Aim and research methodology 2 Conceptual demarcation: SSG and the SDGs 3 The Sustainable Development Goals 3 Security Sector Governance 5 Locating the role of parliaments 6 Parliaments, democracy and ensuring accountability 6 Linking parliaments, SSG and SDG16 7 Conclusion 9 Chapter 2: Parliaments and SSG-Contributing to Stability for Sustainable Development 11 SSR PapersThe DCAF SSR Papers provide original, innovative and provocative analysis on the challenges of security sector governance and reform. Combining theoretical insight with detailed empirically driven explorations of state-of-the-art themes, SSR Papers bridge conceptual and pragmatic concerns. Authored, edited and peer reviewed by SSR experts, the series provides a unique platform for in-depth discussion of a governance-driven reform agenda, addressing the overlapping interests of researchers, policy-makers and practitioners in the fields of development, peace and security. DCAF, the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance is dedicated to improving the security of states and their people within a framework of democratic governance, the rule of law, respect for human rights, and gender equality. Since its founding in 2000, DCAF has contributed to making peace and development more sustainable by assisting partner states, and international actors supporting these states, to improve the governance of their security sector through inclusive and participatory reforms. It creates innovative knowledge products, promotes norms and good practices, provides legal and policy advice and supports capacity-building of both state and non-state security sector stakeholders.

No abstract

Parliamentary oversight of the executive plays a key role in ensuring accountability and is therefore central to the system of checks and balances that characterises liberal democracies. After 1994, South Africa aligned itself with liberal democratic ideals and sought to foster accountability in governance. In the South African Parliament, committees are considered the engine rooms of the institution and are central to the oversight process. Members of Parliament serving on these committees also have specific tools at their disposal to conduct oversight. These include deliberations (debates), posing written and oral questions, oversight visits, special inquiries and external audit opinions. By reviewing the use of these tools in relation to defence deployments, the study on which this article reports aimed to determine the long-term post-1994 trajectory of parliamentary oversight of deployments. The study used the timeline between Operation Boleas (Lesotho, 1998) and the Battle of Bangui (Central African Republic, 2013), two key post-1994 military deployments, as a demarcation for determining the trajectory of oversight. The study found a negative trajectory in terms of the oversight of deployments. In addition, committee meetings dedicated to deployments remained limited. Questions around deployments did not fill the vacuum left by a lack of committee activity. Oversight visits to deployment areas were limited while there was a complete dearth of in-depth analysis of deployments through special inquiries and external audits. The study subsequently noted that the negative trajectory in terms of deployment oversight cannot only be explained by the growing civil-military gap in South Africa, but arguably also contributed to it.

Aim and research methodology 2 Conceptual demarcation: SSG and the SDGs 3 The Sustainable Development Goals 3 Security Sector Governance 5 Locating the role of parliaments 6 Parliaments, democracy and ensuring accountability 6 Linking parliaments, SSG and SDG16 7 Conclusion 9 Chapter 2: Parliaments and SSG-Contributing to Stability for Sustainable Development 11 SSR PapersThe DCAF SSR Papers provide original, innovative and provocative analysis on the challenges of security sector governance and reform. Combining theoretical insight with detailed empirically driven explorations of state-of-the-art themes, SSR Papers bridge conceptual and pragmatic concerns. Authored, edited and peer reviewed by SSR experts, the series provides a unique platform for in-depth discussion of a governance-driven reform agenda, addressing the overlapping interests of researchers, policy-makers and practitioners in the fields of development, peace and security. DCAF, the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance is dedicated to improving the security of states and their people within a framework of democratic governance, the rule of law, respect for human rights, and gender equality. Since its founding in 2000, DCAF has contributed to making peace and development more sustainable by assisting partner states, and international actors supporting these states, to improve the governance of their security sector through inclusive and participatory reforms. It creates innovative knowledge products, promotes norms and good practices, provides legal and policy advice and supports capacity-building of both state and non-state security sector stakeholders.

Aim and research methodology 2 Conceptual demarcation: SSG and the SDGs 3 The Sustainable Development Goals 3 Security Sector Governance 5 Locating the role of parliaments 6 Parliaments, democracy and ensuring accountability 6 Linking parliaments, SSG and SDG16 7 Conclusion 9 Chapter 2: Parliaments and SSG-Contributing to Stability for Sustainable Development 11 SSR PapersThe DCAF SSR Papers provide original, innovative and provocative analysis on the challenges of security sector governance and reform. Combining theoretical insight with detailed empirically driven explorations of state-of-the-art themes, SSR Papers bridge conceptual and pragmatic concerns. Authored, edited and peer reviewed by SSR experts, the series provides a unique platform for in-depth discussion of a governance-driven reform agenda, addressing the overlapping interests of researchers, policy-makers and practitioners in the fields of development, peace and security. DCAF, the Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance is dedicated to improving the security of states and their people within a framework of democratic governance, the rule of law, respect for human rights, and gender equality. Since its founding in 2000, DCAF has contributed to making peace and development more sustainable by assisting partner states, and international actors supporting these states, to improve the governance of their security sector through inclusive and participatory reforms. It creates innovative knowledge products, promotes norms and good practices, provides legal and policy advice and supports capacity-building of both state and non-state security sector stakeholders.