Cape Town - Speaker Thandi Modise has stuck to her guns and refused a request by opposition parties to turn the State of the Nation Address into another family meeting by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Opposition parties had told Modise and other presiding officers on Thursday there was no point in hosting a SONA this year due to the pandemic, but Ramaphosa should address the nation virtually, as he has done with his announcements on restrictions during Covid-19.
They said there was no need for Ramaphosa or any MP to be physically present in Parliament on February 11 for the SONA, but they wanted a “family meeting” style gathering.
The opposition insisted that a virtual sitting of the SONA would do.
But Modise rejected the proposal of a virtual SONA, saying while there will be 50 MPs inside the Chamber the other members of Parliament will oversee the proceedings virtually.
She said despite the fact that there would be no pomp and ceremony this year, they would need some of the people in the Chamber, including Ramaphosa.
She said Ramaphosa would not arrive in the House in the usual SONA style where he walks on the red carpet from the gate at the bottom of Parliament up to the Chamber.
The DA and EFF also said they did not take kindly to Modise announcing details of the SONA to the media this week, before finalising everything with the chief whips of parties.
But she dismissed this, saying there was nothing wrong with it.
“I want to continue to have issues where, firstly I can talk to the chief whips forum, I can invite some leaders of parties to put matters and to discuss matters. In this instance, I think we must remember that the president wrote to us. It was the end of last year. Since the democratic Parliament there has been a SONA at the beginning of the year. That meeting happened at the instance of the president,” said Modise.
“The statement that says ‘if the ANC wants to go to the House and clap for their president they can do so’ is really not in order because it is not the reason why people go (to Parliament). SONA brings together only once a year all arms of the state under one roof. It doesn’t focus only on these three arms. It looks at the nation, it talks to the international community. What we have done this year is to say there will be absolutely no frills. None. That the President will walk from his office to the Chamber. That’s it,” said Modise.
She said they would stick to the maximum of 50 people in the Chamber.
But Modise said if the opposition decided to follow the proceedings virtually, they were allowed to do so.
ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina had also earlier rejected calls by opposition parties to stop the SONA, saying it was an important programme for the year.
Political Bureau