Hansard is the official verbatim record of parliamentary proceedings in most Commonwealth countries, South Africa included.

Hansard is named after Luke Hansard [1752-1828], the British printer who started compiling these reports in the 18th century. It is believed that his descendents continued producing Hansard reports after his death.

Today parliaments in countries like Canada, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Jamaica, Swaziland and Australia, to name but a few, all have Hansard sections. The work of these sections or services is to compile and publish the Hansard reports.

The Hansard editors have organised themselves into a body known as the Commonwealth Hansard Editors Association – CHEA for short. In addition, Hansard editors in the various regions have organised themselves into regional bodies like the CHEA Africa Region.

In South Africa Hansard is published on Parliament’s website, as well as in the form of hardbound volumes. It is published in any of the country’s official languages. Hansard debates transcribed in languages other than English are immediately followed by an English translation. The long-term plan is to translate Hansard into all official languages.

The Importance of Hansard
The most obvious importance of this publication is that it is an official record of proceedings in our Parliament. The rules of Parliament make it compulsory to keep a Hansard record.

Furthermore, our courts now regard this record as full proof of what was said in any of the Houses of Parliament at a specific time.

Finally, Hansard facilitates communication between members of the public and their elected representatives, in that the public is able to access these proceedings via Hansard. This publication is particularly useful in that, unlike newspapers, which tend to publish highlights and only what they consider “newsworthy”, Hansard publishes everything that was said in Parliament, even if it might be of interest only to some obscure community in a far-flung rural area.

The South African Hansard report can be accessed on our Parliament’s website. Click here to access it now. In addition, Hansard bound volumes can be found at all state libraries.