The Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), Ms Thandi Modise, will host the NCOP Mid-Term Review Session from  6- 7^th February 2017, in Cape Town.

Derived from the drafters of the Constitution, the NCOP plays a pivotal and unique role and is strategically placed to ensure the three spheres of government co-operate with each other.

Articulated in Chapter 3 of the Constitution, the role of the NCOP should be understood as that of implementing the principle of co-operative government which states that national, provincial and local spheres of government which are distinctive, interdependent and inter-ralated, perform their functions in a spirit of consultation and co-ordination.

Noting the NCOP celebrated 20 years of its inception in 2017, the Mid-Term Review comes at a crucial time and will thus afford all stakeholders an opportunity to assess work done since the beginning of the 5^th democratic Parliament.

Further, the Mid-Term Review comes when South Africa marks the centenary anniversary of the birth of South Africa’s first democratically elected President, Nelson Mandela. In light of this, Parliament has adopted “Making your future work better – learning from Madiba” as the theme which will inspire and guide its work throughout this year. During the historic inaugural State of the Nation on 24 May, Madiba stated “The government I have the honour to lead, and I dare say the masses, who elected us to serve in this role, are inspired by the single vision of creating a people-centred society. The acid test of the legitimacy of the programmes we elaborate, the government institutions we create, the legislation we adopt must be whether they serve these objectives.”

In light of this, the Mid-Term Review will assess the following:

• How the NCOP performed in the past three (3) years, particularly in terms of the effectiveness of oversight and the extent to which government has been held accountable through effective oversight and scrutiny?
• Is the NCOP equipped to supervise implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP) and the Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF)?

Among the participants expected for the session are:

1. Presiding Officers of the NCOP;
2. NCOP Permanent Delegates;
3. Provincial Speakers, Deputy Speakers, Chief Whips and Chair of Chairs; and
4. SALGA representatives.

We invite media to attend:
Date: Tuesday 6 – Wednesday 7 February 2018
Time: 08:30
Venue: Old Assembly, Parliament