Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe yesterday appealed to MPs to “find their moral compass” and help restore decorum in Parliament.
Opening the debate on President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation Address (Sona), Radebe described last week’s fist fights between EFF MPs and members of the parliamentary protection services as “highly regrettable”.
“The members of this House must pride themselves in their excellent service to the people of this country,” he said, asking MPs to put South Africans before their political aspirations.
“The time has come for all of us to restore the dignity and decorum of this prestigious House.”
Radebe bemoaned the fact that a 12-year-old praise singer was “drowned out by heckling and jeering adults who are supposed to be leaders of South African society”, while also speaking out against profanities “spewed in this House with reckless abandon”.
Before he took to the podium, Speaker Baleka Mbete reported back to MPs on several concerns raised by MPs during last week’s Sona.
Mbete said the violent removal of the EFF MPs had been referred to the joint rules committee of Parliament for processing.
The release of a “powdery substance” in the public gallery, which affected both guests and MPs, was also under investigation, she said.
“The item was retrieved and handed to relative authorities for testing,” said Mbete.
“We confirm however that is was not tear gas or pepper spray.”
She said the “small packet” was retrieved, and Parliament was still awaiting the outcome of tests to determine what the substance was.
EFF leader Julius Malema’s concerns that Parliament’s protection officers were intending to use cable ties to restrain his party’s MPs was referred to the police for investigation, Mbete said.
She chided MPs who were heard shouting profanities as the drama unfolded during the Sona, saying it “sets a bad example to the nation”, but said it was difficult to name these MPs as the expletives were not uttered into the microphone.
The use of force against the EFF turned the Sona into an assault on the nation reminiscent of the apartheid regime and Zuma into the enemy of the people, DA leader Mmusi Maimane said yesterday.
Borrowing from George Orwell to reflect on the brutality of a boot kicking the face of female MP, Maimane said the police, never mind scores of riot police, had no place in Parliament in a democracy.
United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa wants to eradicate provinces because they are “glorified homelands”.
Participating in the debate on Zuma’s Sona, he said the government should take control of provinces and rather capacitate municipalities.
“With regard to provincial governments, the question is do we really need these glorified homelands? We should rather strengthen the local sphere of government and let national government take control,” Holomisa said.