State challenged over signal-blocking saga
IT’S ALL eyes on the Western Cape High Court for possible answers about the signal jamming and security operatives deployment during last month’s State of the Nation address in Parliament as one of the two related court hearings starts tomorrow.
This comes after Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday declined to answer questions in the House on the debacle until the court cases were finalised.
After initially taking the same stance, State Security Minister David Mahlobo changed his mind and answered questions – by maintaining the line set out last month: there was no executive decision to disrupt the signal and that what happened was due to human error.
On February 12, President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation address was first delayed when it became clear that cellphone signals had been blocked, and then when security operatives dressed in white shirts and black pants shoved and dragged EFF parliamentarians from the chamber.
This happened after EFF MPs stood up to raise points of order and privilege in a move that was unprecedented at a State of the Nation address, although the rules do not expressly forbid it.
Tomorrow sees the start of legal arguments in the case brought by the South African National Editors’ Forum, Primedia, Media24, the Right2 Know Campaign and the Open Democracy Centre.
On March 16, the DA’s lawyers will present legal arguments for an order to prevent a replay of security forces being called in to violently evict MPs from Parliament.
In court documents filed for tomorrow’s case, State Security Agency acting directorgeneral Sipho Peter Blose says “maximum security measures (were deployed) based on the risk and security assessment which was made based on the intelligence which was gathered”.
The signal jammers were part of the additional measures, which also included a no-fly zone over Parliament that day.
Blose says the operation plan was to use the jammers “up and until the stage when the deputy president and president had entered the chamber”, but the signal jammer in the chamber was not switched off due to an “operational error”.