Parliament overwhelmingly adopt Rules dealing with disruptions of the House

30 July 2015

The Office of the ANC Chief Whip welcomes the adoption of the amended rules of the National Assembly that spell-out procedures and processes to be followed by Presiding Officers when dealing with members who disrupt proceedings of the House.

The ANC is pleased that the amended rules have been unanimously adopted by the National Assembly, with the exception of the EFF, who have become synonymous with disrupting the business and proceedings of the chamber. The unity of the House on this crucial matter sends out a clear message that the deliberate disruption of the work of Parliament, which denies the views of rest of the parties their democratic right to be heard, can no longer be tolerated.

The public had had the misfortune of witnessing the consequences of the disruptions of the House by few individuals, eroding the dignity of the House, frustrating Parliament's efforts to hold the executive - including the President - to account and trampling on other MPs' freedom of speech.

Parliament is a multiparty forum where diverse ideas are contested and superior arguments win the day. It is a forum to exercise oversight over the executive transparently, openly and without fear or favour in line with the constitution to ensure quality service delivery to our people. Disruptions, contempt for the authority of the presiding officers, rowdy conduct and insults have sought to undermine this fundamental constitutional function of Parliament.

In terms of the new rules, particularly the new rule numbered 53A, Parliament's Protection Services and the Serjeant-at-Arms, acting on the instructions of the presiding officer, will be called upon to remove a member who resists any reasonable request for the member to leave the house when ordered to do so by the presiding officer.

The new rules also empower the Serjeant-at-Arms and the Parliamentary Protection Service to use any such force as may be reasonably necessary to overcome any resistance on the part of a member who had been ordered to leave the house for disrupting proceedings.

The new rules also state that no member may, in any manner whatsoever, physically intervene or hinder the removal of a member from the chamber and that any member who contravenes this rule, they too shall be summarily removed from the chamber and the parliamentary precincts.

When proceedings are suspended for the purpose of removing a member, all members shall remain seated unless directed otherwise by the presiding officer and the house shall continue with its business once the removal has been concluded, unless the presiding officer decides otherwise.

Members who had been removed from the house will be escorted off the precinct of the national legislature by the Parliamentary Protection Services personnel and they shall then be immediately placed on automatic suspension for a minimum period of five parliamentary working days.

The circumstances of the physical removal of a member will then be referred by the Speaker of the National Assembly, within 24-hours, to a multi-party committee for consideration.

As the ANC we are delighted that the overwhelming majority of parties have been able to find agreement on what should be done to stem a situation wherein parliament has for quite some time been prevented from fulfilling its constitutional obligation by a single grouping who have adopted the bad habit of disrupting its sittings whenever they are a defeated through political engagement.

We are of the view that with these new rules in place, the national assembly will henceforth focus on its core business of debating matters of national importance and of public interest as well as holding the executive to account.

The new rules were adopted by the house following a drawn-out process of intense discussions and debates at the level of the rules committee, which had started the process of reviewing the rules of the national assembly as far back as 2012. 

It is also important to point out that the Constitution does empower both houses of Parliament, namely the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces, to determine their own internal arrangements as well as procedures and rules of engagement and to review these from time to time. 

This therefore means that any attempt to link this successful process of reviewing the rules of the National Assembly to the political posturing of certain groupings is misplaced.

Statement issued by the Office of the ANC Chief Whip, July 30 2015