Democracy was the biggest loser when the
ANC in the Western Cape Legislature disappointed me on Friday 20th
February 2015. Their disruptions took place less than 24 hours after the head
of state appealed to all to be calm, respect our democratic institutions and to
play the ball not the man.
The ANC clearly copied the EFF when
starting the sitting with a Point of Order, they also copied the EFF by trying
to make it as difficult as possible for the Speaker and for her to call in
security to remove members. It is clear parties entered the chamber with a plan.
While both parties made some blunders no
one really scored, but it is the ANC who looks like the biggest loser.
Whether intentional or not, EFF tactics
were copied disrupting a sitting of a democratic institution. This happened at
Parliament and now also at two provincial legislatures. While these actions
show after two decades our democracy is maturing, it also holds a threat as
soon municipal councillors will copy these disruptive tactics and try it during
their meetings – that would be a sad day for democracy as municipal councils
meet once a quarter and service delivery will suffer from this.
ANC Chief Whip, Pierre Uys, was within
his right to raise a point of order. His point of order was on an incident that occurred on December 4th,
2014 – where racist remarks were made by the Premier of the Western Cape and the Leader of the Official Opposition in the legislature, the Zille withdrew her remark, but Fransman refused. Speaker Sharna Fernandez responded to
Uys' Point of Order – which in all honesty, even though Uys put it in context,
felt like a statement.
Having said the above, I agree and feel
EFF MPL, Nazier Paulsen, gave a good summary in his response to the events: The Opposition's concerns are valid and nothing
prevents the Opposition from still referring the matter for judiciary inquiry
if the outcome is still unsatisfactory.
Why
the ANC disappointed me:
One should first admit that the ANC
MPL’s did not disrupt Premier Helen Zille’s State of the Province Address. The
ANC in the legislature did disrupt the house, that prevented the Premier from
delivering her State of the Province Address and that is why I’m disappointed as
it is the same party who condemned the Economic Freedom Fighters from
disrupting a Joint Sitting of Parliament when President Jacob Zuma, had to
deliver the State of the Nation Address.
While everyone in the province might not
have voted for the DA, all parties accepted the outcome and whether we like it
or not Helen Zille was re-elected to lead the province.
When the ANC announced their A-team in
June 2014 it said it wants to hold the DA accountable and see real
improvements. They failed on both objectives…
I would have loved to hear the premier
address the province in outlining what her government is planning to better the
lives of all.
The ANC MPLs should have allowed the
Premier to deliver her address, after the second adjournment and then hold the
DA government accountable on what was not achieved and also debate if the plans
will bring real improvement.
The Leader of the Opposition in the
House, disappointed me when he raised a point of order about a live feed and
what was more disappointing is that fellow MPLs supported his point by trying
the correct the Speaker that a live feed has been cut.
Anyone who follows SOPA would know (1) there
is no live feed to the TV and (2) the feed that goes from the House to the
Parliamentary channel goes via the National Legislature and is not operated by
the Western Cape Provincial Parliament. Marius Fransman and Pierre Uys should
have checked the facts before making themselves look bad.
A problem can only be addressed if you
admit there is one, same with racism – as it is still alive, not only in the
Western Cape but South Africa. Allow me my 5 seconds:
It is ironic that the ANC – the same
party who says the colourd vote is important – and have a march against racism in the province (a day before the State of
the Province Address), decided
to ‘attack’ a colourd lady - who has one of the most senior positions in the
province - and say she is not capable of being the presiding officer. And to make matters worse, a white male – who happens to be a
former member of the National Party started the attack.
As a footnote:
ANC
MPLs knew that ‘attacking’ and criticizing Premier Zille would not work and they
decided to go for the Speaker. In politics this is probably allowed but accusing her of acting
bias and partisan was not fair, given she asked the Chief Whip of the governing party to take
his seat and allowed the Chief Whip of the opposition to complete his points of
order.
So
she made a blunder or two and created room for the opposition to criticize, but
she tried to apply the rules, constitution and treated all members equal. To top it all she managed to keep her cool and not call the police for disruptive members.
The ANC had a point of order, but the
order of the day was never achieved.
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