parliament – praag.org

Lazy MP’s get the finger

South Africa’s Parliament has embraced technology to keep tabs on lazy MPs.

The National Assembly’s 400 members and National Council of Provinces’ 90 delegates make up the Members of Parliament who represent South Africans.

Parliament has now installed biometric finger scanners to record when these politicians pitch up for sittings.

The new biometric system replaces the old one where MPs signed a piece of paper and put it into a box to be counted manually.

But some opposition members say while parliament can now quickly and accurately record MPs attendance, it’s still up to the party’s chief whips to censure absent MPs.

US, EU companies say ANC legislation a cause for concern

European and US businesses with operations based in South Africa said legislation coming from the ANC was a cause for concern.

The compulsory black ownership element in the new broad-based black economic empowerment codes were weighing on US companies in SA.

American Chamber of Commerce SA executive director Carol O’Brien said they were struggling with compliance, given that their parent companies in the US did not “sell off ownership”.

O’Brien said the Private Security Industry Regulation Amendment Bill, the Promotion and Protection of Investment Bill, the intellectual property policy paper and the Expropriation Bill were some of the other proposed laws alarming investors.

The French ambassador, Elisabeth Barbier, echoed her sentiments and said French businesses are worried about their investments too.

The American chamber represents 250 of the 600 US companies with operations in SA, such as General Electric and Google. A 2012 survey showed the 89 chamber members that participated invested R278bn in SA.

President Jacob Zuma’s announcement in his state of the nation address that foreigners would be limited to owning a certain amount of land was worrying, said O’Brien.

The Americans however welcomed Zuma’s decision to refer the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill back to Parliament. He cited inadequate public consultation as the reason.

High tea leads to mayhem in parliament

The MSM had been buzzing about their latest pompous American acronym, SONA, for weeks, but it seems that parliamentarians under the influence of High Tea, celebrated a rather classless opening of the once august institution.

Proceedings got off to a rocky start with MPs demanding to know why the cellphone signals were jammed in the National Assembly.

Last night eventually saw one parliamentarian with nearly all his clothes removed by a bouncer. A female EFF MP Reneilwe Mashabela’s jaw was broken in the fracas to impress democratic voters and she had to be admitted to a (private) hospital.

The Economic Freedom Fighters had warned that they would disrupt the proceedings with interjections about security upgrades to Zuma’s Nkandla homestead in KwaZulu-Natal, and they did not disappoint. The president hadn’t been on the podium for long when an EFF MP Godrich Gardee interrupted and chaos ensued.

Big Business had aquiesced to president Zuma’s request earlier to cut power usage to keep televisions on in every home, enabling all to stay abreast of the current political entertainment from Cape Town, home of parliament and drug capital of South Africa.

“The events that unfolded before our eyes were aimed at bringing our democracy into serious disrepute,” Minister in the ANC Presidency Jeff Radebe admitted to reporters.

Neither the Speaker Baleka Mbete nor ignominious pig farmer Thandi Modise would allow any questions. A group of armed police and private security guards were called in to spoil for a fight.

In a show of solidarity with the EFF, DA MPs, all clad in black, then resorted to more melodrama and left the chamber too. They theatrically claimed to be too hurt to listen to the state of the nation following the forceful removal of EFF MPs by either armed security personnel or police.

The EFF promised that they would bring weapons to parliament next time, timeslive reported. “We were obviously pushed around. Next time we will be armed,” EFF-deputy Floyd Shivambu said.

During his speech, Zuma announced that the government would train “fifteen thousand plumbers to fix leaking taps in townships” but nary a peep about illegal electricity connections, causing billions to leak from the state budget.

It seems that Shell’s shale gas project in the Karoo will go ahead, despite fierce opposition from almost everyone not on their kickback list.

FW de Klerk, who together with Nelson Mandela, made this all possible by handing over power to the ANC, also attended the special session, and to everyone’s great surprise, remarked: “South Africa is heading for constitutional crisis mode. I have never seen such a thing.”

Most adherents of political parties that had warned De Klerk of the impending doom, still languish in prison today as forgotten political prisoners, having never received amnesty from the equally farcical Thruth and Reconciliation Commission.

Malema mulling an armed struggle

The Economic Freedom Fighters may take up arms if their “peaceful revolution” is met with violence from the state, party leader Julius Malema said on Thursday.

“We can’t rule out the possibility of an armed struggle if the state is going to meet peaceful protest with violence,” he said in a pre-recorded interview aired on SAfm radio.

“We would not do anything which seeks to compromise the 1994 breakthrough and it all depends on how the state responds to the radical demands of our people.”

He hoped the ruling party would not be tempted to adopt “apartheid tactics” when faced with serious pressure.

Malema told the radio station there was no need for a “military response” from the state, when clearly he is mulling taking up arms.

“In the Parliament, the freedom of speech and expression is unlimited. It is absolute and you need to live with that.

