The legislative branch of government is responsible for making laws and developing policy. Every province has a Legislature made up of MPLs.. These are the functions of the legislature:

• to develop and pass laws
• to contribute to developing policy
• to act as a watchdog on the activities of government in the province (in the executive)

The legislature consists of the provincial legislature and various committees. These are the key structures that you can lobby in the provincial legislature:

Legislature Committees

The provincial legislature usually divides the MPLs (members of provincial legislatures) into small groups which focus on specific areas of governance. These smaller groups are called portfolio or standing committees. The main roles of the portfolio committees are to:

• Make sure that issues and new bills are properly debated and scrutinised
• Allow members of provincial parliament to become specialised in a particular field, such as finance or agriculture
• Provide a forum where the public can interact with provincial government on specific issues and new bills
• Oversee, discuss and assess the activities of government departments

There are two types of Committees, however the names and institutional arrangements differ from province to province:

Standing committees are permanent. There are standing committees for each of the portfolios of the executive, for example, education committee, public transport and roads and works committee. These are also called portfolio committees. There are also other standing committees which are not linked to portfolios but more to the running of the legislature, for example, the Special Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) which oversees all government spending.

Ad hoc committees are not permanent and only last for the time it takes them to finish a task.

Other important role-players in the provincial legislature include:

• The political party whips
• The parliamentary committee chairpersons
• The committee secretaries
• Political party caucuses and study groups (these are not open to the public but you can lobby key members before meetings to raise issues)