The Office of the Speaker The Speaker is the Executive Authority of the of the Free State Legislature and is responsible for overseeing and presiding over proceedings of the Legislature when the House is in session; he is the “Chairperson” of the Rules and Orders Committee which is the highest decision-making body of the Legislature; he is also the Treasury to the Free State Legislature – implying, he ensures liaison between the Legislature and the Provincial Treasury regarding monetary issues [budget] affecting the Legislature. The Rules and Orders Committee comprises and is representative of members of political parties in the Legislature. Currently, political parties represented in the Legislature are the African National Congress [majority party]; the Congress of the People [official opposition]; the Democratic Alliance; and the Freedom Front Plus. The Mace symbolizes the power granted to the Speaker when the House is in session. Implying, that rulings made by the Speaker during sessions of the House may not be challenged by Members of the Legislature; and in the event a ruling framed by the Speaker is not entailed in the Standing Rules and Orders, such ruling shall stand and adhered to. The Speaker is also a Member of the National Speakers’ Forum which represents and is inclusive of all Speakers of the various legislatures in the Republic of South Africa as well as the Speaker of National Parliament. The Forum is responsible for discussing and resolving on issues affecting the legislative sector. Recently a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the various Speakers to endorse the concept of transforming South African legislatures into a sector with the intention of ensuring uniform standards within the legislative sector. When the Speaker is in Chair, the rules and orders governing the House should be adhered to. For instance, in the event a Member of the Legislature is not adhering to provisions of the Standing Rules and Orders the Speaker may call such Member to order and may even rule that such Member must leave the House. In essence, the Speaker maintains ORDER in the House. The Office of the Deputy Speaker The Deputy Speaker is responsible for standing in for the Speaker when not available; meaning that the Deputy Speaker may assume all powers and duties performed by the Speaker when not available. The Deputy Speaker is also the convenor and Chairperson of the Committee on Government Assurances and the Committee on Women Multi-party Caucus; and participates in the deliberations of the National Speakers’ Forum. The Committee on Government Assurances is critical in that it ensures that promises; undertakings; and assurances made by Members of the Executive Council when the House is in session are followed and reported on. The Committee on Women Multi-party caucus ensures that issues affecting women parliamentarians; disability and gender are addressed The Deputy Speaker may also preside over the proceedings of the House when the Speaker addresses the House. The Office of the Chairperson of chairpersons of committees The Free State Legislature comprises of committees, namely the Portfolio Committees and Household Committees. Portfolio Committees are committees charged with conducting in-depth oversight over the Executive Council. These committees may call before it Members of the Executive Council [MEC’s] and heads of departments [HOD’s] to provide the necessary information to the committees. In essence, the MEC’s and HOD’s may be required to provide information on service delivery within their various departments. After collating of the necessary information, the committees would then table a report on their findings in the plenary of the House. It should be noted that the report of committees may be adopted or rejected by the plenary of the House. The committees of the Legislature occasionally undertake site-visits to various areas in the Free State province to determine the level of service delivery by departments; the committees may also conduct public hearings across the province to listen to concerns raised by inhabitants of the province or to allow inhabitants to make inputs on legislation to be promulgated. The Office of the Chairperson of chairpersons of committees is responsible for coordination of Committees of the Legislature. It should be noted that each portfolio and household committee has a chairperson who is responsible for convening and presiding over meetings of such committees. The Chairperson of chairpersons of committees presides over meetings of the Chairpersons’ Panel. The Panel is responsible to discuss issues emanating from the various committees as well as the programme of the Legislature. Furthermore, the Chairperson of chairpersons of committees represents the Free State Legislature in the South African Legislatures Chairpersons Forum. The remit of the forum is to discuss issues related to the operations and systems of committees of the legislatures. Cracking the whip! The Office of the Chief Whip The Office of the Chief Whip is responsible for ensuring that Members of the Legislature adhere to operational timelines stipulated by the programme of the Legislature; this office maintains discipline among Members of the Legislature, particularly Members of the ruling party. Therefore, the Chief Whip may call to order Members of the Legislature who are not adhering to code of good and acceptable practice. The Chief Whip in liaison with the Office of the Speaker determines the business of the House; thus drafting the “agenda” of the proceedings of the House. It should be noted that each political party represented in the Legislature has a “Whip” hence the constitution of the Whips Committee presided over by the Chief Whip of the Majority party. When a sitting of the House is scheduled to convene, the Whips Committee is responsible for determining items for discussions in the House on that particular day. The Chief Whip is nominated from the majority party in the Legislature. The responsibilities of Whips of other parties are similar to those of the Chief Whip of the majority party; implying, they are responsible for matters affecting Members of their respective parties. Insert picture of Deputy Chief Whip The Office of the Deputy Chief Whip The Deputy Chief Whip is responsible for assisting the Chief Whip with competencies attached to the Office of the Chief Whip. The Deputy Chief Whip may assume duties of the Chief Whip in the absence of the incumbent. Portfolio Committees of the Free State Legislature Portfolio Committees of the Free State Legislature are mainly responsible for conducting practical oversight on the “work” done by Members of the Executive Council. Hence the notion, Members of the Executive Council are accountable to the Legislature. It should be borne in mind that Executive Council is responsible for providing and delivering services to the inhabitants of the province. These services are not provided in vacuum but resources of the state are utilized to secure the provision of services. The Executive Council is therefore held accountable on the usage of state resources and provision of services; and Portfolio Committees are then charged with the responsibility of ensuring that state financial resources are utilised optimally by the Executive Council in the rendering of services. Reports perused by the plenary of the House are forwarded to the Office of the Premier for adherence to resolutions framed by the House. The Office of the Premier should in turn inform the Legislature on progress made on such resolutions. Committees are therefore responsible for conducting transactional accounting; thus to relate performance of departments to their expected results.

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