(56%)8. Emerging from these statistics are strengths of public participation which vary, of course, from province to province. For instance, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal appear good in using the institution of traditional leadership to make the messages of government more accessible and encourage attendance of public participation forums. The Western Cape and the Northern Cape have used client satisfaction surveys to obtain inputs and suggestions for improvements from the public. The sharing of best practice, experience and innovations among provinces and local government is what is now being encouraged. Apart from the consolidation of forums such as izimbizo, as well as initiatives such as the IDPs, LEDs, PGDS, the work of the national parliament and provincial legislatures, in 20112012, to develop public participation operational models and implementation strategies is injecting new ideas and approaches in the whole system of public participation. In September 2011, the Speakers‘ Forum of South Africa (SFSA), under the guidance of the Parliamentary Speaker‘s Reference Group, commissioned the development of the Oversight Model of the South African Legislative Sector through a Project Team that was established for this purpose. The purpose of the Model is to define oversight for the South African legislative sector. “It [also] establishes a baseline for systems; mechanisms; and tools for conducting oversight. It further standardizes practices on oversight guided by its prescripts in response to public sector planning; policy making; budgeting; and performance”9. The redefinition of the legislature’s oversight role, as advanced by the model, creates an opportunity for the strengthening of public participation. This is so given that the oversight model casts the legislature not only in terms of the desirability of ensuring the smooth functioning of the country’s constitutional order, as a totality, but as having a very specific responsibility for overall government performance. This responsibility finds expression in the Constitutional provision that requires parliament to have mechanisms that ensure “the fulfillment of the values of accountability, responsiveness and openness enshrined in the Constitution”10. During the current reporting period, the impetus of innovation and design of new models for public participation has been spearheaded by the Gauteng Provincial Legislature and supported by the national parliament. The Free State, the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal legislatures, on the other hand, have provided examples of innovations, especially the use of the institution of traditional leadership and local government, to re-ignite the spark of public participation in policy processes and programmers. The lessons from provincial legislatures are likely to give the entire country direction regarding the mainstreaming of public participation in state institutions. In all provinces public participation mechanisms include the budget hearings, the Public Participation Forums (established), Speaker’s Forums, and Women’s Parliament, Taking the Legislature to the People, Public Participation Week, Youth Parliament, Religious 8 Public Service Commission (2011): Seventh Consolidated Public Service Monitoring and Evaluation Report: Evaluation Cycle2009/2010, p. 18 9 Speaker’s Forum, South Africa (2011): Oversight Model of the South African Legislative Sector, p. 11 10 A People’s Government, The People’s Voice: A Review of Public Participation in the Law and Policy-Making Process in South Africa, June 2001. p. 6. 33