This morning, 2 November 2022, the Western Cape Provincial Parliament (WCPP) signed a Memorandum of Intention with the Bavarian State Parliament in the WCPP Chamber.
It is the first Memorandum of Intention that the Western Cape Provincial Parliament and the Bavarian State Parliament have signed. The Memorandum of Intention seeks to avail opportunities for the two institutions to exchange experiences on parliamentary best practices, share knowledge on matters of capacity building of Members of Parliament and staff, cooperation between parliamentary standing committees and research methodologies for parliamentary purposes.
Since 1995 the Western Cape and the Free State of Bavaria have maintained very close relations. Contacts between the Bavarian State Parliament and Western Cape have existed since 2013, when the Presidium visited the province for the first time. Since then, a variety of regular visits and exchanges have taken place at a working level, covering the topics of social affairs and education, security, renewable energy, climate change and digitisation. In 2017, a delegation from the Western Cape Provincial Parliament visited the Bavarian State Parliament.
In his keynote address, the Speaker of the WCPP, Honourable Masizole Mnqasela said “When I took office in 2019 after my election as Speaker, I prioritised international alignment and partnerships with other parliaments as a key objective for this institution and the formalisation of this partnership today is certainly a highlight of my term of office thus far.”
The President of the Bavarian State Parliament, Honourable Ilse Aigner said: “At a time when totalitarian states are attempting to form a network of sympathisers – on the African continent in particular – an exchange with a community which shares democratic values is very important – not just at the national level, but especially at the regional parliamentary level. Our visit is an important symbol for international cooperation between democratic institutions.”
