The "shock" court decision to nullify the current ANC leadership in KwaZulu-Natal forced the cancellation of some programmes in the legislature.
Among those cancelled was the agriculture portfolio Committee meeting.
As news filtered in about the court judgement, some MPLs started fielding calls on their phones and others made it clear they were leaving to be part of the for and against crowds that was growing outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
"We want today's meeting adjourned to another day because we are leaving now," said one portfolio committee member.
Even the attempts to reach a compromise by dealing with the priority matters fell on deaf ears.
Officials from the department of agriculture asked for the opportunity to address only the matters that were already very late and should come through to to portfolio committee but the MPLs were having none of that.
"Who are they (department officials) going to be addressing now because we are leaving? We would need time to interrogate what they have to say," retorted one MPL.
The acting chairperson of the committee resolved to cancel the meeting.
At 10.39 on Tuesday morning, the human settlement portfolio committee had just started.