Parliamentary Speaker Baleka Mbete reckons another R1 billion is needed to run Parliament‚ and is engaging with the money men about the budget. She also thinks television is a rush to the head of opposition politicians. In a speech delivered during the parliamentary budget vote on Thursday‚ she said: “Parliament’s allocated budget for 2016/17 financial year amounts to R2‚189 billion‚ which is less than the requested budget by R956‚406 million. We thus have insufficient funds to implement in full‚ the Annual Performance Plan as per Parliament’s Strategic Plan”.“Continued budget cuts undermine the effectiveness of Parliament to deal with increasingly complex oversight tasks. We will continue to engage National Treasury on this matter.”Mbete said “key programmes such as the Office on Institutions Supporting Democracy (OISD) and the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO)‚ both of which are doing good work‚ are facing budgetary constraints and this affects their reach considerably”.“We will have to give attention to this matter.”Mbete said Parliament had introduced cost-cutting measures in travel‚ catering‚ printing‚ consultancy‚ and telephone usage.“The Speaker’s Forum has also met with the Director- General in the Treasury‚ Mr Lungile Fuzile‚ to exchange perspectives on policy priorities vis a vis costs containment measures. We thank the DG Fuzile for his time and contribution.”Another challenge highlighted by Mbete was a heavy workload for MPs.“We will adapt the programme of Parliament‚ so as to ensure that Members have more time for meaningful oversight in committees and constituencies.“The work pressure of honourable members and the hours available in the week are not easily reconciled. We therefore have to seek ways to go about carrying out our oversight mandate in a much smarter manner.”Mbete complained that parliamentary facilities were not designed “for the work of an open‚ democratic Parliament in which the involvement of citizens is an integral part of democracy”.The chamber facilities for the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces were upgraded‚ she said‚ “but proper facilities for joint sittings of the Houses remain inadequate. There is also an acute shortage of committee venues to facilitate the representation of people’s interests in various parliamentary processes”.Turning to the proposal of moving Parliament to Pretoria from Cape Town‚ as signalled by President Jacob Zuma‚ she said: “We will… in due course engage through our processes on the President’s request to ‘consider the maintenance of two capitals’‚ as a cost saving measure. We cannot continue as if the challenges we face in this regard are not substantive and real. The space and facilities of members must be conducive to optimal outputs”.Mbete also touched on the tumultuous debates in parliament recently that have engrossed the nation with chants of #paybackthemoney from Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)‚ and other hard-hitting engagements from opposition parties.The National Assembly Speaker reckons it is all very cordial when the TVs are switched off.“Since the 5th Parliament‚ for a variety of reasons‚ the atmosphere in the House has been challenging. The House is a deliberative body and therefore we can become argumentative and sometimes robust. In this regard tone and gestures can cause as much of a reaction as the words used in debate... Our people expect all of us‚ as members‚ to make greater efforts to curb disorder and unruly behaviour. So I urge all members to reflect on how best to return the House to the convivial‚ co-operative atmosphere‚ I know all of us would prefer.“I hasten to add that away from the television cameras‚ the spirit amongst all members across political parties is generally very collegial‚ constructive and friendly. Members of the public don’t know that many friendships are formed across political parties.“It is only when the eyes of the television cameras are trained on honourable members that the ‘sugar rush’ tends to kick in and members disobey the chair‚ as they do."She added: “Lest we forget‚ our democracy was achieved because of our collective willingness to engage each other‚ even on difficult issues. We can never get tired of engaging in an effort to find each other"...