Page 72 - WCPP Annual Report 2021-22_Draft #7.6.2

Annual Report for the 2021/22 Financial Year
Vote 2: Western Cape Provincial Parliament
Part B: Performance Information

Virtual Knowledge Exchange Programme: Parliamentary Prac ce and Procedure
The WCPP has enjoyed a long-standing rela onship with the Overseas Office at the Houses of
Parliament in London. Recently, this office was changed to the Interparliamentary Rela ons Office.
They con nued with their training programme that was established pre-COVID-19.

The WCPP was requested to nominate two officials to par cipate in their online programme from 28
February-2 March 2022. The Senior Procedural Officer and the Manager: Plenary Support were
nominated and duly par cipated.

Interna onal Rela ons training
Members of the Provincial Parliament were provided the opportunity to a end a two-day training
session on the Introduc on to Interna onal Rela ons, Protocol and E que e from 17-18 August
2021. The training was presented virtually by the Department of Interna onal Rela ons and
Coopera on (DIRCO).

Official opening and State of the Province Address
Following the trend established in 2020, this year’s opening and SOPA was held in the West Coast
town of Velddrif in the Bergrivier Local Municipality. The Velddrif Town Hall played host to the main
event while some Members and guests par cipated in the proceedings from the WCPP Chamber in
Wale Street, Cape Town. Local youths, ar sts and community representa ves par cipated in the
formal proceedings before the start of the event on 15 February. Due to COVID-19 regula ons, the
number of guests in a endance was limited. The event was livestreamed on the WCPP website and
was viewed well over 1 500 mes.

Communica ons
Social media
The WCPP’s social media pla orms saw consistent growth in during the 2021/22 financial year,
specifically as a result of messaging related to the COVID-19 pandemic and suppor ng the
ins tu on’s mee ngs, events and si ngs that were mainly hosted virtually or in hybrid format.

The number of posts on iden fied social media pla orms, Twi er and Facebook, increased with
8.7% from the 2020/21 baseline.

The WCPP continued to have a presence on Instagram. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic the
institution commenced with the livestreaming of all standing committee meetings, all sittings of the
House and a number of special events hosted virtually and in hybrid format. This has now become one
of the most important links that provide audiences with access to the activities of the provincial
parliament.

In the previous financial year 282 events were streamed live, an extraordinarily high figure due to
COVID-19 and the various special mee ngs that focussed on it. In the 2021/22 financial year the
presence on YouTube was sustained with 218 events that were livestreamed.

In 2021/22, apart from the ins tu on’s regular programme, several special events were streamed
live on YouTube. These included the launch of the Thetha Nathi programme on 21 September 2021,
the Western Cape Women’s Parliament on 13 August 2021 and the Western Cape Youth Parliament
on 28 June 2021. The Official Opening and State of the Province Address hosted remotely in Velddrif

Annual Report for 2021/22 Financial Year Page 65