Hi-tech roll call system will keep errant MPs honest

It's a thumbs up for the new system - unless you're one of those MPs who can't really be bothered to attend Parliament's sittings, that is. (Image: Public Domain)

The biometric (fingerprint) system will be used to record the attendance of MPs at sittings of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces.

It requires MPs to register their attendance with a thumbprint and it will be implemented in committee meetings at a later stage.

The biometric system will start operating in the next term, when MPs return from a constituency period on April 14. The electronic monitoring system will replace a manual system parliament has used, which required MPs to fill in attendance slips and deposit them into boxes.

There have been complaints from some political parties about the inefficiencies of the system.

The ANC has, for instance, struggled in the last two years to pass several key pieces of legislation opposed by the opposition, because so few ANC MPs were present.

ANC chief whip Stone Sizani's spokesman, Maloto Mothapo, welcomed the system, saying it would provide punitive measures against those who abscond.

Source: The Herald, via I-Net Bridge