

ii

DECLARATION

I Bhekizizwe Radebe 20527697 hereby declare that this treatise for MBA is my

own work and that it has not previously been submitted for assessment or

completion of any postgraduate qualification to another university or for another

qualification. All the sources used or referred to have been documented and

recognised.

BA Radebe Date

iii

ABSTRACT

The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of the legislative process in

the South African Parliament, especially the processing of bills. The study was

confined to bills processed by the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry

which is within, and what is known as the Economic Cluster of portfolio

committees of Parliament.

The main problem was to determine whether the Parliament of the Republic of

South Africa is efficiently and effectively managing the processing of the bills

tabled before it.

A sub-problem was to determine how it can be assured that the bills passed by

Parliament are of the highest standard.

A second sub-problem was to try to find a balance between private bills and those

introduced by the various ministries.

A third sub-problem was to determine the influence of the lobby groups have on

the processing and passing of bills in the Parliament of the Republic of South

Africa.

The research methodology includes a literature review, a questionnaire survey,

face-to-face interviews with parliament management and a comparative study.

After analysing the data collected, conclusions were drawn and recommendations

made.

Although the research was not comprehensive, the results should assist the

Parliament of the Republic of South Africa to improve the processing of bills,

thereby improving the legislative process.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The completion of this study would not have been possible without the advice,

support, assistance, and encouragement of others.

I would like to thank and appreciate the following:

Firstly, Jehovah my God for the strength and perseverance He has

given me in order to finish this study.

My promoter Prof William Fox, who provided me with guidance,

support and constructive criticism during the course of the study that

made it possible for me to complete this study.

My family for tolerating many hours of neglect.

The Secretary to Parliament for giving me permission to conduct the

study in Parliament.

The Parliament management team that is the Presiding officers,

portfolio committee chairpersons and the Unit Manager in the

committee section.

The Members of Parliament who participated in the study.

Mr Mpho Makhubu and Mr Simphiwe Languza for distributing and

retrieval of the questionnaires.

This work is also dedicated to the memory of my late parents Mr

Amos Duduza Radebe and Mrs Alina Pulu Radebe, who always

emphasized the importance of education in breaking down the

shackles of poverty and underdevelopment.

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MANAGING THE PROCESSING OF BILLS IN THE PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC

OF SOUTH AFRICA.

TABLE OF THE CONTENT

Page

DECLARATIONS.............................................................................ii

ABSTRACT....................................................................................iii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.................................................................iv

TABLE OF CONTENT.......................................................................v

LIST OF TABLES.............................................................................ix

LIST OF ANNEXURES......................................................................x

CHAPTER 1....................................................................................1

PROBLEM STATEMENT AND THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY.................1

1.1 INTRODUCTION.......................................................................1

1.2PROBLEM STATEMENT.............................................................3

1.2.1 Main problem.......................................................................3

1.2.2 Sub-problems……………………………………………………………………..4

1.3 DELIMINATION OF THE RESEARCH...........................................5

1.4 DEFINITION OF KEY CONCEPT..................................................5

1.5 KEY ASSUMPTIONS..................................................................7

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH.............................................8

1.7 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.....................................................8

1.7.1 Research methodology..........................................................8

vi

1.7.2 Data analysis.........................................................................9

1.8 STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH REPORT....................................10

1.9 CONCLUSION..........................................................................10

CHAPTER 2...................................................................................12

LITERATURE REVIEW....................................................................12

2.1 PROCESSING BILLS IN PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH

AFRICA.........................................................................................12

2.2 PROCESSING BILLS IN THE PARLIAMENT OF GHANA................20

2.3 PROCESSING BILLS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM PARLIAMENT...24

2.4 LOBBYING DURING THE PROCESSING OF BILLS.......................25

2.5 MANAGEMENT AND MANAGING OPERATIONS PROCESSES...29

2.6 CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………………….31

CHAPTER 3..................................................................................32

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.........................................................32

3.1 INTRODUCTION.....................................................................32

3.2 RESEARCH APPROACH...........................................................32

3.3 RESEARCH DESIGN.................................................................33

3.3.1 Surveys...............................................................................33

3.3.2 Questionnaire.....................................................................34

3.3.3 Distribution of the questionnaires.......................................39

3.3.4 Face to face or personal interviews.....................................39

3.4 POPULATION.........................................................................40

vii

3.5 SAMPLE SIZE..........................................................................40

3.6 PROBLEMS EXPERIENCED.......................................................42

3.7 SUMMARY.............................................................................42

CHAPTER 4...................................................................................43

FINDINGS AND RESULTS ANALYSIS OF THE EMPIRICAL

STUDY..........................................................................................43

4.1 INTRODUCTION......................................................................43

4.2 MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS

ANALYSIS.....................................................................................43

4.2.1 Demographic data analysis..................................................43

4.2.2 Section Two. Support given by Parliament to the members of

parliament...................................................................................46

4.2.3 Section Three. The performance of Parliament in order to give the

adequate support to the members of parliament.........................49

4.2.3.1 The respondents’ comments on section three

questions......................................................................................51

4.3 PARLIAMENT MANAGEMENT QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS

ANALYSIS......................................................................................56

4.3.1 Section one. Demographic data analysis...............................56

4.3.2 Section two. Analysis of the results obtained........................57

4.3.3 Section three general comments and suggestions.................64

4.4 SUMMARY...............................................................................64

CHAPTER 5.....................................................................................65

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS....................................65

viii

5.1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................65

5.2 CONCLUSIONS..........................................................................65

5.2.1 Empirical study......................................................................65

5.2.2 Literature survey...................................................................68

5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS...............................................................70

5.4 CONCLUDING COMMENTS .......................................................74

REFERENCES...................................................................................76

ix

LIST OF TABLES

TABLE 4.1 Gender of the respondents...........................................44

TABLE 4.2 Political Party of the respondents.................................44

TABLE 4.3 Province of Origin.........................................................45

TABLE 4.4 Length of service in Parliament.....................................46

TABLE 4.5 Support given by Parliament.........................................47

TABLE 4.6 Performance of Parliament...........................................49

TABLE 4.7 Analysis of participants................................................56

TABLE 5.1 Turnover of the US lobbying industry...........................69

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LIST OF ANNEXURES

Annexure A Covering letter for questionnaire of Parliament

management...............................................................................................79

Annexure B Questionnaire for Parliament management..............................80

Annexure C Covering letter for questionnaire Members of Parliament.........82

Annexure D Questionnaire for Members Parliament....................................83

1

MANAGING THE PROCESSING OF BILLS IN THE PARLIAMENT OF THE

REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

CHAPTER 1

PROBLEM STATEMENT AND THE SCOPE OF THE STUDY

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Note that this study was conducted in 2013 and some of the facts are correct as

of November 2013.

The Republic of South Africa is a middle income country based in the southern tip

of the African continent. It is generally regarded as the African continent’s largest

economy. It is public knowledge that it is a member of multinational forums, such

as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), IBSA (India, Brazil and

South Africa), Commonwealth of States and the Non-Aligned Movement. It is a

member state of the multilateral institutions like the African Union, Southern

African Development Community, Southern African Customs Union, the United

Nations and its sister bodies.

