Speaker Baleka Mbete again completely lost control of the National Assembly yesterday after she failed to enforce the rules of parliament regarding motions, and refused to allow members of the Economic Freedom Fighters to speak.
It took just 14 minutes for chaos to descend on the house yesterday, and only about 25 minutes before the first member of the EFF was suspended for disorderly conduct in a session characterised by shouting and disagreements.
The EFF yesterday brought a motion without notice in which they claimed because Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa was a Lonmin shareholder at the time of the Marikana massacre, there would be a conflict of interest in the presidency when it received the Marikana commission’s findings.
After the EFF read the notion, Mbete declared there had been a mistake in the “processing” of motions and that one “was not supposed to be put in”. When EFF members rose to debate the matter, saying it was not Mbete’s responsibility to judge the motions, she refused to recognise the
Mbete ordered MP Andile Mngxitama, who refused to take his seat, out of the house citing rule 51 which allows the speaker to remove any member who disobeys the chair or behaves in a disorderly manner.
But despite ordering him from the house at least 10 more times and calling on the Sergeant at Arms “to perform your duties”, he steadfastly remained in the house.
This is the second time in recent months that Mbete has lost control of the house, following the August 21 incident in which police were called in to remove EFF members chanting “Pay back the money”.
All 20 members have since been found guilty of contravening the rules of parliament by the powers and privileges committee.
President Jacob Zuma, who was answering questions at the time, has not returned to the National Assembly. Coincidentally, he was in parliament answering questions in the National Council of Provinces yesterday.
The DA’s Mike Waters attempted to calm the situation by citing the new rules around motions without notice, which allow for statements to be read “irrespective of the content” and should then be put to the floor. “If the ANC wanted to reject it, they could just object,” Waters said.
Shouts of “you have a problem with the EFF” and “you collapsed the house” rose from the EFF benches. They also brazenly challenged Mbete to call the police.
EFF members including Floyd Shivambu and Mbuyeseni Ndlozi, all tried to address the speaker, who refused to acknowledge them.
Shivambu, on being ordered to sit or face the same fate as his colleague, retorted “until such time as you recognise me Mngxitama goes nowhere”.
Unable to remove Mngxitama from the house, she ordered that he be suspended for five days.
Deputy Home Affairs Minister Fatima Chohan, accused of filming the incident on her cellphone, was let off with a slap on the wrist.
Waters said Chohan had been seen filming the incident, against the rules of the house, to which Mbete replied “I’ll have that issue followed up”.
“If proceedings were recorded, I would like you to delete that now,” she told Chohan.
Mngxitama defiantly remained in the house, even after his suspension, potentially making him the first MP to ever do so.
He remained in the National Assembly complaining that police were filming Members of Parliament and gathering “intelligence” even though Mbete refused to acknowledge him, stating “he is here by defiance”
Order was eventually restored and the business of the house continued, Mngxitama still in his seat.
Parliament in shambles again
It took just 14 minutes for chaos to descend on the house yesterday, and only about 25 minutes before the first member of the EFF was suspended for disorderly conduct in a session characterised by shouting and disagreements.
The EFF yesterday brought a motion without notice in which they claimed because Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa was a Lonmin shareholder at the time of the Marikana massacre, there would be a conflict of interest in the presidency when it received the Marikana commission’s findings.
After the EFF read the notion, Mbete declared there had been a mistake in the “processing” of motions and that one “was not supposed to be put in”. When EFF members rose to debate the matter, saying it was not Mbete’s responsibility to judge the motions, she refused to recognise the
Mbete ordered MP Andile Mngxitama, who refused to take his seat, out of the house citing rule 51 which allows the speaker to remove any member who disobeys the chair or behaves in a disorderly manner.
But despite ordering him from the house at least 10 more times and calling on the Sergeant at Arms “to perform your duties”, he steadfastly remained in the house.
This is the second time in recent months that Mbete has lost control of the house, following the August 21 incident in which police were called in to remove EFF members chanting “Pay back the money”.
All 20 members have since been found guilty of contravening the rules of parliament by the powers and privileges committee.
President Jacob Zuma, who was answering questions at the time, has not returned to the National Assembly. Coincidentally, he was in parliament answering questions in the National Council of Provinces yesterday.
The DA’s Mike Waters attempted to calm the situation by citing the new rules around motions without notice, which allow for statements to be read “irrespective of the content” and should then be put to the floor. “If the ANC wanted to reject it, they could just object,” Waters said.
Shouts of “you have a problem with the EFF” and “you collapsed the house” rose from the EFF benches. They also brazenly challenged Mbete to call the police.
EFF members including Floyd Shivambu and Mbuyeseni Ndlozi, all tried to address the speaker, who refused to acknowledge them.
Shivambu, on being ordered to sit or face the same fate as his colleague, retorted “until such time as you recognise me Mngxitama goes nowhere”.
Unable to remove Mngxitama from the house, she ordered that he be suspended for five days.
Deputy Home Affairs Minister Fatima Chohan, accused of filming the incident on her cellphone, was let off with a slap on the wrist.
Waters said Chohan had been seen filming the incident, against the rules of the house, to which Mbete replied “I’ll have that issue followed up”.
“If proceedings were recorded, I would like you to delete that now,” she told Chohan.
Mngxitama defiantly remained in the house, even after his suspension, potentially making him the first MP to ever do so.
He remained in the National Assembly complaining that police were filming Members of Parliament and gathering “intelligence” even though Mbete refused to acknowledge him, stating “he is here by defiance”
Order was eventually restored and the business of the house continued, Mngxitama still in his seat.
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