Cape Town - A disciplinary committee should be established for errant MPs so their colleagues can pull them into line before a serious breach occurs, the parliamentary rules subcommittee decided on Tuesday.
Committee chairman Richard Mdakane stressed this disciplinary committee would be more a “peer review” where an errant MP could be represented by a fellow parliamentarian in non-adversarial proceedings.
This disciplinary committee – Parliament had one between 1994 and 1999 – would operate separately, and unlike the powers and privileges committee, which must investigate serious breaches and gross misconduct in a court-like procedure, including an initiator, charge sheets and witnesses.
The EFF called for a neutral chairperson after raising concerns that as parliamentary committee membership is allocated on party overall representation strength, the ANC dominated all committees. “We can’t deliver ourselves to an ANC member, who can happily send us to the gallows,” said EFF MP Sam Matiase, before Mdakane assured him the usual numerical allocations wouldn’t apply for this disciplinary committee.
The EFF, which has attended few of the rules sub-committee meetings, put up spirited but unsuccessful opposition to the adopting of the interim rules on evicting MPs from the House.
The rules were adopted as an interim measure in late July to deal with disruptions in the House allow presiding officers to order the removal of an unruly MP refusing to withdraw a statement and provide for the suspension of the relevant MP for at least five days.
On Tuesday, the rules sub-committee decided the interim rules would become permanent. This was despite a pending court case on these rules brought by EFF leader Julius Malema, who was the first to be ejected under these rules last month. At the end of a sitting, he refused to withdraw calling Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa a “murderer” in relation to the 2012 Marikana police killings.
Discussions on bias by, specifically, Speaker Baleka Mbete, who is also the ANC national chairwoman, were limited to these rules of removal, and new draft rules allowing the switching off of microphones on MPs’ benches.
No decisions were taken, despite the EFF’s extensive submission for a retired judge becoming the Speaker, due to a pending court case on Mbete’s impartiality brought by AgangSA, Cope and the UDM.
Thursday will see the rules committees of the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces join forces to discuss the politically prickly issue on rules to prevent disruptions at the State of the Nation address, which marks the opening of Parliament and the start of the parliamentary year. The new draft rules come in the wake of February’s chaos when the EFF caucus was forcibly removed by security men dressed in white shirts after the parliamentarians raised a slew of points of order and privilege.
The drafting of a rule to deal with a situation which arose in Parliament is cited by some political parties, such as the EFF, that the rules are being used to “suppress” and “oppress”.
Still outstanding are agreements on dress code, including the proposals banning construction gear – a reference to the EFF’s hardhats and overalls – and guidelines on motions to remove the president from office, effectively an impeachment requiring an investigation by a parliamentary committee and a two-thirds majority in the House.
Political Bureau