Parliament - President Jacob Zuma is expected to take to the National Assembly podium for his fourth question-and-answer session for the year in what’s expected to be a tense sitting on Thursday.
The Q&A session takes place a week after the National Assembly approved a set of temporary changes to its rule book which would allow for the physical removal of MPs by members of the parliamentary protection services.
Zuma’s last Q&A in June was cancelled when Economic Freedom Fighters MPs refused to let him speak, unless it was to answer questions on when he was going to pay back a portion of the R246 million spent on his private Nkandla homestead.
That question, posed by EFF leader Julius Malema, is back on the agenda on Thursday.
It’s the last of six questions posed by MPs according to parliamentary papers.
It’s unclear whether EFF MPs will wait until all the other questions are dealt with before demanding answers it deems satisfactory on the Nkandla debacle.
According to the new rules, if MPs refuse to obey Speaker Baleka Mbete or one of the other presiding officers, and refuse to leave the chamber when ordered to do so – which has become common occurrence during sittings – they could be hauled out of the chamber by members.
It was passed last Thursday, with only the EFF opposing the rule changes.
ANA