In 1994 it held its first democratic elections under a multi party negotiated

interim constitution. The system of elections agreed upon was that of the

proportional representative system (PR system), where all identified voters of 18

years and older, within and outside of South Africa, voted for registered parties

and not for individuals, like in a constituency based system. From 1994 to 1996

the Constituent Assembly negotiated a new constitution which was adopted in

1996 (Act 108 of 1996). The new Constitution became the basic law of the

country. No law or act of parliament or regulations could be recognised unless

they are incompliance with the Constitution. The Constitution retained the

proportional representative system of the interim constitution. All the registered

political parties field candidates, according to party lists, and the party which

gains most votes from registered voters who have voted (see the Electoral Act:

Act 73 of 1998, as amended), has a right to form a government. One of the major

functions of the government is to pass the laws which are in line with the

2

Constitution. Hence South Africa is generally regarded as a constitutional

democracy.

The aim of this study is to gain an understanding and find an explanation of the

legislative processes of the South African Parliament and those of countries such

as the United Kingdom. In this manner the present processes of the South African

Parliament may be practically analysed and, so that, better processes and results

could be found and recommended.

The study focused on bills that were processed by the Portfolio Committee on

Trade and Industry. This committee falls under the Economic Cluster of portfolio

committees. The Committee oversees the Department of Trade and Industry.

According to the South Africa Year Book 2012/2013, published as a public

document by the Department of Goverment Communications and Information

Services(GCIS), the Department of Trade and Industry had the following strategic

objectives:

Facilitating transformation of the economy, to promote industrial

development, investment, competiveness and employment creation.

Building mutually beneficial regional and global relations to advance South

Africa’s trade, industrial policy and economic development objectives.

Facilitating broad based economic participation through targeted

interventions to achieve more inclusive growth.

Creating a fair regulatory environment that enables investment, trade and

enterprise development in an equitable and socially responsible manner.

Promoting a professional, ethical, dynamic, and competitive and customer

focused working environment that ensures effective and efficient service

delivery.

In the Economic Cluster of government departments, the Department of Trade

and Industry is charged with the development of an overarching industrial policy

action plan which binds all the departments in the economic cluster. The

3

industrial policy action plan adopted by Parliament identifies certain industries

that must be supported during the medium term budget expenditure framework;

for example, the incentives can be created for a particular industry like the textile

sector, auto industry and pharmaceutical industry. This automatically creates

competition among the industry players. This competition is translated into fierce

lobbying during the processing of bills in Parliament.

This committee was chosen because it processes a minimum of two bills every

year. The bills which are processed by this committee either fall under section 75

or Section 76 of the Constitution. In chapter 2 the processes followed in terms of

those two sections of the Constitution will be elaborated.

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

1.2.1 Main problem

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa declares that Parliament is the

national forum where the issues affecting the country are discussed. It also

demands that the people will be at the centre of all the deliberations affecting

them. Since all the bills which become the acts of parliament are binding to all the

citizens of the country, the process of involving the people in the processing of

bills is critical.

It is a function of Parliament to balance private member’s (bills tabled by

individual members of parliament) process and that of the ministries. It takes

about twelve months for the department or ministry to process a bill whereas it

takes a shorter period of time for a private member to table a bill, which has far

reaching implications for Parliament.

Questions that arise from this are:

What are the implications of the Constitutional Court ruling on the tabling of

private member’s bills?

What is the implication for the representative democracy where the majority

party can be swamped by bills from minority parties who do not enjoy the

popular mandate from the electorate?

4

How does Parliament ensure that private member’s bills are not proxies for the

lobby groups?

How does Parliament ensure that bills that are processed by it are of the highest

quality? For example, the Companies Act (Act 71 of 2008) had to be amended

before it could be implemented, because of technical deficiencies. The Act had to

be implemented in 2011, three years after the original bill was tabled. The

Companies’ Act was passed by Parliament in late 2008, and was approved by the

President in April 2009. During the process of developing regulations to give

effect to the Act, it was discovered that several sections contained errors, which

necessitated rectifications, for example, Section 335 of the 1973 Companies Act

provided for the scheme for domestication of foreign companies that may wish to

transfer their registration to the Republic of South Africa, and thus be regulated

as if they had been incorporated in the Republic of South Africa. It was the policy

intention to migrate this scheme into a new dispensation to facilitate ease of

transfer by foreign companies, but an omission occurred, which was corrected in

the Companies Amendment Bill of 2010. Section 49(b) and (c) of the Bill were

introduced to ensure that the arrangements for domestication of foreign

companies are reciprocal.

The big question is whether the Parliament of the Republic South Africa is

managing the processing of the bills effectively?

1.2.2 Sub-problems

It is not certain whether bills passed by Parliament are of the highest standard.

A balance has to be found between private bills introduced and those introduced

by ministries.

There is no effective control of lobby and other interest groups in the processing of

bills.

In this regard the following questions may be raised:

Is the process able to produce quality bills on time?

5

Is the joint tagging mechanism an effective tool to classify bills?

Is the public participation process of Parliament effective?

Is the mechanism of regulating the lobbyists and lobby groups effective?

Since South Africa has eleven official languages, is the language used in the

drafting of bills not hindering the public participation process?

Since South Africa is so unequal at the literacy, social and economic level,

how does parliament take on board the people who are in deep rural areas

who are usually resource poor?

How does parliament bridge the digital divide in the processing of bills?

Are the resources allocated by parliament adequate to allow parliament to

meet its constitutional obligation of ensuring effective public participation

in the processing of bills?

1.3 DELIMINATION OF THE RESEARCH

This section identified what the researcher set out to do. The perimeters of the

problem were, as carefully as possible, demarcated for the purposes of the study.

The scope of the research was limited to the Parliament of the Republic of South

Africa, paying special attention to the portfolio committees on economic cluster.

The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa is situated in the City of Cape

Town, Western Cape province of South Africa.

1.4 DEFINITION OF KEY CONCEPTS

Bills: A bill in its ordinary meaning means a new law in the making. But in its

parliamentary meaning, it indicates a draft of a proposed act of parliament which,

when passed by the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces, and

assented by the President of the Republic of South Africa, becomes the law of the

land. It may be introduced in Parliament by either a government minister or an

ordinary member of parliament (Private Member’s Bill).

6

Act of Parliament: Is a law that has been officially accepted by Parliament.

Portfolio committees: A portfolio committee is a multi party committee which is

aligned to a particular department of government. In general, parties are

represented in Parliament according to their electoral support, and this support is

translated into a number of members a party can field in the portfolio

committees. Work in the committees allows Parliament to increase the amount of

work that can be done. This can ensure that issues can be debated in more detail

than in plenary sessions of the houses.

Members of parliament are elected to represent the people. Part of their work as

public representatives is done inside Parliament and part of it is done directly

with citizens during constituency periods.

Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (ACT 108, 1996): Is the supreme law

of the country. It provides the legal framework for the existence of the Republic,

sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of

government.

Green and white paper: The process of lawmaking sometimes begins with a

discussion document, called a green paper. This is drafted in the ministry or

department dealing with the particular issue in order to show the way of its

thinking on particular policy matters. It is then published so that anyone who is

interested can give comments, suggestions and ideas. The green paper is

sometimes followed by a more refined discussion document, called a white paper,

which is a broad statement of government policy. This is drafted by the relevant

department or a task team designated by the minister of that department.

