Stamp out thuggery

DIGNITY and respect go hand in hand – but it’s also true that if you lose the one, you invariably lose the other. This has proved to be especially true of Parliament.

Ever since the EFF disrupted President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation address (Sona) two years ago, and were ejected from the National Assembly by a security contingent, the dignity of Parliament has been impaired with sad regularity. At the beginning of the year, the EFF again disrupted Sona.

And much more recently, Andile Mngxitama, of the Black First Land First movement, almost came to blows with Yunus Carrim, co-chair of a joint sitting of the parliamentary committee of trade and industry and the committee of finance.

Yesterday, chaos again broke out in the National Assembly when Sifiso Mtsweni, newly appointed chairperson of the National Youth Development Agency (NYDA), refused to leave the public gallery when instructed to do so.

He had been accused of making threatening, slitting-the-throat gestures at opposition MPs. EFF MP Natasha Louw told presiding officer Nomalungelo Gina that if EFF members had been involved, the protection officers would have forcibly thrown them out. Drastic action needs to be taken to ensure that MPs, as well as visitors in the public gallery, respect the dignity of Parliament.

Mtsweni’s behaviour should be investigated – and if the allegations against him are true, moves should be set in motion to remove him as head of the NYDA. He is meant to promote the interests of all the youth, including those in opposition parties.

Mtsweni’s thuggish behaviour also reflects badly on President Jacob Zuma, who chose him to lead such a vital body as the NYDA, ignoring the previous head, Yershen Pillay, to the dismay of his alliance partners.

Those who do not know how to behave should be hit where it hurts most – in their pockets. The notion of permanent expulsion from Parliament should also be investigated.

If this is the best way to stop some MPs and visitors from treating our Parliament like a cheap bar in a dodgy part of town, then so be it.