A volatile sitting of the national assembly ended in tears, with fist flying as the court ordered the police to drag the economic freedom fighter Ngwanamakwetle Mashabela out of the chamber last week night, after she labelled president Jacob Zuma a thief and criminal during a debate...
Four opposition MPs were injured in the scuffle, but it is the integrity and image of Parliament that seems permanently dented in the eyes of ordinary South Africans.
The presence of police in the chamber, while the House is in session, is a violation of the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act, which prohibits the police from being in Parliament unless they have been instructed by the speaker, her deputy or any other of the presiding officers.
Section 58 of Constitution prohibits arrests, criminal or civil procedure on MPs for what they say in Parliament. It is not clear who called the police.
Mashabela was delivering her speech in a debate about the Treaty on the Grand Inga Hydropower project. In it, she repeatedly referred to Zuma as a thief.
“President Zuma is a thief. He is a criminal. He is the greatest thief in the world,” said Mashabela. ANC MP and house chairperson, Cedric Frolick, who was presiding over the session ordered Mashabela to withdraw her comments about Zuma after her refusal to withdraw, he ordered her to leave the House.
he mentioned media reports about Zuma’s role in getting Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila to award business to Zuma’s nephew Khulubuse.
She said this was worrying and asked: “How much will he [Zuma] benefit as he did in the arms deal from this treaty?” The EFF was tired of funding “Zuma the thief, the criminal who refuses to pay a cent [in Nkandla]”.
ANC MP Mandla Mandela, rising on a point of order, objected to Zuma being labeled a thief and asked Frolick to instruct Mashabela to withdraw that comment.
“The president of the ANC is the greatest thief in the world, I am not going to withdraw. He is a criminal. Everybody in South Africa knows that Zuma is a thief,” she insisted.
When instructed to leave the podium and the House, she refused.
The sergeant-at-arms, Regina Muhlomi was called to remove Mashabela, but when she failed a group of parliamentary security personnel could be seen approaching Mashabela who repeatedly told them “not to touch me”.
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