Comments may again be invited from interested parties. The relevant

parliamentary committees may propose amendments or other proposals and

then send the policy paper back to the ministry for further discussion and final

decision.

Private member’s bills: A member of parliament’s legislative motion, called

private member’s bill, is a proposed law introduced by the member of legislature

7

who is not acting on behalf of the executive government. In most countries with

parliamentary systems, most bills are proposed by the government.

National Assembly: The National Assembly is one of the houses of Parliament of

the Republic of South Africa, located in Cape Town in the Western Cape Province

of South Africa. It consists of four hundred members, who are elected every five

years using a party-list, proportional representation system where half of the

members are elected proportionally from provincial lists, and the remaining half

from national lists so as to restore proportionality. The National assembly is

presided over by a speaker, assisted by a deputy speaker.

National Council of Provinces: As one of the two houses of Parliament, it came

into effect in 1997. The National Council of Provinces is constitutionally mandated

to ensure that provincial interests are taken into account in the national sphere of

government. This is done through participation in the national legislative process

and providing a national forum for consideration of issues affecting provinces. The

NCOP consists of ninety provincial delegates, that is, ten delegates from each of

the nine provinces. This means that each province is equally represented in the

NCOP. Of these ten delegates of each province, six are permanent delegates and

the other four are rotational.

Lobby group: Is a group of people who spend their time influencing public and

government policy in all spheres of government that is the national, provincial

and local spheres.

Non Governmental Organisation: Is an organisation run privately by its members,

which serves a particular and common interest for its members.

1.5 KEY ASSUMPTIONS

The Parliament of the Republic of South Africa has not allocated enough

resources to the portfolio committees involved in the processing of bills in

Parliament.

The problem of illiteracy and resource poor citizens is not taken into

consideration when bills are processed.

8

The processing of bills is a cumbersome process.

The processing of the bills can be enhanced by adopting the techniques of

the systems approach and project management techniques.

1.6 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESEARCH

Since the key mandate of Parliament is to legislate, the objectives of this study is

to help Parliament to better manage the processing of bills. This will include a

thorough consideration of the language policy on drafting bills and support

provided to the portfolio committees during the process of handling bills. The

study should help Parliament to better process bills in future and come up with

better methods of managing of the process.

1.7 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

In this section the broad methodology to be followed in the study is described.

1.7.1 Research methodology

The following methods were employed to address the main problem and sub-

problems. In a study of the problems faced by a unique institution such as the

Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, the researcher should direct the main

thrust of the research at those employed within that institution:

Literature survey

The purpose of the literature review was to analyse the national and international

models in law making. It would also give guidelines on how processing of bills is

done in South Africa and in other countries in Africa such as Ghana, which was the

first country to elect a democratic government in Africa. The United Kingdom was

also considered because South Africa was colonised by England. It will be

expected that there will some similarities in the process of law making in three

countries. There was a review of government acts and publications on law making

and different academic books in management processes.

Empirical study

9

The empirical study consisted of:

Survey

Surveys were done by using questionnaires, which were circulated to members

of parliament

Interviews

Structured interviews were held with the chairperson of the National Council

of Provinces, portfolio committee chairpersons of parliament and the Unit

Manager of the committee section of Parliament who is responsible for

portfolio committees in the economic cluster, to address/answer the

questions on the sub-problems on the study/research.

Sampling

Only the members of four economic cluster portfolio committees were

requested to complete the questionnaire. The Chairperson of National Council

of Provinces, the three portfolio committee chairpersons and the Unit

Manager of the committee section were interviewed.

Comparative study

A comparative study was carried out to compare the processes adopted in the

processing of bills, and related affairs, in the South African Parliament with

those of the parliaments of the United Kingdom, Ghana, the United States of

America and Canada. The reason was that elements of those processes could

possibly be adopted to enhance the processes prevalent in the South African

Parliament.

1.7.2 Data analysis

The data collected during the study was processed and analysed using a Microsoft

spreadsheet. The actual statistical procedures used in the analysis and

interpretation of data were determined in consultation with a statistician.

Detailed analysis of the findings is set out in Chapter 4.

10

1.8 STRUCTURE OF THE RESEARCH REPORT

The research has been planned to include the following chapters:

Chapter 1:

This covered Introduction, problem statement, delimitation of the research,

key assumptions, and the significance of the study and outlines the research

approach.

Chapter 2:

The literature review includes the processing of bills in the South African,

Ghanaian and United Kingdom Parliaments, books on management and

publications found on the internet.

Chapter 3:

This includes the research methodology utilised and design of the empirical

survey, and a description of how the research was conducted.

Chapter 4:

Findings and the results of the empirical survey were tabled.

Chapter 5:

Conclusions and Recommendations

1.9 CONCLUSION

This chapter indicated the main problem, sub-problems to be addressed, as well

as questions to be answered to gain solutions to them and the questions that

were put.

11

The scope of the study was discussed taking into account the delineation of

concepts, key assumptions as well as proposed programme of study.

The next chapter will address the literature study of all prior research done in the

management of processing of bills in Parliament.

12

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Processing bills in the Parliament of RSA

The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 ( Act 108 of 1996) as the

supreme law of the Republic of South Africa provides, among others, how the

three spheres of government, namely the Legislature (Parliament, provincial

legislatures and municipal councils), the Executive Authority and the Judicial

Authority should conduct their business. Chapter 4 of the Constitution sets out

the national legislative process and determines that Parliament is the national

legislature (lawmaking body) of the Republic of South Africa. Both the National

Assembly and National Council of Provinces (NCOP), play a role in this process.

Parliament, as the national legislature, has legislative authority, that is, the

power to make laws, in the national sphere of government. Consequently,

Parliament has the power to pass new laws, to amend existing laws, and to

repeal old laws. The same power is exercised by provincial legislatures in the

provincial sphere of government in respect of provincial laws. Schedules 4 and

5 of the Constitution provide a list of functional areas in which Parliament and

the provincial legislatures are competent to make laws.

Parliament considers draft pieces of legislation in order to exercise its power

to make laws. A draft piece of law or act is called a bill. It may propose an

entirely new act, or it may simply repeal an existing act. The preparation of a

bill involves a number of steps, for example the investigation and evaluation of

the legislative proposal, which can either be proposed amendments to the

existing legislation or proposed new legislation, and consultation with

interested parties.

According to Taylor (1998:145) the process of introducing a bill up to its

conversion into an act of parliament, must undergo the following processes:

(1) the government policy in the form of a white paper is drafted into a bill by

13

a relevant department. (2) The ministry of the department concerned present

it to the cabinet, after which the state law advisors certify it. (3) After

certification the bill is then gazetted in the Government Gazette. (4) The bill is

then introduced to Parliament through the Speaker’s office. The Speaker,

Deputy Speaker, Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the National Council

of Provinces together with the parliamentary law advisor classify the bill

according to the section of the Constitution into which the bill will fall, that is

either, section 74, 75, 76 or 77 of the constitution. This process is known as

the Joint Tagging Mechanism. (5) After the Joint Tagging Mechanism, the

Speaker of the National Assembly introduces the bill to the National Assembly

as its first reading. (6) The bill is then allocated to a relevant portfolio

committee which will then process it and refer it back to Parliament with a

report of all the amendments, inputs from the relevant stakeholders and the

final version of the bill. The report is tabled as Announcements and Tabling of

Committees (ATC). (7) The bill is then tabled and debated in Parliament as the

second reading of the bill. If the bill is accepted by a quorum of two hundred

and one members, it is sent to the National Council of Provinces for

consideration. If the National Council of Provinces accepts the bill, after

following its due processes according to the tagging of the bill, it is sent to the

President for assent. After the assent by the President, the bill becomes an act

of parliament.