“All of you must begin to accept that we are exercising our rights to the limit and therefore we are not going to conduct ourselves in a manner defined by the middle class which has always hated us. It will never vote for us.”

The EFF is hoping that incitement against the “middle class”, a euphemism for whites, will lead to anarchy and revolution that would bring “hope to the working class and eliminate poverty”.

Meanwhile the EFF Commmander in Chief this week indulged in a twitter war after he was spotted wearing a black Louis Vuitton belt.

This is not the first time he’s tweaked the workers’ overall he wears to parliament with exorbitantly expensive clothing and accessories, while demanding “social justice” and “economic freedom”.

The pauper also wears a Breitling watch valued at R250 000.

Hundreds in Cape Town march against coup in Egypt

Hundreds of people, who have marched on Parliament in Cape Town to protest against the ousting of Egyptian President, Mohamed Morsi, have dispersed after handing over a memorandum to a member of the Committee for International Relations.

The protesters marched to parliament in Cape Town today condemning what they called “illegitimate military rulers who are trying to silence the voices of peaceful protesters in Egypt”.

Some Capetonians who were present at a demonstration organised by the Muslim Judicial Council support the council’s view that Morsi’s ousting undermines democracy.

Secretary General of the MJC, Abdul-Khaliq Ebrahim Allie has described the events taking place in Egypt as “unacceptable.”

“We are speaking as fellow South Africans who have enjoyed democracy, South Africans that have seen apartheid. What we see and witness in Egypt today is unacceptable. And as fellow South Africans, we are saying to the Egyptians that we stand with the masses who have elected the first democratically elected government. This we regard as a military coup.”

Some said the MJC did not speak on behalf of Egyptians.

“I’m an Egyptian citizen living in South Africa. I really love and appreciate the freedom in this country. They have changed the Constitution in Egypt. They want us to go backwards again. They don’t want us to be a prosperous country. Besides the fact that I’m an Egyptian, this violates everything to do with Human Rights, and we are here to show our support for the Muslim brothers and sisters who are being killed in Egypt for the mere fact that they stood up against oppression and injustice.”

Meanwhile, an Egyptian court has ordered the release of former President Hosni Mubarak. Security sources say he will leave prison later in the day as there are no longer any legal grounds for his detention.

85-year old Mubarak was being retried on charges of ordering the killing of protesters during the 2011 uprising that led to his downfall. Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison last year for failing to prevent the killing of demonstrators.

Pieter Mulder asks for parliamentary debate on affirmative action

Dr. Pieter Mulder, leader of the Freedom Front Plus, yesterday asked for an urgent parliamentary debate on affirmative action to be held in Parliament.

According to Dr. Mulder, affirmative action is the basis of the South African government’s policy initiatives to correct inequalities in the country’s community.

Dissatisfaction regarding the controversial policy has however spread to such an extent that it is at present the subject of intense discussions and even court cases.

“I have for these reasons requested that a parliamentary debate on affirmative action, and in particular about the manner in which the department of correctional services enforces it, is held as soon as possible as a matter of national importance,” Dr. Mulder says

Statements about Mazibuko’s weight, ‘darkies’, ‘clowns’ withdrawn in SA parliament

DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko, 'a person of considerable weight but no stature' — DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko, ‘a person of considerable weight but no stature’

Senior ANC MP John Jeffery formally withdrew his controversial remark about DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko’s weight and apologised to her on Tuesday.

He did so after deputy speaker Nomaindia Mfeketo ruled emphatically that the comment was unparliamentary.

“In the past, many rulings were made on remarks regarding members’ physical appearance, and these have always been found to be insensitive, offensive and a violation of a member’s dignity,” she said.

“I have no intention to depart from this precedent, and I accordingly find that remark not only insensitive, but unparliamentary. It is indeed the responsibility of every one of us to ensure that we exercise the right to freedom of speech in a considerate and responsible manner.”

Jeffery then rose and said: “I withdraw, and I would also like to take the opportunity to apologise. The statement was not intended to be sexist.”

Last week, during the debate on the presidency’s budget vote, Jeffery said: “While the honourable Mazibuko may be a person of substantial weight, her stature is questionable.”

The Democratic Alliance subsequently called on African National Congress chief whip Mathole Motshekga to discipline Jeffery, and fellow ANC MP Buti Manamela, who had criticised Mazibuko’s dress.

The ANC said Jeffery would withdraw his remark, but that Manamela would not be ordered to do the same as the party agreed she was dressed inappropriately.

Mfeketo’s ruling came after Speaker Max Sisulu ruled other recent remarks describing MPs as racist, “clowns” and “darkies” out of order, and appealed to members to choose their words carefully.

“Remarks of a personal, racist or sexist nature are out of order, completely out of order. I therefore appeal to members, as public representatives, to refrain from course, uncouth, or unbecoming language that detracts from the dignity or decorum of the house.” – Sapa