NEWS ANALYSIS: Local polls will stir incendiary tensions in Parliament
by Troye Lund,
2016-01-05 06:15:44.0
PARLIAMENT was the theatre of political histrionics in the past year, and the opposition is bound to up the ante as local government polls take place this year.
The opposition is likely to seize on resistance against the Promotion and Protection of Investment Bill, the Expropriation Bill, and the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill, all of which have caused consternation, but have been fiercely defended by the African National Congress (ANC).
The governing party stood firm on these bills including the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, even though it puts the ANC at loggerheads with alliance partner the Congress of South African Trade Unions.
President Jacob Zuma has declared that SA is open for business, but the Democratic Alliance (DA), the United Democratic Movement and the Inkatha Freedom Party believe the controversial bills will choke off investment to SA.
Parliament opened on a dramatic note last February, when government spooks jammed the cellphone signal ahead of Mr Zuma’s State of the Nation address, which was in turn disrupted by a punch-up between the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the police, and a DA walkout.
This brand of political drama played out throughout the year, while the signal jamming marked the beginning of a year defined by heightened surveillance and paranoia in Parliament. The High Court in Cape Town later ruled that MPs have special protections and cannot be arrested for what they say in the chamber.
The court was approached by the EFF, whose MPs refused to withdraw unflattering remarks about Mr Zuma during his State of the Nation address. The tensions in Parliament magnified how problematic it can be to hold the ANC’s majority to accountability.
The opposition will keep tabs on whether Mr Zuma makes a cameo in Parliament to answer questions every quarter as required by the Constitution. However, his nonanswers and trademark giggle will not suffice in an election year.
The ANC’s parliamentary majority will do little to cushion the president from the electorate’s wrath.
Parliamentary presiding officers Baleka Mbete, the ANC chairwoman, and Thandi Modise did not cover themselves in much glory either in conducting the business of the House. The courts found that the presiding officers had a skewed understanding of parliamentary rules and interpreted them in a manner favourable to their party bosses.
This year, proceedings will be even tougher for them.
In a year in which political irony was in no short supply, the ANC had to abandon its attempt to secure a two-thirds majority in June to appoint ANC MP Cecil Burgess as the new inspector-general of intelligence as too few of the party’s MPs pitched for the vote.
The ANC has made it clear that there is no other candidate other than Mr Burgess, and the matter reappeared on the parliamentary programme but was removed again. The ANC needs all its MPs and about 15 from the opposition to secure the vote for Mr Burgess. The EFF and DA are adamant they will not support this.
Mr Burgess is considered a problematic candidate because of his gung-ho political stance on the secrecy bill, while the position for which he has been earmarked requires an independent operator.
ANC MPs did, however, show up for the DA’s bid to impeach Mr Zuma. The DA’s motion, which failed, argued that Mr Zuma defied domestic and international laws by allowing Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to slip out of SA surreptitiously in June despite an interim court order barring the government from letting him leave the country.
The Supreme Court of Appeal is to hear the state’s appeal against a scathing High Court in Pretoria judgment reaffirming the interim order and the government’s obligations to the International Criminal Court.
The local government polls will add another dimension to Parliament’s business this year as political parties scramble to win over voters.
MARK THE SPOT: A voter casts his vote at Boitshoko Secondary School polling station in Ikageng, Tlokwe, during a by-election in August 2013. Picture: SOWETAN/SUNDAY WORLD
PARLIAMENT was the theatre of political histrionics in the past year, and the opposition is bound to up the ante as local government polls take place this year.
The opposition is likely to seize on resistance against the Promotion and Protection of Investment Bill, the Expropriation Bill, and the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Amendment Bill, all of which have caused consternation, but have been fiercely defended by the African National Congress (ANC).
The governing party stood firm on these bills including the Taxation Laws Amendment Bill, even though it puts the ANC at loggerheads with alliance partner the Congress of South African Trade Unions.
President Jacob Zuma has declared that SA is open for business, but the Democratic Alliance (DA), the United Democratic Movement and the Inkatha Freedom Party believe the controversial bills will choke off investment to SA.
Parliament opened on a dramatic note last February, when government spooks jammed the cellphone signal ahead of Mr Zuma’s State of the Nation address, which was in turn disrupted by a punch-up between the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the police, and a DA walkout.
This brand of political drama played out throughout the year, while the signal jamming marked the beginning of a year defined by heightened surveillance and paranoia in Parliament. The High Court in Cape Town later ruled that MPs have special protections and cannot be arrested for what they say in the chamber.
The court was approached by the EFF, whose MPs refused to withdraw unflattering remarks about Mr Zuma during his State of the Nation address. The tensions in Parliament magnified how problematic it can be to hold the ANC’s majority to accountability.
The opposition will keep tabs on whether Mr Zuma makes a cameo in Parliament to answer questions every quarter as required by the Constitution. However, his nonanswers and trademark giggle will not suffice in an election year.
The ANC’s parliamentary majority will do little to cushion the president from the electorate’s wrath.
Parliamentary presiding officers Baleka Mbete, the ANC chairwoman, and Thandi Modise did not cover themselves in much glory either in conducting the business of the House. The courts found that the presiding officers had a skewed understanding of parliamentary rules and interpreted them in a manner favourable to their party bosses.
This year, proceedings will be even tougher for them.
In a year in which political irony was in no short supply, the ANC had to abandon its attempt to secure a two-thirds majority in June to appoint ANC MP Cecil Burgess as the new inspector-general of intelligence as too few of the party’s MPs pitched for the vote.
The ANC has made it clear that there is no other candidate other than Mr Burgess, and the matter reappeared on the parliamentary programme but was removed again. The ANC needs all its MPs and about 15 from the opposition to secure the vote for Mr Burgess. The EFF and DA are adamant they will not support this.
Mr Burgess is considered a problematic candidate because of his gung-ho political stance on the secrecy bill, while the position for which he has been earmarked requires an independent operator.
ANC MPs did, however, show up for the DA’s bid to impeach Mr Zuma. The DA’s motion, which failed, argued that Mr Zuma defied domestic and international laws by allowing Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to slip out of SA surreptitiously in June despite an interim court order barring the government from letting him leave the country.
The Supreme Court of Appeal is to hear the state’s appeal against a scathing High Court in Pretoria judgment reaffirming the interim order and the government’s obligations to the International Criminal Court.
The local government polls will add another dimension to Parliament’s business this year as political parties scramble to win over voters.
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Data supplied by Profile Data
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Data supplied by Profile Data
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Data supplied by Profile Data