The ‘State Institutions Supporting Constitutional Democracy’ – known as the Chapter 9 Institutions, after their place in the Constitution – consist of the Public Protector (PP), the Auditor‐General (AG), the Electoral Commission (IEC), the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), the Commission for Gender Equality (CGE), and lastly, the Commission for the Protection of the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities. These institutions are independent of government, subject only to the Constitution and the law, and report annually to Parliament. In 2006, an ad hoc Committee on the Review of the Chapter 9 Institutions and Associated Institutions was established to investigate the effectiveness and efficiency of these institutions, and to establish whether they were fulfilling their constitutional mandate. Based on the findings of this report, and on the inputs at a roundtable discussion held by the CPLO in collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation2, this briefing paper will consider where these institutions have come from and how they are performing presently.

Paper by the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference
Parliamentary Liaison Office (CPLO)