Parliament presiding officers led by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and the Chairperson of the National Council of Provinces, Amos Masondo, have welcomed Xolile George as the new Secretary to Parliament.
 
In a statement released today, it said  George brings a wealth of experience in intergovernmental relations, policy and legislation formulation, as well as in systems and programme development and implementation at local, provincial and national government levels. 
 
 "We are delighted to have Mr George joining us to help raise the bar in terms of our delivery on Parliament's three-legged-mandate of law-making, executive oversight and public participation. His assumption of duty will also help bring stability to the management echelons of Parliament. We are looking forward to his support as the Executive Authority in ensuring that Parliament lives up to the commitment of heightening activism to serve the people of South Africa with distinction," said the statement.
 
 The statement further added that, the Presiding Officers also expressed a "profound word of gratitude to Ms Penelope Baby Tyawa, who steered the ship with aplomb after taking over in an acting capacity five years ago". Ms Tyawa had contributed to building labour relations stability, increasing performance outputs of Parliament and achieving seven consecutive clean audit outcomes. Ms Tyawa will continue in her role as the Deputy Secretary for Support Services. 
 
 "We know that Parliament faces tough times including the declining resources and broader country economic headwinds. However, we trust that all internal and external stakeholders will throw their weight behind efforts to improve the overall capacity of Parliament in following up on all commitments made to the people and in ensuring that programmes for developing South Africa work better," concluded the statement