Johannesburg - ANC MPs have shielded national police chief General Riah Phiyega from a grilling from parliamentarians over the use of police officers to eject EFF MPs from the chamber last Thursday.
ANC members of the portfolio committee on police on Wednesday blocked any questions from the DA, Freedom Front Plus and EFF MPs on the events that unfolded in the National Assembly during President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address (SONA).
Angie Molebatsi and Leonard Ramatlakane, both of the ANC, said the programme was too packed to accommodate the discussion on the events of last week.
This was backed by committee chairman Francois Beukman, who said the fracas during the Sona would be discussed at a later date.
Ramatlakane said a separate day to discuss the matter would be better than ramming it through the packed programme for the day.
Beukman said the agenda for the day was lax security at the country’s borders in Mpumalanga and rhino poaching.
But the explanation left opposition MPs incensed.
DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard said she was baffled by the decision to prevent Phiyega and her team from explaining the use of officers to “invade” Parliament.
She said it was on the front pages of newspapers every day for the past week and investors were anxious.
An explanation was needed by Parliament and its members, said the DA MP.
“Surely we have to discuss this? I understand what your instructions were and that we have a jam-packed agenda.
“Are we going to sit and discuss the rhinos and cars? Surely not,” said Kohler Barnard.
She added that DA members were sprayed with water cannons by the police outside Parliament during the Sona, and EFF MPs were attacked by police officers in white shirts and black trousers.
Pieter Groenewald of the FF Plus also protested at the committee chairman’s decision to stop the national police chief from giving reasons for the use of police last Thursday.
He said the committee could be flexible and accommodate the issue on the agenda.
But Beukman said that despite the full programme, there was a parliamentary process under way as well as a legal route that had been taken.
This was in reference to the jamming of cellphone signals in the House and the subsequent legal action that media houses took this week.
The matter was adjourned until Thursday.
Beukman said that in the coming days, they would be discussing the police’s budget and could use that opportunity to slot in the item on the agenda.
Parliament and the police have been under fire in the past seven days following the use of police officers in the House.
The opposition insists that parliamentary protection staff should be the only security allowed inside the chamber if there is any trouble.
The Star