Building an Inclusive Parliament: SA’s progress, gaps, and the road ahead

Is South Africa’s Parliament truly inclusive? 

In a constitutional democracy, an inclusive parliament isn’t optional…it’s essential. It should ensure that all parts of society, including youth, women, persons with disabilities, and marginalised communities, see themselves reflected in law-making, oversight and budgeting, while also being able to meaningfully influence decisions that shape their lives. 

But what does inclusivity mean in practice, and how well does the South African Parliament measure up?

As part of OUTA’s independent assessment of the Indicators for Democratic Parliaments (IDPs), we evaluated SA’s Parliament against Target 5: Inclusive Parliament. This target has two broad dimensions:

• Inclusive law-making, oversight and budgeting: ensuring that policies, budgets and laws are shaped by the voices and needs of all citizens, not just a select few. 
• Inclusive institutional practices: enabling parliament’s processes, communications and engagement tools to be accessible and usable by diverse communities. 

Why does Inclusion Matter? 

Inclusivity does not simply mean a seat at the table, however representation does matter. It means Parliament actively considers and integrates diverse perspectives into its work and makes it possible for ordinary citizens to participate in and influence parliamentary decision-making. When parliament fails to consistently integrate diverse perspectives, policy outcomes risk reinforcing inequality, marginalised communities remain unheard, public trust weakens, and democratic participation declines. Without mainstreamed inclusion, Parliament cannot fully realise its constitutional mandate.

Looking at an inclusive institution, it needs to tackle structural barriers in regard to how it communicates and consults, and ensure that legislative agendas and budgets reflect the priorities of historically marginalised groups. It must also embed equality, accessibility and fairness in its internal procedures and external outreach, and go beyond formal frameworks to build everyday practice that citizens can engage with meaningfully.

Where is Parliament performing well?

South Africa’s constitutional and legislative framework provides a solid basis for inclusive governance. Parliament has a clear mandate to authorise international human rights treaties, align domestic laws with global standards, and uphold dignity and equality as constitutional principles. Parliament has established specialised committees that focus on human rights, gender equality and youth development. Structures such as the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, and oversight of Chapter 9 institutions like the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) and Commission for Gender Equality (CGE), show a formal commitment to inclusive oversight. There has also been measurable progress in gender mainstreaming. 

Parliament has adopted strategic commitments to gender equality, provides training and research support, and increasingly engages with gender-responsive budgeting, which is supported by the Parliamentary Budget Office. Youth engagement mechanisms, including youth parliaments and consultative platforms, create structured spaces for young people to interact with parliamentary processes. These measures reflect a parliament that is building on inclusion.

Where do gaps remain? 

• Despite these strengths, inclusivity is not yet fully mainstreamed across all parliamentary work. It remains concentrated within specialised committees rather than embedded as a standard requirement across all portfolio committees. 
• Impact assessments are used, but not consistently applied to all significant or urgent legislation. This limits the systematic evaluation of how laws affect marginalised communities.
• Youth participation mechanisms, although present, are largely consultative. Young people are engaged, but their influence on final legislative and budgetary decisions remains limited.
• Parliamentary information is often technical, with limited plain-language summaries or translations in all 12 official languages.
• Finally, digital accessibility, intersectional workforce data, and systematic monitoring of inclusion outcomes require further strengthening.

What are OUTA’s recommendations?

1. Simplify and diversify communication: Use plain-language summaries, multi-format content, and local languages so citizens can understand parliamentary business.
2. Strengthen accessibility: Ensure all engagement tools comply with accessibility standards and reach underserved communities.
3. Expand targeted outreach: Deliberately engage youth, women, persons with disabilities and marginalised groups through tailored campaigns and simplified entry points into participation.
4. Build feedback systems: Introduce mechanisms that make it clear to citizens how their contributions were used, for example, status trackers for petitions and submissions.
5. Monitor inclusivity regularly: Use data and tools like ParliMeter to measure inclusion outcomes and spotlight where change is working or needed.
6. Gender-responsive budgeting: Should be strengthened through clearer reporting, measurable targets and enhanced oversight, including closer scrutiny of the CGE.
7. Increase Youth engagement: By shifting from consultation to influence, ensuring structured pathways for youth input to inform final decisions.
8. Rectify Inclusion being confined to specialised structures: It must become a standard operating principle across the institution.

Final thoughts 

South Africa’s Parliament has the legal framework, institutional structures and policy commitments necessary to be an inclusive democratic institution. The foundation exists; however, the challenge now is implementation. If inclusivity is systematically embedded across all committees, processes and performance systems, then it will ensure that diverse voices are represented, barriers to participation are removed, and institutional practices constantly reflect equity, accessibility and responsiveness.

As the IDP framework reminds us, inclusivity is not simply about access…it’s about meaningful engagement, equal influence, and shared ownership of democratic processes. Strengthening inclusive practices in Parliament will deepen democracy, improve policy outcomes, and help rebuild public trust in democratic institutions.