SOUTH AFRICAN LAW REPORTS FEBRUARY 2026 CORRUPTION WATCH (RF) NPC v SPEAKER, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AND OTHERS 2026 (1) SA 327 (CC) Parliament — Duties — To facilitate public involvement — Whether parliamentary committee complying with duty in process it followed to select candidates for appointment to Commission for Gender Equality — Constitution, s 59(1)(a). In 2022 the National Assembly's Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities invited the public to nominate individuals to apply for appointment as commissioners of the Commission for Gender Equality. Many nominations and applications were made, and from these the Commission selected a short list, which it published along with a call for comments on the listed candidates. A period of 14 days was allowed for submission of the comments, which had to be made on an online form. The form had three fields: the first for the comment-maker's name; the second for the candidate's name; and the third for the comment-maker's comments. These were limited to 500 words. The form also provided a link to the qualifications of each candidate, but their curricula vitae were not provided. Many comments were ultimately considered, and the Committee made its selection. It compiled a report that was tabled in and adopted by the National Assembly. The Assembly later recommended the candidates to the President, who then appointed them. Applicant, Corruption Watch, then applied directly to the Constitutional Court in terms of s 167(4)(e) of the Constitution for a declarator that the appointments were invalid (see [18]). Its case was that the Committee had failed to facilitate public involvement in the appointment process, as s 59(1)(a) of the Constitution required (see [21], [36]). Section 59 provides: '(1) The National Assembly must . . . (a) facilitate public involvement in the legislative and other processes of the Assembly and its committees; . . . .' The Constitutional Court held as follows: • Without access to a candidate's curriculum vitae, a member of the public would have insufficient information to meaningfully participate in the appointment process (see [54]). • The limited time made available to submit comments, in combination with the limited information provided, further impeded participation (see [63]). • And so did the word limit and the requirement that comments be made by way of the online form (see [64] – [65]). Direct access granted and declaration issued that Parliament had failed to comply with its constitutional obligation to facilitate reasonable public involvement in recommending persons to be appointed as members of the Commission. Declared, further, that the appointments that had been made were invalid, but that the declaration of invalidity would be suspended for 12 months to allow Parliament to conduct a fresh appointment process and for the President to appoint the individuals recommended by Parliament (see [77]).