Point of disorder as Mbete cracks the party whip
A CLIMATE of fear and loathing is slowly tightening its cold grip on parliament as the arrival of young and feisty MPs rattles the ANC’s old guard.
Since the two presiding officers — Speaker Baleka Mbete in the National Assembly and chairwoman Thandi Modise in the National Council of Provinces — took charge in June, they have found the going tough.
Fresh examples of an increasingly security-minded approach emerge almost every week.
Some examples will appear insignificant in isolation, but the voting public might want to think about their cumulative effect on the laws and budgets that affect their lives.
Two incidents this week come to mind.
In the first, Mbete plunged the House into chaos when she again lost her cool as Speaker and failed to follow the rules of the chamber.
After the tabling of a motion without notice by the Economic Freedom Fighters, who have proved to be a thorn in her side, Mbete lost composure to such an extent that she would not allow anyone but herself to speak.
Her loathing for the EFF, especially of its MPs Floyd Shivambu and Andile Mngxitama, was there for all to see as she shouted, ranted and raved, ignoring all efforts at intervention from governing and opposition parties alike.
But when Deputy Home Affairs Minister Fatima Chohan apparently ignored the rules of parliament by recording EFF MPs with her phone, Mbete gave her only the slightest of reprimands — doing nothing to dispel opposition allegations of bias.
Mbete gives credence to the growing impression that some in the ANC are treating the opposition with disdain in this fifth democratic parliament.
The lowest ebb of this behaviour thus far might have been reached on August 21 (Pay Back the Money Day), but it has been evident, too, in the Nkandla committee, the powers and privileges committee, the chief whips’ forum and the energy committee, to name but a few.
It is becoming the unhappy norm for opposition MPs to walk out of committees in protest against what they say is the biased chairing of meetings by the ANC.
A walkout makes headlines, but it is a self-defeating and unimaginative political strategy that does not serve the interests of the opposition voter, whose views cannot be represented by the absent.
Walkouts are, however, proof of the growing mutual distrust between the ANC and the opposition.
Since August 21, the heightened security at parliament, which had always boasted about its accessibility, has become a prominent issue.
Parliamentary staff are also feeling the tight leash of the UNRULY: National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete ranted and raved this week new leadership. Officials tell stories about how their leaders threaten to deal harshly with those found to have leaked documents and discussions on the business of parliament into the public domain.
Evidence of this trend is contained in the interim communication strategy of the new parliament, which has listed a clampdown on media leaks as one of its priorities.
The contingent of police deployed as security at the legislature has increased.
On Thursday, the institution had to issue a public apology after members of President Jacob Zuma’s security detail prevented the free movement of journalists and parliamentary officials in the public gallery during his annual address to the National Council of Provinces.
His address was otherwise a
Mbete lost composure to such an extent that she would not allow anyone but herself to speak
dull affair, with the president dishing out statistics on the achievements of his government over the past 20 years and closing the debate that followed his speech with an equally lacklustre rebuttal.
Opposition MPs claimed openly that he had taken refuge in the National Council of Provinces to hide from probing questions in the more vibrant National Assembly.
It is clear as day: the president is running scared. He will not go to the National Assembly until those pesky EFF MPs are dealt with.
The ANC had a first go at ensuring just that when the EFF core leadership was suspended without pay.
The process that led to that outcome is likely to be challenged in court, which would be yet more evidence of the inability of many of our MPs to solve issues in a manner befitting the so-called leaders of the nation.