One of the marvels of the post-Covid era is the ongoing ability to participate in live events that are many miles away. Although technology fails from time to time, there are several government departments and corporates whose communication officers have become adept at ensuring that journalists are able to participate in briefings even when not physically present.

The South African Parliament has, likewise, become incredibly accessible to the media and public. True, unless you are a beat journalist assigned to cover a particular plenary, or portfolio or select committee, you are highly unlikely to tune in, and the level of discussion is at times so poor that it’s difficult not to tune out. Nevertheless, the access is quite remarkable, even if it is partly the result of an arson attack, which has seen some committees having to rely on Zoom meetings until Parliament’s physical infrastructure is repaired.

The upshot is that it is possible to monitor South Africa’s lawmakers not only from the Parliamentary gallery but on YouTube and to see first-hand the good, the bad and the downright disturbing.

First, the good. There are definite signs that South African lawmakers are starting to understand their oversight roles and responsibilities and are, finally, also beginning to exercise these. This was arguably in evidence recently when serious questions arose over statements made by Higher Education and Training Minister Nobuhle Nkabane in relation to the advisory panel purportedly set up to assist her with the appointment of Sector Education and Training Authority boards.

Then, the bad. There is still a tendency for MPs to focus on process over substance. True, Parliament is a place where rules should be sacrosanct and where form and content need to blend. Still, too many lawmakers tend to hide behind process, when in reality they are really disguising a lack of preparedness, ignorance, or, in the worse cases, a destructive intention to disrupt thoughtful questioning or meaningful deliberations.

Finally, the disturbing. At times, it is questionable whether some lawmakers are aware of the current domestic and geopolitical context, or whether they are living in make-believe worlds; ones where the dire economic and fiscal predicaments of South Africa cannot penetrate. Worse yet are those whose remedies are the very cause of these predicaments, sometimes because they implemented them during a previous political life that should have ended in correctional supervision, not Parliament.

Some grandstanding in plenary is only natural and even healthy in a pluralistic setting. It shouldn’t contaminate the committees, however, where debates are being taken off course by ideological, cynical and fact-poor propositions that have absolutely no chance of being implemented. Yet they are allowed to dominate the narrative to the point where quashing them requires the inordinate time and attention of Ministers, their directors-general and far too many of their lieutenants.

Falling voter turnout is, thus, incredibly worrying, as only voters can ensure the election of MPs who are more serious about solving problems than creating them.