Tension mounts ahead of Zuma Q&A

President Jacob Zuma File photo: Kopano Tlape

President Jacob Zuma File photo: Kopano Tlape

Published Mar 11, 2015

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Cape Town - Tension is building up in Parliament ahead of Wednesday afternoon’s reply by President Jacob Zuma to questions.

Opposition warned on Wednesday that proceedings would not get underway unless Zuma finishes outstanding questions from last August, when the EFF first disrupted the session in Parliament.

However, Parliament had earlier issued a set of questions that did not include Nkandla.

But the opposition says Zuma would not be allowed to jump questions and answer new ones before telling the nation when he is paying back a portion of the Nkandla funds.

Opposition parties were apparently attending an urgent caucus in Good Hope Chamber, in the Parliamentary precinct, to map strategies for the session this afternoon.

This will be Zuma’s first question and answer session with MPs since the aborted reply sitting in August last year.

From early this morning security has been tightened in the national legislature, with the Presidential security detail moving around precinct.

Parliament is implementing the same stringent security measures it applied during the disruption in the State of the Nation Address (Sona) last month.

The national legislature has been emboldened by the Western Cape High Court victory this week after the court rejected an urgent application by media houses and Right2Know Campaign for the streaming of all visual and audio feed uninterrupted.

The applicants were concerned that Parliament was cutting off the visuals and audio feed involving disruptive scenes, following the Sona events.

During the Sona EFF MPs were forcibly removed by security officials including the police when they refused to leave the House.

Police were criticised for using their members to undertake the operation.

Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko confirmed last month that police officers were part of the team that participated in the Sona operation, and that they wore white shirts and black trousers for operational reasons.

Following the events Parliament instituted stringent security measures requiring MPs and ordinary members of the public and staff to be subjected to thorough searches at all entry points.

The measures were employed after Speaker Baleka Mbete raised concern by statements by EFF chief whip Floyd Shivambu that next time they would bring guns inside the Chamber following a fracas with the police.

Political Bureau

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