DA, EFF ANARCHY IN THE HOUSE TODAY You The Office of the ANC Chief Whip deplores the rowdiness and general chaos deliberately perpetrated by members of several opposition parties during this afternoon’s sitting of the National Assembly. We are disappointed and concerned by the degeneration of the decorum of the august House of Parliament, caused by the perpetual disregard for the rules of the House and the rulings of the Speaker. The appropriate intervention by the Speaker in today’s sitting, which was duly made firmly in line with the rules, was intended to assist the course of proceedings and ensure the House is able to sufficiently fulfil its programme today. The ruling by the Speaker that the item on ‘motions without notice’ on the programme be shifted towards the end of the programme would have assisted the House to prioritise the most important items on the agenda given today’s lengthy programme. The most pressing items on the agenda, notably the ad hoc committee report on security upgrades at the President’s residence and consideration of budget review & recommendation reports of all departments, are extremely lengthy in nature and thus deserve priority. In terms of the longstanding practice, the motions may be shifted or deferred due to their less important nature when there are more important items on the agenda. It is in this regard that we recognise the Speaker’s noble intervention to ensure that the ad hoc committee report and budget review & recommendation reports are not only given priority but are afforded sufficient time. It is thus regrettable that, instead of appreciating such sound programmatic measure, the opposition greeted it with rowdiness and chaos. Such ill-informed reading of the rules and unprovoked antagonism is outrageous. Having howled at the logical measure of prioritising these important items of the agenda, the opposition proceeded to resort to filibustering tactics by engaging in an extended presentation of motions based on insignificant and petty topics. Some of the ridiculous and time-wasting motions proposed related to “a debate on the verbal diarrhoea in the House”. This prolonged presentation of motions by the DA and EFF MPs, which lasted for approximately three hours instead of the standard 15 minutes, is a blatant abuse of rules and does nothing to enhance this institution’s integrity and its constitutional function. It is clear that the motive behind this unwarranted and unnecessary delay was to frustrate the critical debate on the ad hoc committee report. It is tantamount to holding this Parliament and the entire South African public to ransom. We condemn this deliberate and misguided obstruction to the business of Parliament. ISSUED BY THE OFFIC OF THE ANC CHIEF WHIP Enquiries: Moloto Mothapo 082 370 6930
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 17:31:43 +0000
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