Bills before Parliament

A bill is the draft version of a law or an act. It may propose either an entirely

new act, or an amendment to an existing act, or it may simply repeal an

existing act.

A bill can be initiated and written by:

A minister

Most national and provincial bills are drawn up by a minister at the national

level.

14

A member of parliament

Bills drawn up by individual members are called private member’s bills. A

committee concerned with members’ legislative proposals in each house

decides whether a bill meets certain criteria, which could include financial

implications, and can be introduced into the house.

In terms of the Constitution (Act 108 of 1996), there are four main types of

bills that come before Parliament:

Ordinary bills that do not affect the provinces (section 75);

Ordinary bills that affect the provinces (section 76);

Money bills (section 77);

Bills amending the Constitution (section 74).

Bills are often loosely referred to by the section of the Constitution which

describes their procedure. The process of classifying a bill into one of the four

categories above is called tagging and will determine the procedures the bill

must follow to become law. Bills are tagged by the Joint Tagging Mechanism

(JTM), a committee consisting of the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker of

National Assembly and the Chairperson and the permanent Deputy

Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces. They are advised by the

parliamentary law adviser. The JTM decides on classification of the bill by

consensus.

Ordinary bills that do not affect the provinces (Section 75 bills)

An ordinary bill that does not affect the provinces can only be introduced in

the National Assembly. Once it has been passed by the National Assembly, it

must be forwarded to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP).

In this case, delegates in the National Council of Provinces vote individually

and the bill must be passed by a majority of delegates present. If the National

Council of Provinces rejects a bill or proposes its own amendments, the bill is

15

returned to the National Assembly which will pass it with or without taking

into account the amendments of the National Council of Provinces or it may

decide not to proceed with the bill. The role of the National Council of

Provinces in bills that do not affect the provinces is therefore a limited one. It

can delay a Section 75 bill, but it cannot prevent it from being passed.

Bills that affect the provinces (Section 76 bills)

A bill that affects the provinces may be introduced in either the National

Assembly or the National Council of Provinces, but must be considered in both

houses.

Members of the National Council of Provinces do not vote as individuals on

Section 76 bills but rather as provincial delegations. Each provincial delegation has

one vote, there are nine possible votes regarding bills that affect the provinces.

These bills must also be discussed by each provincial legislature so that each

legislature can give its National Council delegation a voting mandate. This makes

it necessary to have six-week legislative cycles so that a number of bills can go to

each province at one time.

Bills are usually considered by a provincial Committee, which may hold public

hearings on a bill to receive comments and suggestions. These Committees make

recommendations to their legislatures, which then decide on their position on

each bill and mandate their National Council of Provinces delegation accordingly.

The four special delegates to the National Council of Province, who are

understood to be chosen according to their expertise and knowledge of the bills

being debated, go to Cape Town to join the six permanent delegates. The full

delegation of ten people participates in the national debate on bills, thus enabling

the provinces to contribute to national legislation that affects them. The

delegation then casts its one vote on behalf of its province and in accordance with

the provincial legislature’s mandate.

The National Council of Provinces must pass, amend or reject a Section 76 bill. If

the bill was introduced in the National Assembly, however, the National Assembly

16

can override the National Council of Provinces’ decision with a two thirds majority

of its members.

Money bills (Section 77 bills)

Money bills allocate public moneys for a particular purpose or impose taxes,

levies or duties. They can only be introduced by the Minister of Finance and they

must be introduced in the National Assembly. They follow the same procedure as

that of bills that do not affect the provinces (Section 75 bills).

At present the money bills can only be amended by using the budget review, and

recommendation reports (BRRR). This takes place during the budget adjustment

process.

Constitutional amendments (Section 74 bills)

As the highest law in the land, the Constitution is the basis of a democratic

society, and it protects the rights of the people. There are special requirements

and procedures in amending the Constitution. All of these amendments require

special majorities. For example, amending the Bill of Rights requires a vote of two

thirds of the membership of the National Assembly and the support of six

provinces in the National Council of Provinces.

All constitutional amendments that affect the provinces must be passed by both

houses. Amendments that affect only certain provinces must be passed by those

provinces. Other amendments do not need to be passed by the National Council

of Provinces but all amendments, whether they have to be passed by the National

Council of Province or not, must be submitted to the National Council of

Provinces for public debate.

Minimum times are laid down for different stages of the legislative process. All

constitutional amendments must be published in the Government Gazette with a

call for public comment at least thirty days before being introduced in Parliament.

After a bill proposing amendments to the Constitution is tabled, thirty days must

pass before it can be put to a vote in the National Assembly.

17

Bills tabled in Parliament

Most bills tabled in Parliament are either:

Ordinary bills that do not affect the provinces (section 75 bills); or

Ordinary bills that affect the provinces (Section 76 bills).

How bills that do not affect the provinces (Section 75 bills) are tabled in

Parliament

The procedures outlined are part of the unpublished Rules of Parliament, 1994

and 1996, as amended.

1. A draft bill, which has been drafted by a government department, is submitted

by the relevant minister to the Cabinet for approval.

The state law adviser must refine and approve the draft bill.

The bill is then introduced and tabled in the National Assembly for what is

known as the First Reading. The bill is also published in the Government

Gazette.

The bill is then referred to the relevant committee in the National Assembly,

which considers and may agree to it, propose amendments or reject it,

generally after a process of public consultation.

The Second Reading then takes place where the bill is debated and voted on at

a sitting of the National Assembly.

If there is a quorum of two hundred and one members and the majority votes

in favour, the bill is passed, and is then referred to National Council of

Provinces for consideration.

The National Council of Provinces may accept or reject the bill or propose

amendments to it.

If the National Council of Provinces passes the bill without amendments, it goes to

the President for his assent and signature and the bill then becomes law. The Act

18

is then published in the Government Gazette and comes into effect on a date

determined by the President.

If the National Council of Provinces proposes amendments to or rejects a bill, it

must go back to the National Assembly for reconsideration. The National

Assembly can pass the bill with or without the National Council of Provinces’

amendments, or it can reject it.

While both houses must consider bills that do not affect the provinces, the

National Assembly may override the National Council of Provinces and pass the

bill despite opposition by the National Council of Provinces. It then submits the

bill, either in its original form or with amendments, to the National Assembly with

a report.

2. Bills that affect the provinces (Section 76 bills)

Schedule 4 of the Constitution lists the matters that affect the provinces and

which therefore have to be dealt with as Section 76 bills.

These include legislation on casinos; racing; gambling; cultural matters; disaster

management; education, excluding tertiary education; the environment; health

services; housing; population development; public transport; tourism; trade;

traditional leadership; welfare services; and child care facilities.

Bills that affect the provinces may be introduced in either the National Assembly

or the National Council of Provinces. Once introduced in Parliament, bills are also

sent to the provincial legislatures so that they can begin considering them.

