LEVEL PLAYING FIELD IN PARLIAMENT
13 June 2012
On Tuesday June, 11 June 2012 I was ordered to leave the chamber because I responded to the Deputy Speaker's request for me to withdraw my inference that the President had violated his oath of office by not upholding the Constitutional rights of artist Brett Murray, Editor Ferial Haffajee, and Goodman Gallery Owner Lisa Esser and that furthermore he had not waited for the judiciary to make its pronouncement on the matter.
After my departure from the chamber, the Chief whip of the ruling party averred that I was unruly.
In fact, during the debate I was called Shilowa by two members of the ruling party, one of whom was the Minister of Public Enterprise, Malusi Gigaba. In spite of my appeal to the Deputy Speaker for protection I was afforded. In fact the patently unparliamentarily conduct of the minister and the MP who disparagingly called me "Shilowa" was neither disallowed at the time of the time nor ruled out of order in the subsequent review although it was indisputably unparliamentary.
Anyone who witnessed the debate will know that it was members of the ruling party who were unruly and making personal attacks but were allowed to get away with it.