Over the last decades parliamentary democracy has been eroded, with MPs serving narrow political party interests above those of the public. MPs, opposition and ANC, seemed toothless, and, not having a clear understanding of the authority the Constitution vests in them, were unable to use parliamentary processes to hold government to account. 2024, an election year and resulted in an increased diversity of MPs entering parliament, many for the first time.
The Bridges team hosted by the Green Connection and Africa Centre have two ambitions. First to upskill, inform and empower new entrants to Parliament (including communication with their “constituencies”) and, second, to strengthen the links between the best of business & civil society and Parliamentarians to enable the sharing of practical experience of solutions to some of our most pressing problems.
We will support parliamentarians to fulfil their constitutional mandate by enabling their meaningful participation in the parliamentary process. This will include holding the executive accountable, addressing fruitless and wasteful expenditure, encourage the deepening of democracy by linking the broader South African electorate to the parliamentary processes.
Information is Power.
Bridges intends to use information as a critical tool to assist the practice of our democracy.
Informed MPs accountable to their constituencies should be that bridge between society and the executive, contributing to a vibrant democracy where well-informed MPs (no matter how few) and citizens, can engage the executive and hold them to account.
Bridges will become the information conduit, working with partner orgs to analyse and package information to make it digestible and accessible for MPs and citizens building their capacity to deliver on the goals of participatory democracy.
Our focus will be on understanding the interconnectivity of the challenges and solutions society faces, to move away from reductionist siloed approaches and to assist decision makers to navigate and future proof SA’s parliament.
Our project will enable clear pathways to action, providing MPs and citizens with a roadmap on how to encourage and enforce improved service delivery.
The Bridge information and engagement centre located close to national parliament, will be an online and physical repository of briefing papers, scenario planning and narrative development.
Focus group meetings with civil society groupings as well as MPs to prepare for parliamentary hearings, and debates, both focusing on the engine rooms of parliament (national portfolio committees) as well as plenaries in the national assembly. Information will be tailored to individual MPs needs.
The relevant information will be available, in real time, via an online portal. This will allow MPs and citizens to access the required information in the appropriate fora. This will enable informed debate and discourage obfuscation, assisting in driving the decision-making process.
Our first public intervention was in partnership with OUTA on 19th March 2024 in Cape Town. This gathered “new party members”, independent candidates, members of civil society and the media with the intent of launching Bridges and beginning our work.