If the bill is tabled in the National Assembly:

The bill is introduced by a cabinet minister or a deputy minister, or a

member or a committee of the national assembly.

The bill will be referred to a National Assembly Committee for

consideration. Sometimes public hearings will be held.

19

The National Assembly will then either pass, amend or reject the bill. If it

passes the bill or amends it, the bill (with amendments, if any) is then

referred to the National Council of Provinces.

If a bill is tabled in the National Council of Provinces:

The bill can only be introduced by a member or committee of the National

Council of Provinces.

The bill will be sent to a National Council of Provinces Committee, which

will receive a briefing on the bill so that the national council of provinces

members are able to inform their respective provincial legislatures about

the bill.

It is then considered by each of the nine provincial legislatures. The national

council of provinces members will return to their provinces so that they can

participate in the debate in their own provincial legislatures.

Each provincial legislature will refer the bill to a committee, which will

consider it and may hold public hearings on the bill. The national council of

provinces members receive a voting mandate from their provincial

legislatures. Each provincial delegation has one vote on each bill.

The delegates of National Council of Provinces then return to Cape Town

with negotiating mandates. The National Council of Provinces Committee

considers the bill and negotiations take place among the nine provincial

delegations.

If the National Council of Provinces passes the bill, it goes to the President for

his assent and signature.

If the National Council of Provinces rejects or amends the bill it is returned to

the National Assembly for reconsideration.

If the National Assembly accepts the amended bill, it goes to the President for

his assent.

20

If the National Assembly rejects the National Council of Provinces

amendments, the bill goes to the Mediation Committee comprising of

members from both the National Assembly and members of the National

Council of Provinces.

If the Mediation Committee is unable to agree within thirty days of the bill’s

referral to it, the bill lapses.

A mediation committee may agree on:

The bill as passed by the National Assembly;

The amended bill as passed by the National Council of Provinces;

Another version of the bill.

The National Council of Provinces has more power to change Section 76 bills than

Section 75 bills, but if a bill was introduced in the National Assembly, the National

Assembly is once again able to disregard the National Council of Provinces and

pass Section 76 legislation with a two thirds majority vote. If a Section 76 bill is

introduced in the National Council of Provinces, it lapses if agreement cannot be

reached between the two houses.

Before a new act comes into force, it has to be enacted. This involves the

President declaring the act’s commencement date in the Government Gazette.

Acts are only enacted once the responsible department has indicated that it is

ready and has the capacity to implement the new law.

In the following paragraphs the processing of bills in various parliaments will be

discussed. The information used was gained in consultation with a number of role

players of each parliament.

2.2 Processing of the bills in the Parliament of Ghana

The Republic of Ghana was the first colonial country in Africa to gain

independence. Ghana was a colony of England and to a large degree its legal

21

system mirrors that of England. Therefore it was chosen as part of the review of

the processing of bills.

The Parliament of Ghana is a single house parliament which comprises of two

hundred and thirty members of Parliament, who are elected through a

constituency based system. A member of parliament must be a citizen of Ghana

who has reached twenty one years of age and must be a registered voter. A

member of parliament must have resided in the area which she/he represents for

at least a period of five years of the ten years preceding his/her election. The

members of parliament tax affairs must be up to date. The member must not

have been declared bankrupt in Ghana or owe allegiance to any country except

Ghana.

Immediately after the elections, Parliament in its first sitting, elects a Speaker

among the members of parliament, who will then be expected to resign his/her

seat in parliament and be nonpartisan. Immediately after the election of the

Speaker, the first and the second deputy speakers are elected. The deputy

speakers must come from different political parties, a deputy speaker presides

over the proceedings of Parliament when the Speaker is absent. After the

elections of the deputy speakers the majority party leader is elected followed by

deputy majority party leader, and the majority party chief whip. The majority

party leader is a person who leads the debates in Parliament; the majority party

leader maintains order by scheduling legislation for consideration by the House,

by planning the daily, weekly and annual legislative agendas. As a parliamentary

leader he can speak on behalf of the entire house in public. The majority party

leader, majority party deputy leader and majority party chief whip constitute the

majority leadership in Parliament.

After the election of the majority party leader, the minority party leader is elected

from the second largest political party in the house; this is followed by the deputy

minority leader and the minority chief whip that assists the minority leader on the

various tasks on the house. The minority leader, the deputy minority leader and

the minority chief whip of the opposition constitute the minority leadership of

Parliament.

22

The Speaker is expected to consult both leadership of majority and minority

parties in connection with the business of the House and other important issues.

During the debates in the House the Speaker will first note the majority party

leader followed by minority party leader before other members can be noted.

After the leadership positions have been filled, the members of Parliament are

allocated to specific standing committees and sector committees. The most

important responsibilities of these committees are to process the bills of

Parliament. Section 103 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, 1992,

allocates specific functions to these committees, like investigation and enquiry

into the activities and administration of ministries and departments.

In terms of the Constitution of Ghana, the legislative process is shared between

its Parliament and President, who is elected directly by the citizens. Many

different organisations play major roles in the law making process, for example,

non-governmental organisations, sectors of government, public officers and

private citizens.

In terms of Ghana’s Rules of Parliament, bills can be initiated by either the

ministries or individual members of parliament. When a bill is initiated by a

minister or a chief director of a department (director-general in South Africa),

that official prepares a cabinet memorandum which includes background

information about the necessity of the bill. This must clearly indicate the financial

and policy implications. If the memorandum is approved by the Cabinet, the chief

director of the ministry concerned then produces a set of drafting instructions,

which are given to the Attorney General’s Department. A parliamentary council

then under the advice of the Attorney General starts drafting all necessary

legislative documents. The councils in charge of the bill in the Attorney General’s

office consult each other as to how the bill will be structured. After it has been

drafted the bill is sent back to the sponsoring department which must critique it,

before it is sent to the Cabinet for final approval. After cabinet approval the bill is

printed in the Government Gazette fourteen day before it is tabled in Parliament.

The legislative process in Parliament consists of four stages which are: first

reading stage which is the first time bills appear in Parliament. The Speaker reads

23

the long title of the bill and the sponsoring minister then rises and addresses to

the Speaker. The bill is then referred to the relevant committee which

investigates and examines it. The committee will then be expected to prepare a

report to be tabled for the second stage, which is known as the second reading of

the bill.

During the second reading the House debates the principles and policies of the

bill. The majority as well as the minority parties will debate the bill. All the

debates in the second reading of the bill are recorded in the Hansard records in

the office of the Clerk of Parliament.

The next stage is the committee or consideration stage, where the bill is debated

clause by clause and the concerns are debated and voted upon. Finally, the

amendments are voted upon and the bill is then taken to the Attorney General’s

Department to affect the amendments.

The last stage is the third reading of the bill, where the Parliament will continue to

debate the principles and policies of the bill. If there is no consensus on the

redrafted bill, the clauses that are contested are debated and voted upon. The

final bill with all amendments is sent to the Government Printer, and the correct

version is sent to the President for assent. If the President agrees to assent the

bill, he must inform the Speaker within the week that he agrees to the assent. If

the President disagrees to assent the bill he must within two weeks of the refusal

of assent, state in the memorandum to the Speaker any specific provisions of the

bill which must be reconsidered by Parliament, including his recommendations for

amendments, if any. The Parliament can either vote in favour or against the

amendments proposed by the President. If two thirds of the members of

Parliament vote against the amendments of the President, the President must

assent the bill within thirty days. The President has a second option of referring

the disputed bill to the Council of State, which is a small body of prominent

citizens of proven character that advises the President on national issues. Again

this process of the National Council must be concluded thirty days after the third

reading of the bill. The assented bill then becomes a law when published in the

government gazette.

