MEDIA STATEMENT: PRESIDING OFFICERS OF PARLIAMENT LEAD SOUTH AFRICAN DELEGATION TO COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE TAKING PLACE IN GHANA

The Presiding Officers of Parliament, the Speaker of the National Assembly (NA), Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), Mr Amos Masondo are leading a high-level delegation of members of Parliament and Members of Provincial Legislatures (MPLs) to the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) taking place in Accra, in Ghana from today 30 September to 6 October 2023.

The 66th CPC will be held under the theme: “The Commonwealth Charter 10 years on: Values and Principles for Parliaments to Uphold”. The Commonwealth Charter, which specifies the values of the Commonwealth is turning ten years old this year.

The delegation will form part of the largest annual gathering of Commonwealth parliamentarians, who meet to discuss parliamentary and political issues on a worldwide scale. This annual conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) will include meetings of the General Assembly, the highest authority comprised of representatives from each CPA branch.

The delegation will participate in a number of high-level meetings, such as the 66th CPA General Assembly, CPA Executive Committee meetings, 39th CPA Small Branches Conference meetings of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) and Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) networks, 57th Society of Clerks at the Table (SoCATT) meeting, presentation of the 2023 Commonwealth Parliamentarian of the Year awards, and the first Emilia Monjowa Lifaka Lecture.

The high-level delegation from the South African Parliament includes the Speaker of the NA, Ms Mapisa-Nqakula, the Chairperson of the NCOP, Mr Masondo, Deputy Speaker of the NA, Mr Lechesa Tsenoli, Commonwealth Women’s Parliament representative, Ms Winnie Ngwenya, the Chief Whip of the NCOP, Mr Seiso Mohai and CWP delegates, Ms Grace Tseke and Ms Tsholofelo Bodlani. The delegation also includes MPLs from all nine provincial legislatures.

The delegation will be accompanied by a high-level team of parliamentary officials who are SoCATT delegates, that will be led by the Secretary to Parliament, Mr Xolile George.

Source: Parliament of South Africa