Protestors kept out of parliament

Parliamentary business went ahead yesterday under heavy police presence.

Striking Nehawu staff were locked out of parliament yesterday, after having brought parliament to a standstill on Tuesday by occupying the National Assembly chamber.

Strikers however gathered at the gates with Nehawu branch chair S’thembiso Tembe telling them they did not need to be inside the precinct in order to protest.

An unprecedented number of police officers were stationed at the gates and at the doors of the National Assembly while dozens of police vehicles lined the streets outside parliament.

Despite protests from the EFF, who said it was not “business as usual” and the police presence in the house harked back to a “state of emergency”, the National Assembly went ahead with its programme yesterday.

On the agenda were budget-related debates on the Finance Bill and the New Development Bank (Brics) Special Appropriation Bill and a statement by Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa on climate change.

The DA’s John Steenhuisen however raised concern that business was going ahead with a closed public gallery.

He said that while it was closed as a result of protest action, it created a “dangerous precedent”.

The EFF’s Godrich Gardee said that parliament was conducting itself unconstitutionally and “inviting crisis after crisis”.

Deputy chief whip of the ANC Doris Dlakude, however, said the gallery had not been closed, and parliamentary staff had been instructed to deal with the matter.