Democratic legislation and administrative action in view of recent case law

Various provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (hereafter referred to as the public involvement provisions) require the national and provincial legislatures to facilitate public involvement in their legislative and other processes. Section 59(1)(a) provides that the National Assembly must : '(a) facilitate public involvement in the legislative process of the Assembly and its committees'. Using identical terms section72(1)(a) places the same obligation upon the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). For its part section 118(1)(a) enjoins the provincial legislatures to facilitate public involvement in the legislative and other processes of these legislatures and their committees.