South Africa’s deputy president Paul Mashatile has placed parliaments at the centre of regional climate governance, warning that women and youth in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) remain disproportionately exposed to climate shocks and require targeted legislative protection.
Speaking at the 58th plenary assembly of the Sadc Parliamentary Forum in Durban on Saturday, Mashatile said legislatures must “enact and strengthen our policies to align with regional agreements such as the Sadc Protocol on Gender & Development, Sadc Climate Change Strategy and international climate agreements such as the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change”.
The remarks follow South Africa’s presidency of the Group of 20 (G20), which concluded with a declaration emphasising solidarity, equality and sustainability as pillars of inclusive growth.
Mashatile linked those outcomes directly to parliamentary obligations in the region, noting that the G20 had endorsed universal early warning systems for Africa by 2027, supported Mission 300 to connect 300‑million Africans to electricity by 2030 and welcomed the AU as a full member of the grouping. These commitments must now be translated into enforceable domestic measures through legislative oversight and budgetary allocation, he said.
Mashatile’s intervention underscored the constitutional role of parliaments in law‑making, oversight and representation. He stressed that legislatures must mainstream gender considerations into climate policy, facilitate clean energy transitions through enabling frameworks and hold executives accountable for delivery against international obligations.
“We must strengthen oversight and accountability. This work will entail parliaments holding governments accountable for their performance in implementing domestic climate laws, regional commitments, and international obligations,” Mashatile said.
Sufficient resources must be allocated to mitigation and adaptation programmes, with monitoring and evaluation systems ensuring that interventions reduce vulnerabilities and promote equity.
The deputy president drew attention to the specific burdens borne by women, including extended journeys to secure food, water and fuel, heightened exposure to gender‑based violence and reliance on rain‑fed agriculture that is increasingly unstable. He warned that adolescent girls face disrupted education and rising school dropout rates, often leading to early marriage and exploitation.
The youth more broadly, he said, are being pushed into precarious migration patterns as rural livelihoods collapse under droughts, floods and land degradation. These observations align with findings in recent Sadc climate assessments and reinforce the legal requirement under the Protocol on Gender & Development to integrate gender perspectives into all sectoral policies.
Mashatile cited the Climate Change Act, signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2024, as an example of national legislation designed to give effect to international commitments.
The act establishes a framework for mitigation and adaptation, sets emission reduction pathways and mandates just transition planning to balance climate action with employment protection. The law demonstrates how parliaments can legislate for resilience while safeguarding constitutional rights to equality, dignity and socio‑economic security, he said.
The Durban plenary revisited outcomes from the 57th assembly in Victoria Falls, which examined AI in parliamentary processes.
Mashatile noted the G20 had launched the AI for Africa initiative, a voluntary platform to expand access to computing power and talent, and said regional legislatures must guard against overreliance on foreign technologies while exploring efficiency gains. He linked this to broader debates on institutional reform, including calls for a more representative UN Security Council.
The feasibility of these proposals will depend on the capacity of Sadc parliaments to institutionalise monitoring systems, secure financing and integrate civil society input into deliberations.
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