ParliMeter Enters its Next Chapter

ParliMeter, the civic technology platform developed to make South Africa’s parliamentary processes more transparent, accessible and easier to navigate, is entering a new chapter as the European Union (EU) co-funded phase of the project draws to a close and the Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG) taking custodianship of the platform.

The transition is marked by “ParliMeter: The Next Chapter”, to be held in Cape Town on 9 September, bringing together civil society organisations (CSO), parliamentary stakeholders, academics and media to reflect on the platform’s development and consider how it can continue strengthening public participation and democratic accountability.

ParliMeter was developed through the Enhancing Accountability and Transparency Project, co-funded by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), PMG and OpenUp.

According to Dr Rachel Fischer (OUTA), OUTA’s Parliamentary Engagement and Research Manager and overall project manager, “ParliMeter brings parliamentary information together in an accessible format, enabling citizens, civil society, journalists and researchers to better understand and monitor the work of Parliament”.

ParliMeter currently allows users to track:

• MP attendance
• the progression of Bills through Parliament,
• committee meetings,
• questions to Ministers and their responses;
• parliamentary recommendations; and
• Parliament’s performance against the Indicators for Democratic Parliament.

Beyond providing data, ParliMeter has also produced research, reports and analysis aimed at helping the public engage more meaningfully with parliamentary processes.

“ParliMeter was built to make Parliament easier for people to follow and understand. This next phase is about building on what we have created and making the platform even more useful to people who want to understand Parliament, participate in its processes and hold it accountable,” says Fischer.

“PMG is well placed to take ParliMeter forward because we have spent years documenting Parliament, making its work accessible and understanding how it operates in practice. ParliMeter is a natural extension of that work. It gives us another way to strengthen public access to Parliament and help citizens and civil society participate in and scrutinise the institutions that represent them,” says Rashaad Alli, PMG Executive Director.

The transition reflects a central principle behind ParliMeter: access to parliamentary information is essential to meaningful democratic participation. Transparency is not only about making information available; it is about ensuring that people can find it, understand it and use it to participate in the institutions that represent them.

Access to parliamentary information allows citizens, journalists and civil society to ask better questions, scrutinise decisions and participate more meaningfully in the institutions that represent them.

The Next Chapter event will explore these issues through the themes of Access, Accountability and Action – from unlocking parliamentary data, to strengthening democratic oversight, to empowering citizens and civil society to use that information.

Mbali Ntuli, CEO and Founder of the Ground Work Collective, will facilitate the event. The programme includes a keynote by Xolile George, Secretary to Parliament, and contributions from Wayne Duvenage, CEO of OUTA; Shaun Russell, Project Manager at OpenUp; Rashaad Alli, Executive Director of PMG; and Dr Rachel Fischer, OUTA’s Parliamentary Engagement and Research Manager.

A panel discussion – featuring Adv. Stefanie Fick, Executive Director of OUTA’s Accountability Division; Monique Doyle, Monitor & Projects Manager at PMG, and Gabriella Razzano, Executive Director at OpenUp – will also consider what should be preserved from ParliMeter’s first phase.

The panel will reflect on lessons learned from developing the platform, and how its next chapter can move beyond simply showing people what Parliament is doing towards helping citizens understand why it matters and how they can participate.

ParliMeter remains a living platform. Under PMG’s custodianship, there is an opportunity to continue improving its data and functionality, explore additional features, and deepen the ways in which parliamentary information can support oversight and public participation.

Its future should also be shaped by the people who use it. CSO’s, journalists, researchers, policymakers, parliamentary stakeholders, and members of the public are encouraged to use ParliMeter, interrogate the information it provides, and contribute ideas about how the platform can become more useful.

At its core, ParliMeter is a tool for transparency, not conclusions. It makes parliamentary information and data more accessible so that different users can examine the work of Parliament, draw their own insights, and use evidence to support engagement and accountability.

As PMG takes the platform forward, the ambition remains clear: to strengthen the connection between Parliament and the people it serves, and to help turn access to information into informed democratic participation.