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Although most legislation emanates from the ministers, the members of

parliament are allowed to initiate legislation though private members’ bills. The

Ghanaian members of parliament have not exercised this right due to the lack of

resources and expertise needed to draft legislation.

2.3 Processing of bills in the Parliament of the United Kingdom

The Parliament of the United Kingdom was chosen in this study because of the

long colonial relationship England had with South Africa. Even Though the United

Kingdom does not have a written constitution, it is expected that there will be lot

of commonalities between the parliamentary systems of both countries.

The Parliament of the United Kingdom consists of two houses, which are the

House of Commons and the House of Lords. The House of Commons consists of

about six hundred and ten members of parliament who are elected every four

years on a constituency based system. The House of Lords consists of peers who

are recommended for appointment by political parties on the strength of their

leading roles in British life and then elevated by the Monarch to a position needed

to serve in the House of Lords.

The processing of bills is diffused between the House of Commons, the House of

Lords and the Head of State (the Queen or King). Bills can be initiated by

individual members of parliament or ministers who are known as cabinet

secretaries. The Parliamentary Business and Legislation Committee of the Cabinet

decide whether a bill will be introduced in the House of Commons or the House of

Lords.

Once the bill is introduced in one of the houses it undergoes seven stages, of

which the first is known as the first reading of the bill. This is purely a formal stage

and there is no debate on the bill.

The second stage is the second reading, where the minister will open the debate

and provide the main principles of the bill and the various provisions of the bill.

The opposition will respond and other members will also participate in the

debate. The government minister will respond to the issues raised by the

members. The vote will be conducted to decide whether the bill is taken forward

25

or not. If the vote is negative the bill is withdrawn. If it is positive the bill is

referred to the next stage which is a committee stage.

In the committee stage the bill is considered line by line. A public bill committee is

established whose composition reflect the strength of the parties in the House as

a whole. Alternatively, the committee stage may be taken in the chamber in

which case the committee is called the committee of the whole house. In the

House of Lords a similar committee may be established and deal with the bill line

by line. A public bill committee in the Commons can take oral or written evidence

from the sponsoring department, interest groups or private citizens. The

committee will decide which clauses will remain and which clauses will be

removed or amended. The report will be prepared for the Parliamentary Business

and Legislation Committee to provide their endorsement, if there were

substantial changes in the principle or policy positions in the proposed

amendments. Then the report is prepared for the House.

The fourth stage is the report stage which takes place in the chamber in both

houses. The House will only consider the amendment or the new provisions if

they were added.

The fifth stage is the third reading of the bill where there is a general debate in

the House which is depended upon the report obtained during the report stage.

The bill is then voted upon and referred to the next house.

The sixth stage is when the bill referred to either of the houses is considered and

agreed to if no amendments are proposed by the other house. If there are

amendments proposed by either of the houses, the bill will be referred back to

the house from where it originated until an agreement is reached.

The seventh stage occurs when the bill is agreed upon and sent for Royal Assent.

Once the Monarch assent it, the Parliament is informed and then the bill becomes

an act of parliament. Acts usually become operational within a period of sixty

days. The sponsoring department will be expected to review the impact of the act

five years after it has been operational.

2.4 Lobbying during the processing of bills

26

As indicated in chapter one, the South African economy is generally accepted as

being the most advanced economy on the African Continent. Its banking system is

in the top five in the world as stated by the World Economic Forum. Its state

organs like the Reserve Bank and South African Revenue Service are respected in

the world. Its financial sector, industrial sector and consumer regulatory

environment are among the best in the world. The thriving industrial sectors like

telecommunications, medical sector, research and development sector are the

most advanced on the African continent. It boasts advanced railway network,

competitive energy giants like Eskom, and its office of the Auditor General is

among the best in the world.

As the Republic of South Africa has a first world economy, its industrial players are

very competitive. This is confirmed by the fact that almost all major South African

companies have government relations units which are mere proxies for lobby

groups. Other companies employ external lobby agents.

Lobbying is a long standing term which was properly articulated by the former

President of the United States Woodrow Wilson during his 1912 presidential

election campaign, when he said “the government of the United States is a foster

child of the special interests. It is not allowed to have a will of its own.” This

statement led to the focus on lobby groups and their influence in the United

States Government.

According to thefreedictionary.com, lobbying involves the advocacy of an interest

that is affected, actually or potentially, by the decisions of government leaders.

Individuals and interest groups can petition their governments to ensure that

their interests are protected. In the United States the practice of lobbying is

protected by the constitution.

The United States of America was the first country to introduce a law on lobbying,

which was passed by Congress as far back as 1946 (Federal Regulation of Lobbying

Act). The Act was needed because the lobby groups had a disproportionate

influence on the legislators compared to ordinary voters. Due to their financial

muscle, the lobby groups have more time to influence the legislative process. The

Act requires that all lobby groups be registered. They should disclose their names

27

and addresses, the names and addresses of their clients, how much money they

are paid and by whom, the names of all contributors to the lobbying effort and

the amount of their contributions, the names of all publications in which the

lobbyists caused articles or editorials to be published, and the particular

legislation they have been hired to support or oppose. The registration is filed

with the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate.

Failure to comply with this provision can lead to a fine of up five thousand US

dollars or a jail term of twelve months and a three year prohibition on lobbying.

According to Denisov (2010:165) the state must impose the following conditions

to regulate lobbying:

Mandatory procedure of registration for both firms and individuals

engaged in lobbying activities and making this information open for

public scrutiny.

Obligation of lobbyists to disclose the list of their clients, the purpose and

targets of lobbying, fees received and money spent.

Strictly defined range of permissible lobbying activities sanctioned by law.

A cooling off period for former state officials after they have left the

public office before they can engage in lobbying

Only nine out of forty six western countries use lobbying regulation to control

lobbyists. The United States of America was the first country to pass lobbying

regulations. Canada, for example, recently passed its law on lobbying, known as

the Lobbying Act and Related Regulations of 2008. This Act is based on four

pillars:

Free and open access to government is an important matter of public

interest.

Lobbying public office holders is a legitimate activity.

It is desirable that public office holders and the general public be able to

know who is engaged in lobbying activity.

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The system of registration of paid lobbyists should not impede free and

open access to government.

The Government of Canada created the lobby code of conduct after extensive

consultation with members of public and the affected organisations so that the

integrity of government in decision making is not questioned.

The United Kingdom government opted for an approach of non-regulation of

lobbying; instead it used the declaration of interests by the members of

parliament and their support staff. Densov (2010:168) states that the

Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards and Privileges Committee plays an

internal watchdog role to make sure that parliamentarians comply with the code.

This system of watchdog is effective in the United Kingdom because of low levels

of corruption. But it did not stop, for example, Ian Greer Associates to advise one

business person that one could rent an MP just like one could rent a taxi. This led

to the questions for cash scandal in which two Conservative Party MPs were

implicated.

