Page:Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996 from Government Gazette.djvu/31



Chapter 4—Parliament

the participation in the proceedings of the Assembly and its committees of minority parties represented in the Assembly, in a manner consistent with democracy; financial and administrative assistance to each party represented in the Assembly in proportion to its representation, to enable the party and its leader to perform their functions in the Assembly effectively; and the recognition of the leader of the largest opposition party in the Assembly as the Leader of the Opposition.

Privilege

Cabinet members and members of the National Assembly —

have freedom of speech in the Assembly and in its committees, subject to its rules and orders; and are not liable to civil or criminal proceedings, arrest, imprisonment or damages for —

anything that they have said in, produced before or submitted to the Assembly or any of its committees; or anything revealed as a result of anything that they have said in, produced before or submitted to the Assembly or any of its committees.

Other privileges and immunities of the National Assembly, Cabinet members and members of the Assembly may be prescribed by national legislation.

Salaries, allowances and benefits payable to members of the National Assembly are a direct charge against the National Revenue Fund.

Public access to and involvement in National Assembly

The National Assembly must —

facilitate public involvement in the legislative and other processes of the Assembly and its committees; and conduct its business in an open manner, and hold its sittings, and those of its committees, in public, but reasonable measures may be taken —

to regulate public access, including access of the media, to the Assembly and its committees; and to provide for the searching of any person and, where appropriate, the refusal of entry to, or the removal of, any person.

The National Assembly may not exclude the public, including the media, from a sitting of a committee unless it is reasonable and justifiable to do so in an open and democratic society.