Coalitions emerge in proportional systems largely because these systems produce more political parties over time
The National Assembly is scheduled to sit on August 20 after a two-month recess, and opposition MPs and some in the ANC have criticised the lengthy break for hampering the work of Parliament.
An ANC member – an MP since 1994, but who did not wish to be named – has concluded that Parliament is becoming stagnant.
The National Assembly has not met since the evening of June 20, and although a number of Bills were passed, the controversial Labour Relations Amendment Bill was not among them owing to the lack of a quorum after a walkout by MPs from the Democratic Alliance.
MPs then went on their winter break, which usually coincides with school holidays. Although some MPs were back at work, in Parliament, many have been on oversight trips around the country. The trips are undertaken by members of the legislature's portfolio committees.
The committees later draft reports on the visits and, in some cases, make recommendations based on their findings, which have to be ratified by Parliament.
The ANC's chief whip plans Parliament's schedule and presents it to the programme committee. The parliamentary programme is then decided in consultation with other whips.
The DA said it was astonished by the lengthy break, describing the fact that the House was not sitting as "very problematic" and saying that it undermined the oversight done by committees.
"The House doesn't only debate, it [also] takes decisions, which is very important," said DA chief whip Watty Watson this week. "If the House doesn't sit, Parliament cannot take decisions, be they on policies, oversight work or other issues of national importance."
Watson said, for oversight work to have any meaning, the House must ratify committees' recommendations. "Until then, they are just recommendations and not decisions of Parliament."
Watson said that committee reports often did not come before the House for months, pointing out that 99 had been tabled in Parliament this year, with only 40 being approved.
But parliamentary spokesperson Luzuko Jacobs said that, to date, 77 reports had been passed by the National Assembly and 22 had been processed by committees and were ready for consideration by the House. He said, in terms of Section 51 of the Constitution, the National Assembly could determine the time and duration of its sittings and recess periods.
Jacobs said the joint programming committee – a multiparty structure – determined the parliamentary programme for the year, taking into consideration other engagements involving members.
"While the House has not been in plenary since June 20, all committees, which are an extension of the House, have since July 23 been doing their usual work; for example, processing outstanding legislation and doing oversight work.
"The National Assembly will thereafter schedule these matters once the committees report on them."
Jacobs said the National Assembly would have ample time to attend to outstanding issues.
Moloto Mothapo, the spokesperson for ANC chief whip Stone Sizani, said the programme was designed to give parliamentary oversight committees sufficient time to deal with their programmes, including legislative work and oversight visits.
"Committees are critical structures of Parliament and a significant portion of the institutional programme rests with them. Mostly what takes place, or ultimately gets tabled in the House, is the culmination of work that is executed within committees," said Mothapo.
He argued that the ANC chief whip did not dictate the programme of Parliament, but was part of the programming committee collective that decided on the programme.