Is your MP actually showing up? A new platform, ParliMeter, now lets South Africans check exactly that. Built by OUTA, PMG and OpenUp, it tracks MP attendance, bills, committee meetings, and questions to ministers. The Parliamentary Monitoring Group has taken over custodianship as the platform’s next phase begins. Its first year of data is revealing. The DA led attendance among major parties at 84%, followed by the ANC at 80% and the EFF at 79%. Smaller parties, stretched thin across committees, lagged furthest behind. For citizens wanting real accountability, not just promises, ParliMeter offers a direct line into Parliament’s actual workings.
By Myles Illidge
The Parliamentary Monitoring Group (PMG) will take custodianship of ParliMeter, a platform that allows the public to track meeting attendance, bills, committee meetings, and other actions in Parliament.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), which helped build the platform with PMG and OpenUp, said the civic technology platform was designed for civil society, journalists, and researchers.
“ParliMeter allows the public to track MP attendance, bills, committee meetings, questions to Ministers, and parliamentary recommendations,” OUTA said.
It said the platform was developed to make South Africa’s parliamentary processes more transparent, accessible, and easier to navigate.
PMG takes custodianship following the conclusion of the European Union co-funded phase of the project.
“ParliMeter was developed through the Enhancing Accountability and Transparency Project, co-funded by the European Union and implemented by OUTA, PMG, and OpenUp,” OUTA said.
OUTA’s Parliamentary engagement and research manager, Rachel Fischer, said ParliMeter brings Parliamentary information together in an accessible format. It allows users to track the following:
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Attendance of Members of Parliament
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Progression of bills through Parliament
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Committee meetings
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Questions to Ministers and their responses
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Parliamentary recommendations
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Parliament’s performance against its indicators
“ParliMeter was built to make Parliament easier for people to follow and understand. The next phase is about building on what we have created and making the platform even more useful,” Fischer said.
PMG executive director Rashaad Alli said his organisation was well-positioned to move ParliMeter forward.
“We have spent years documenting Parliament, making its work accessible, and understanding how it operates in practice,” he said.
“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.”
OUTA said that, under PMG’s custodianship, there is an opportunity to improve ParliMeter’s data and functionality and explore new features.
“Its future should be shaped by the people who use it. CSOs, journalists, researchers, policymakers, Parliamentary stakeholders, and members of the public are encouraged to use ParliMeter,” OUTA said.
ParliMeter in 2025
ParliMeter celebrated its first birthday in March 2026 and published key statistics from its first year of operation.
Between March 2025 and 1 January 2026, ParliMeter recorded 1,142 Parliamentary meetings, which had an average length of 3 hours and 53 minutes.
It recorded an average of 48 meetings per Member of Parliament (MP) and a meeting attendance figure of 79% during the period.
In South Africa’s proportional representation system, parties with more votes are assigned more seats in Parliament, leaving large parties like the ANC with many MPs and smaller parties with just 1 or 2.
“Smaller parties have fewer members to be distributed, hence they need to prioritise committees where they feel they can achieve the most impact,” Fischer said.
The 5 parties with the lowest rates of meeting attendance in 2025 each had only 1 or 2 members represented in Parliament.
ParliMeter said this illustrated how a lack of members in the National Assembly can lead to diminished opportunities to participate.
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Of the 5 parties with the most MPs, the DA achieved the highest meeting attendance at 84%, followed by the ANC at 80% and the EFF at 79%. MK and IFP achieved 78% and 67% attendance.
These parties have a total of 355 MPs in the National Assembly combined. The ANC holds the lion’s share with 161 MPs, followed by the DA with 88, MK with 51, EFF with 38, and IFP with 17.
ParliMeter also tracked the submission of Parliamentary questions and provided insights on the MPs who asked the most questions in 2025, as well as the Portfolio Committees that held the most meetings.
The Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) had the most meetings at 65, with a combined duration of 312 hours and 44 minutes.
The Standing Committee on Appropriations held 48 meetings totalling 133 hours and 51 minutes, and the Portfolio Committee on Communications held 46 meetings totalling 199 hours and 58 minutes.
This article was first published by MyBroadband and is republished with permission.
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