What does a member of parliament do?

Simply put, Members of Parliament (MPs) are officials that are elected to carry out the functions of Parliament. Parliament is primarily the vehicle for lawmaking in South Africa. There are 400 MPs in the National Assembly (the gathering of MPs, also referred as the NA). The NA and Parliament are often used interchangeably, although Parliament is technically a government institution with over 1250 employees and a dedicated precinct in Cape Town.

In South Africa, we have a proportional representation system, meaning that the number of MPs is proportional to the number of votes received. In 2024, we elected MPs slightly differently to before. We had three ballots at the elections – one for the province, and two for the national election. The national election ballots elected 200 Members each. The first was an unrestricted national ballot, while the second was called a “regional” ballot and elected a proportional number of representatives for each province. This was to ensure that the National Assembly was roughly proportionally representative of provinces and not biased geographically. I was elected via the regional ballot as the first-placed MP for the DA in Gauteng. Although we do allow for independents to contest our elections, all of our current MPs are deployed by a political party.

Members of Parliament have various duties. These are split between parliamentary and political roles. I will speak to the duties of ordinary MPs – of course, those Members elected to Ministry leadership, to Speaker or Deputy Speaker, or to House Chair positions have different requirements of them. The MP’s week is structured with parliamentary duties from Tuesday to Thursday with bookends of constituency/political work on Monday and Friday. This may not always be strictly applied, but is a useful framework for MPs to organize their engagements, travel, and other arrangements.

Parliamentary duties The role of an MP in Parliament is to debate and make laws and to hold the Executive to account. The Executive comprises the President, the various Ministers, and Deputy Ministers. Much of the work of Parliament is done in Portfolio Committees. These cover each of the Ministries of government, but also include other aspects such as Ethics, Public Accounts, and other important administrative factors. When items have been considered and debated in the relevant Committee, that will then be brought to the sitting of the full House for debate. Making laws follows a long and exhaustive process from debate in committees, drafting, public participation, and consideration by Parliament and the President. MPs are able to put questions to the Minister relevant to their Portfolio Committee for either written or oral reply. This is one key way in which they hold them to account and drive issues. Another is by doing oversight visits, for example to power stations if you are a member of the Energy & Electricity Committee. The results of oversight can be reported back to the committee and noted for further action. There are also opportunities to drive issues and hold the Executive to account through debates in Parliament that can either be requested in advance or called as a snap debate at the discretion of the Speaker.

Political duties As MPs are deployed by a political party, they are also asked to perform certain leadership functions for their parties. MPs are assigned to constituencies in their home provinces in the role of political head. They provide leadership for several councilors assigned to wards in their constituencies and will lead political activities such as election campaigns and events. They also supply a channel of communication between party leadership and localized structures, members, and representatives. Overseeing constituencies allows MPs to remain connected to the issues on the ground and to bring those to their committees and the National Assembly for addressing, where relevant.