Parly staff not ANC arm
I HAVE listened to commentators on radio and television and read newspaper and website articles on the recent happenings in parliament.
I also watched the media conference by parliament ’ s presiding officers on one of the television channels on Tuesday. But I haven ’ t heard anybody raise the issue of conflation of the state and the ruling party.
The installation of the jamming device in the National Assembly on the opening of parliament was done by staff who do not understand the difference between the ANC and the state – or they deliberately conflate the two.
The department of state security is responsible for the security of the country. It is not responsible for the security of one man, President Jacob Zuma, and the governing party.
That is why oversight bodies of intelligence agencies should include members from opposition parties and impartial people.
The governing party or head of state is not allowed to use any organ of state as his/her personal property. It is illegal and unconstitutional to do so.
By the same token, the police can ’ t be used by the governing party against members of parliament the way plain-clothes police officers were used to eject elected MPs from parliament.
Parliament staff turned the cameras away from the people who were assaulting the MPs ejected from the chamber. This is also illegal.
The footage shown on television screens and YouTube was captured on cellphones.
Parliament staff should understand that they are not an arm of the ANC but of the state.
The police officers who manhandled MPs should be identified individually and prosecuted because they are rogues. They will learn that next time they shouldn ’ t be used as a political ping-pong ball by Zuma and the ANC.
All political parties represented in parliament should come together and draft the ground rules on how police should get involved in situations of conflict.
Control of the police and other organs of state is not, and should not be, the prerogative of the head of state and the governing party.