Gaye Davis
WHEN Idasa launched its national survey of parliamentarians, the reaction was immediate — and largely allergic. But, while some MPs and senators fumed and balked, others quietly set about filling in replies to the 161 questions.
Those coming up trumps in the transparency stakes so far include such notables as Minister of Posts and Telecommunications, Pallo Jordan; DP leader Tony Leon and the PAC’s Patricia de Lille.
They are among more than 100 MPs and senators who appear not to have found any difficulty in answering questions others have raised such a fuss about.
Those complying include members of the National Party, despite a whips’ decision that they “would not be encouraged” to fill them in.
They include every member of the tiny African Christian Democratic Party and most of the Freedom Front’s equally small legislative cohort (one MP refused on grounds that the questions were in English).
Fifteen members of the ANC’s parliamentary caucus sent Dr Mamphela Ramphele, director of Idasa’s Parliamentary Information Centre (PIC), an open letter defending their decision not to complete the questionnaire, while affirming their “unwavering commitment” to accountability and transparency.
They questioned Idasa’s mandate, its motives, and questions they said were irrelevant to parliament’s see-through functioning (such as, “Do you wish to become a minister?” and a request to rate cabinet ministers’ performances).
Richard Calland, manager of the PIC’s Parliamentary Information and Monitoring Service (PIMS), said the returns were an “encouraging start — given the short period we had and the frenetic nature of the last two weeks of the session.
“I am confident that in the next two months we will collect forms from the majority of members — many have committed themselves to return them over the next few
Information from the surveys will be fed into a parliamentary database PIMS is developing. The picture that will emerge is aimed at giving the public meaningful information about their public representatives and enhance an independent, non- partisan monitoring programme.