In South Africa the model of controlling lobbyists is based on a code of ethics and

declaration of member’s interests in the South African Parliament. This code was

created by Parliament after 1994 and mirrors the system of the Parliament of the

United Kingdom although it is not as harsh. The members of parliament were

expected to declare gifts which were in excess of three hundred and fifty rand.

This was changed to a threshold of one thousand five hundred rand fifteen years

later. The code is managed by the Joint Committee on Ethics and Member’s

Interests, and it is implemented by the Registrar of the Members Interest. Every

year members of parliament are expected to declare their gifts in excess of one

thousand five hundred rands, their property, their business interests, any

remuneration obtained outside Parliament, and their immediate family interests

in business or property. The members of cabinet are expected to also declare

their business interests, gifts, and their immediate family business interests with

the Secretary of the Cabinet. Senior managers in the public sector are bound by

the public sector code of good conduct. Senior managers in the public sector are

29

expected to declare their gifts and business interest. All this did not stop the

perception that business interests are influencing government adversely.

During the processing of bills the various lobby groups try to influence the

legislators to adopt the position of their interest groups. The NGOs can also be

influenced by lobby groups of big business, through payment for

accommodation and transport during public hearings. A case in point is the

adoption of NGOs by the pharmaceutical industry during the debate on the

provision of the antiretroviral drugs. During the public hearing process Parliament

has a limited capacity of providing support such as transport and accommodation

for NGOs, resource poor individuals and communities. This can lead to lobby

groups adopting these NGOs and communities, which can lead to either positive

or negative results.

2.5 Management of and managing operations processes

Kleimans (2010:236) states that management in all business and organisational

activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and

objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively. In his view

management comprises planning, organising, staffing, leading or directing, and

controlling an organisation or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal.

Resourcing encompasses the development and manipulation of human resources,

financial resources, technological resources and natural resources.

Parliament, like any organisation, needs operational management systems in

place in order to deal with the processing of various bills, which includes

management processes consisting of planning, organising, leading and controlling,

to achieve its objectives successfully.

Heizer and Render (2004:4) define operations management as the set of activities

that creates goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs. Activities

creating goods and services take place in all organisations. Furthermore, they

explained that in manufacturing firms, the production activities that create goods

are usually quite obvious. In organisation that do not create physical products, the

production function maybe less obvious. It may be “hidden” from the public and

30

even from the customers. Often when services are performed, no tangible goods

are produced, Parliament is one of those organisations. Lastly, Heizer and Render

states that regardless of whether the end product is goods or a service, the

production activities that go in the organisation are often referred to as

operations or operations management.

Fox and Van der Waldt (2007:2) define project management as a sequence of

tasks with a beginning and an end. It is delimited by time, resources and desired

results. A project has an explicit, projected outcome, a deadline stating when it

should be completed, and a budget limiting the number of people, and the

amount of supplies and money that may be used to complete the project.

The Project Management Institute regards a project as a temporary group activity

designed to produce a unique product, service or result. By its nature a project is

temporary because it has a start and end time. Processing of bills may be

regarded as projects to Parliament. So Parliament needs to apply the rules of

project management when processing bills into law.

The processing of bills in Parliament to acts of parliament resembles a project,

because it has a start and an end time, and it has a defined scope and resources.

In an amendment bill a defined scope can mean the particular sections of the

principal act that are amended and the new sections that are to be included in the

new act. If a bill translates a green paper and white paper policy positions

submissions into an act of parliament, the green paper and white paper become

the scope of the project. The resources will be all the people who inputted into

the bill, the financial allocations by the department and Parliament, and the

financial allocation by the stakeholders. The project management process will

involve the initiation of the bill by the department, planning by the department

and Parliament, execution by the department and Parliament, monitoring and

evaluation by the department and Parliament, closure of the project by the

President assenting the bill into an act of parliament and declaring the

implementation date of the act by the department.

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2.6 CONCLUSION

In this chapter the process required to promulgate an act of parliament was

outlined. The process is initiated by means of a green paper, which is then

converted into a white paper which, in turn, becomes a bill. The bill follows all of

the various processes required to lead it through Parliament to its conclusion. The

processes of various other parliaments were then discussed and various aspects

were compared to that of South Africa.

Finally, it was concluded that the processing of bills could be regarded as a project

to be managed by Parliament.

In the following chapter the research methodology adopted in order to solve the

stated problems and answer the questions will be discussed.

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CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH METHODOOGY

Description of research method, structure of the questionnaire and the method

by which it was administered.

3.1. INTRODUCTION

This chapter explains the research approach that was followed in order to resolve

the main problem and sub-problems, and to answer the questions raised. In order

to achieve this, a questionnaire was administered to the sample group of the

members of parliament and parliament management.

The results of the responses received from the empirical survey obtained from

both the members of parliament questionnaire and parliament management

questionnaire will be analysed in the next chapter.

3.2. RESEARCH APPROACH

Fox and Bayat (2007:78), state that, once a research problem or question has

been identified and the various steps leading towards a solution or an answer

have been determined, the research approach has to be selected that will be to

able to solve the problem and answer the questions.

Mouton (2001:72-79), extensively points out that research methodology focuses

on the research process and the kind of tools and procedures to be used. The

methodology highlights the specific tasks at hand in terms of one’s data collection

or sampling. He makes it clear that the focus moves towards the individual steps

in the research process and the most objective or unbiased procedure to be

employed.

Leedy (1997:3) defines research as a systematic process of collecting and

analysing information with the objective of increasing our understanding of the

subject with which we are concerned or interested. Furthermore, Leedy (1997:93)

indicates that the design process is the planning of the research in that there is

visual data and a problem associated with the use of the data in achieving the

33

results of the research project. He also indicates that the design of the research is

the key element to the success of the research project.

Welman and Kruger (2001:224), state that a research design represents the plan

in which one obtains research subjects and collects information from them. They

explain that their approach to participants is aimed at reaching conclusions in

relation to the research problem.

This study employed both quantitative and qualitative approaches in exploring

the main and sub-problems. According to Leedy and Ormrod (2001:101)

quantitative research is used to answer questions about relationships among

measured variables with the purpose of explaining, predicting and controlling

phenomena. Whereas qualitative research is typically used to answer questions

about the complex nature of phenomena, often with the purpose of describing

and understanding the phenomena from the participants’ point of view. In this

study an extended case study approach was used, in that it was mainly focussed

on the processing of bills by a specific parliamentary committee. Also, in-depth

interviews were conducted and a number of open questions were put to selected

individuals.

Both approaches involve similar processes, yet these processes are often

combined and carried out in a different ways, leading to distinctly different

research methods and answering different kinds of questions. In a way

quantitative and qualitative approaches represent complementary components of

the research process. Leedy and Ormrod (2001:104) hold that using both

approaches in research can lead to a better understanding of the problem under

investigation.

3.3 RESEARCH DESIGN

Research tools that were used for collecting data are as follows:

3.3.1 Surveys

According to Fox and Bayat (2007:87), survey research involves collecting data by

putting a set of pre-formulated questions, in a pre-determined sequence in a

34

structured questionnaire, to a sample of individuals drawn so as to be

representative of a given population. The survey method gathers information by

using a questionnaire. This is a series of questions which will be presented to

respondents to help provide answers to the problems the researcher is

investigating. The survey method includes factual surveys, opinion surveys, or

interpretative survey, all of which can be conducted by personal interviews, mail

or telephone technique.

