Dear leaders of South Africa’s legislatures
A group of civil society organisations (CSOs) working towards open and accountable legislatures, with a vested interest in promoting participatory democracy, convened a meeting on 7 April 2020 to discuss the role of legislatures during the current state of disaster and lockdown.
These discussions follow an open letter, which we have attached as Annexure A, sent by 11 CSOs on 25 March 2020, and again on 3 April 2020,to the presiding officers of the legislatures; the secretaries of the legislatures and the Chief Whips in the National Parliament. This letter, titled: Oversight and Participatory Democracy During the National State of Disaster, set out 12 specific recommendations aimed at improving, assisting and supporting the work of all legislatures during the state of disaster and resultant period of lockdown.