Section 118 of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa requires provincial legislature to conduct its business in an open manner and to facilitate public involvement in its legislative and other activities. A provincial Legislature must facilitate public involvement in the legislative and other processes of the Legislature.

• Conduct its business in an open manner, and hold its sittings, and those of its Committees.
• To regulate public access, including access to the media, to the legislature
• To provide for the searching of any person and, where appropriate.
• A provincial legislature 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.

Public Participation is a process wherein people exercise their collective and individual initiatives to promote their interest in decision-making. Public Participation is important due to the following factors:

• Strengthening of participatory democracy
• Enhancement of legitimacy of decision-making
• Improvement of the systems of service delivery
• A need to allow the citizens, especially the previously disadvantaged and marginalized, to be heard on issues that affect them.

Law making is one of the functions and a Constitutional mandate for the legislative sector. This process requires that:
• A draft Bill that is before a committee for consideration is published in the Government Gazette and print media. The Committee may engage any other relevant forms of media to maximize public participation in the process.
• Committees must conduct public hearings to get inputs and views on the draft Bill in question.
• There must be pre-public hearing workshops to prepare the public for effective participation during the actual public hearings.
• Public hearings must be informed by the principle of involving the people directly affected by the draft Bill
• For an effective and successful public hearing, Committees must involve public participations practitioner, media and communication.

There are various mechanisms that have been adopted by the Legislature to facilitate public participation and among them are the following:

Taking the Legislature to the People is a public participation and oversight mechanism, where committees of the ECPL engage communities to undertake the following:
• To identify issues for focused oversight
• To assess the impact of EC Provincial Government interventions on identified communities
• To source-out community needs
• To develop a public education programme for Taking Legislature to the people
• To collaborate with local government in implementing this programme
• To involve MECs and councilors in feedback processes

The Eastern Cape Provincial Legislature has since October 2011 introduced a new Standing Committee that deals with Public Participation, Petitions and Education. This Committee is the key strategist that undertakes sector parliaments as part of channeling issues and interests within different sectors of society. The aims of the

Sectoral Parliaments are:
• To facilitate participation of different sectors of society
• To inform policy-making processes
• To facilitate feedback to different sectors of society

The ECPL holds the following sector parliaments interchangeably:
• Women's Parliament
• Youth Parliament
• Workers Parliament
• Senior Citizens Parliament
• Religious Parliaments
• People living with Disability Parliament
• Taking Legislature to the People

At least two Sectoral Parliaments must be held in a financial year. Sectoral Parliaments must be held on the dates determined by the Programming Committee. And they may be held at the Legislature, or such other place as determined by the Rules Committee.

The Constitution provide the public with the right to present their needs and expectations to the Provincial Legislature. It is through the Public Participation and Public Education (PPPE) Committee that petitions are considered and processed. A Petition is a written request, complaint, or representation addressed to the Institution by an individual or group after having exhausted other avenues. This can be either on Service Delivery or Policy Matters. A Petition is a written request or complaint made by a member of the public. A Petition can be in the form of a letter or a document and can be submitted by a single individual or by a large group of people or organisation. The main rule of a written Petition is that it must contain the name, contact number, address and signature of the person sending the petition. If the person is unable to write, they can contact the Public Participation unit for assistance.

(1) A petition submitted to the Legislature may be in any form acceptable to the Speaker provided it is clear on the contents and who, or on whose behalf the petition is made.

(2) A petition may be in writing or oral.

(3) An oral petition must be made to a staff member designated by the Speaker, and such staff Member must-

(a) reduce the petition to writing;
(b) read the written petition to the petitioner; and
(c) certify that the petitioner declared the petition to be correct by affixing the petitioner's name or mark to the written petition.

(4) A petitioner may be requested to amplify a petition orally or in writing when the petition is considered.

A petition which is not in an official language of the Province must be translated by the Legislature into one of the official languages, certified to be true and correct by an official of the Legislature.

(1) All petitions submitted to the Legislature must be handed to the Petitions Office.

(2) Within 7 days of receipt of the petition, the Petitions Office must -

(a) Table the petition to the relevant Committee with recommendations on how the petition must be handled;
(b) refer the petition to the relevant MEC, if it is appropriate to do so considering the content of the petition;
(c) refer the petition to Parliament if the petition deals with a matter falling outside the ambit of Schedules 4 or 5 of the Constitution; or
(d) refer the petition to any other relevant institution.

(3) A Committee or a staff member to which a petition is referred must submit a report to the Speaker within 30 working days from the date of referral by the Speaker.

(4) Each report submitted to the Speaker must be published in the ATC and the Whips' Committee determines whether the report. must be debated in the House.

Public education is a mechanism that enables people to exercise their constitutional right to solve their own problems through democratic processes. To take part in the activities of the Legislature, citizens in the province need to be educated, informed, and empowered. The role of the Public Participation, Petitions and Public Education in the Legislature is to inform citizens on how they can get involved and influence the programmes and laws that govern their lives.

Public Education is utilised for educating the public on legislative matters and promoting the principle of open and accountable government in line with the Constitutional Mandate. It seeks to inform the public about the processes and developments within the Legislature and ways in which they can become involved through the various mechanisms. Public Education seeks to increase the level of public participation on Legislative processes.

Public education is conducted in a myriad of Legislature programmes and processes i.e.
• Publicity and mobilization for Sectoral Parliaments and institutionalised days
• Petitions Hearing
• Workshops before Public Hearings on Bills
• Community Outreach Programmes
• Education excursions to members of the public (especially schools) conducted in-house at the Raymond Mhlaba Chamber
• Voter Education in partnership with the IEC

The Legislature conducts public education programmes in schools/institutions and or communities in all District Municipalities covering topics such as:
• The doctrine of separation of powers
• The role of the public in law making process
• Importance of voting
• Various electoral systems
• Key role players in the Legislature (Speakership, Whip, Opposition Parties etc)
• The Constitution & the Bill of Rights
• The role of the NOP and NA
• The Budget Vote
• Functions of the Legislative
• Various Spheres of governance
• Standing and Portfolio Committees