3.3.2 Questionnaire

Fox and Bayat (2007:87), define a questionnaire as a list of questions on a specific

topic compiled by a researcher and to which answers and information are

required. Two sets of questionnaires were developed for the purposes of this

study. The parliament management questionnaire was developed to address the

main problem of the study. It consists mostly of open-ended questions. The

members of parliament questionnaire was developed to address the questions

raised in the sub-problems. The questionnaire was used for the members of

Parliament serving on portfolio committees under the Economic Cluster in

Parliament. Respondents were required to complete all the sections in the

questionnaire.

The questionnaire consisted mostly of closed–ended questions. According to

Riley, Wood, Clarke, Wilkie and Szivas (2000:82) and Fox and Bayat (2007:91)

open-ended questions are more difficult to aggregate and compute. However,

according to them these questions do not impose restriction on the answers, and

the responses can be richer and deeper. Whereas Burney (1994:194) states that

the use of close-ended questions makes it easier for respondents to code and

analyse without the need to articulate in formulating their answers.

According to Leedy and Ormrod (2002:109), questionnaires seem simple, yet they

can be tricky to construct and administer, and one false step can lead to

interpretable data that is of no use to the researcher. George (2001:85) holds that

one of the keys in getting quality research information is a well designed

35

questionnaire. Those being questioned are more likely to co-operate if they feel

that the questionnaire is interesting, important, and easy to complete.

Hague (1993:64-70),as well as Leedy and Omrod (2001:202) note the following

dos and don’ts and guidelines in the wording of a questionnaire:

Ensure that the question is without bias.

This happens when the researcher leads the respondents to a specific

answer. To be able to reduce any bias inherent in a question the researcher

could request responses along the following lines: “very good” ”good”,

“fair”, “poor” or “extremely poor”.

Jargon or short hand may not be understood by the respondent.

The researcher needs to make sure that of the use of words will be

understood by the respondents.

Avoid ambiguous words.

The researcher may know what certain words mean, but the respondent

may understand them differently. They may includes words like

“frequently” and “usually”

Steer clear of sophisticated or uncommon words.

Researchers should use standardised language that the respondents would

find simple to understand.

Make questions as short as possible.

Long questions may result in respondents losing their train of thought. This

will confuse respondents and would consequently answer the question

incorrectly.

Make the questions as simple as possible.

Questions should be made as simple as possible. The researcher should

avoid questions with multiple ideas.

36

Make questions very specific.

The rule is to maintain simplicity when setting questions. There are

occasions when it is advisable to lengthen the question by adding memory

cues.

Make sure that questions and answers do not conflict.

It is important to make sure that by trying to make questions clearer the

end results should not leave a confused respondent.

Keep number of meaningful words to minimum.

Questions where there are a number of meaningful words being used could

confuse the respondent and eventually the researcher would be unsure

which words swayed the response.

Avoid hypothetical questions.

Researchers are often under pressure to ask hypothetical questions,

knowing that the results cannot be trusted (Fox and Bayat, 2007:88).

Do not offer fixed alternatives which could both be invalid.

The used of attitudinal questions may cause some irritation, because

respondents feel that they have been forced to answer in a particular way.

Do not use words which could be misheard.

This may well happen when one conducts a questionnaire over the

telephone. The probability of words being misheard could potentially be

evident.

Keep questions within respondents’ capability.

The questions should be asked with the objective of achieving good quality

results. The respondent will answer based on his/her capability and not

because of lack thereof.

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Desensitise questions by using response bands.

Data are normally grouped in a band at the analysis stage and would be

collected as such. This is normally used by companies when asked about

their turnover and by people who may be sensitive about their age.

Make it easy for the respondent to answer questions.

This happens when the respondent answers the questions in a numerical

sequence within bands, rather than to answer specifically. If the answer is

not specific, then the respondent’s task must be made easier by banding

the responses.

Allow for other responses in fixed response question.

The researcher needs to make provision for answers that are not included,

but should realise that other responses should always be listed on the

questionnaire.

Ensure that fixed responses do not overlap.

Fixed responses questions should be sequential, but not overlap

Consider softening knowledge-based questions.

The researcher has to ensure that when specific information is needed

relating to dates and prices, it is important to soften the question by

phrasing “can you recall off-hand”

Consider using projective questions where the subject is sensitive or

difficult.

People do not always want to admit that they act in a certain way. If that

happens then the question should be posed in a wider frame that is easier

for the respondent to answer.

The guidelines presented by Leedy and Ormrod (2001:202) for designing

questionnaires were followed in designing the questionnaire of this study.

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Draft questionnaires were tested in a pilot study, which was carried out in the

Parliament Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry. The Chairperson of the

committee helped in making suggestions and amendments to both

questionnaires.

The Likert scale (see www.ask.com/Likert+Scale+Template) is the most frequently

used where respondents choose a response that best suits their views. This scale,

through the five point rating, offers midpoint in the scale between positive and

negative responses (Riley, et al, 2000:121, gives a good description of its uses).

A five point Likert type scale was used with scores allocated to responses, in

designing a questionnaire measuring the members of parliament satisfaction in

the management of the processing of bills in Parliament

5 = strongly disagree

4 = disagree

3 = Neutral

2 = agree

1 = strongly agree

The questions in the questionnaire were grouped into the following sections:

Section One: required the biographical information of the respondent.

Section Two: respondents were required to give answers regarding the

support given to a member of parliament by Parliament during the

processing of the bills in the portfolio committees of Parliament.

Section Three: required that the respondents answer the questions

regarding the performance of Parliament in order to give adequate support

to the members of parliament in different portfolio committees.

The parliament management questionnaire consisted of some open-ended

questions in order to obtain the broader information needed.

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3.3.3 Distribution of the questionnaires

The questionnaires (48 to members of parliament and 5 to the parliamentary

management) were hand delivered to each respondent, because the researcher

works among the population which was assessed. The response rate was 100%

(see data analyses). The questionnaires were accompanied by an introductory

cover letter explaining the purpose of the research. The respondents were

encouraged to complete the questionnaires within the given time, and it could be

dropped in the researcher’s pigeon hole or would be collected by the researcher’s

assistants.

The questionnaires were administered and returned over a six weeks period from

15 September 2013 to 29 October 2013. The 48 questionnaires were handed to

the respondents and the total 48 questionnaires were returned so that all of the

original number could be used for the purpose of the study. The high return rate

could be attributed to the fact that the questionnaires were handed out during

the sittings of the portfolio committees. Five parliament management team

members were interviewed after the questionnaires from the members of

parliament were analysed.

3.3.4 Face to face or personal interviews

According to Leedy and Ormrod (2001:200), there are several guidelines that

should be followed when conducting personal interviews:

Make sure your interviewers are representative of the group;

Find a suitable location;

Take a few minutes to establish a rapport;

Get written permission;

Focus on the actual rather than the abstract;

Don’t put words into people’s mouths;

Record responses verbatim;

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Keep your reaction to yourself; and

Remember that you are not necessarily getting the facts.

These guidelines were adhered to when conducting interviews with the

parliament management. A face to face interv