Opening of Parliament

The 2008 SoNA marked the first address after the ousting of South African President Thabo Mbeki as President of the African National Congress (ANC) by former South African Deputy President Jacob Zuma, and also the absence of both former Presidents Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk and their respective spouses.
DDP was given an invitation to invite 10 participants to be a part of the Civil guard of Honour.
I sent the request to three organizations and one school and the school was the only one who responded positively given that they had short notice to submit the names. The school was Groote Schuur Primary School and they sent their Senior Learners who were class monitors, prefects and their Head Boy and Girl.

Primary Objectives:
Given that they learn about the Constitution of the county as a module in one of their subjects it seemed apt to let them be a part of an event of this nature so that they could:
• practically understand the different houses
• and the roles and functions of Government
• see how the State of the Nation was linked to the Constitution
• Through such exposure we hope to spur interest in government and create a more active and engaged young citizenry that can contribute meaningfully to the democratic process.

Evaluation:

A rehearsal was done on the 08 February and this was a rather impressive rehearsal. I have managed to secure community invitations for a couple of years but this was the first year that SoNA was introduced to the Civil and Junior guards. They had prepared a presentation and they had even organized a Visit to National Parliament. The NCOP was under construction but they managed to do a virtual tour of the NCOP. They held a drama around SoNA and they also had a little prize giving after the drama for learners who had the correct answers to their prepared questions. There were some nice prizes given. They certainly appeared to be a lot more thoughtful of the Junior and Civil Guards in understanding the working of Parliament.
Given that the learners were aged between 12 – 14 years, it was not an easy speech to understand on the day of the SoNA although they were extremely happy to have been part of the procession. Many felt that the procession was an honourable experience and they did not think it possible that Parliament would have ordinary learners welcoming the President. Many felt really excited that the President waved at them personally and smiled and this they would take back to their family and friends.

All learners received a sweater and cap which had embroidered either Parliament or State of Nation Address 2011.

Challenges/successes:
It was an extremely long day for all the learners. They had arrived at 12h30 at Parliament and while they had provided refreshments and while they had allowed them to be part of the events of guests arriving and being interviewed by the media, many got very restless.

There was also a dance show displaying different cultures ie. Indian dance, African Dance and some hip hop as well. The group spent time watching this while waiting for the commencement of the procession. By the time the Civil Guard took place many were already tired. The Civil Guard procession only started at 18h30.

Transport at the rehearsal was a challenge as the arrangements were poorly done initially but on the day it went smoothly.

My experience has been that Parliament sends out invitations on the eleventh hour resulting in organisations not being able to select participants democratically. Given the work I am trying to establish in communities I would not jeopardize the relationship by looking as if our organization handpicks people to attend. I chose the school that had been able to meet and select in an organized manner causing no conflict to anyone. I did advise the organizers the difficulties experienced when we receive late invitations. Hopefully this can be corrected in the future.

Quote from Polish intern “While at the venue my thoughts were concentrated on the transition, legacy of apartheid and the future of this beautiful country. These brought about an observation on the importance of recognition of cultural diffrences and respect for one another.”unquote

I also looked at the Civil and Junior Guards and questioned whether tokenism of this kind made any difference to SA having a People’s Parliament. What did this day mean to the poor? Or to the middle class? These civilians were not able to attend the gallery to listen to the SoNA but instead had to sit in one of the meeting rooms. I wondered how invitations were distributed for attendance inside the National Assembly. What was the process? Was it democratic? Who decides?

I also wondered just how much effort was being made to truly make it a democratic, people’s parliament around the passing of laws and understanding legislation for an ordinary community or community group or organization.

I then just likened our democracy to a child, it has various stages of development and I would like to believe that we can all (men, women, child, rich and poor, culturally diverse) learn from mistakes made and from each other and look at what we all as a nation have in common. The love of our country and hopefully, more importantly the love for human rights which is encompassed in our Constitution and it all starts with respect.