Obama debate: not ANC Chief Whip's decision
The ANC Chief Whip has responded to the DA's request to the Speaker of the National Assembly, Max Sisulu, and Chairperson of the NCOP, Mninwa Mahlangu, to convene a special joint-sitting, in terms of Rule 7(2) to allow for President Obama to address Members of Parliament on his official visit to South Africa this month.
It is clear from this response that Dr Motshekga is misguided. The decision to extend an invite to President Obama to address Parliament is not the ANC's to make but the two presiding officers. Dr Motshekga will need to familiarise himself with rules 219-222 of the National Assembly rules which clearly outline his duties and these do not extend to making decisions of this kind.
There is nothing preventing Parliament from extending an invitation to President Obama to address a joint sitting of the National Assembly and the NCOP. Joint Rule 7(2) enables the speaker and the chairperson to extend just such an invitation.
Furthermore, all the political parties represented at the Chief Whip's Forum yesterday were in full support of the DA's request to have the President of the USA address Parliament during his visit to South Africa.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's address was a huge success and it confirmed the critical role which our multi-party Parliament has to play in strengthening our bi-lateral relationships with strategic international partners. South Africa should take pride in having the opportunity to extend a similar invitation to President Obama during this seminal visit.
It would seem that the ANC in Parliament is trying to get itself out of the tricky bind that the ANC in the Western Cape has put the party in. The honourable thing to do would have been to distance themselves from the Western Cape ANC's cheap politics and support this proposal. However this has not been the case.
Whatever the governing party's position, this is a matter which the speaker and the chairperson must address, and I look forward to their response.
Statement issued by Lindiwe Mazibuko MP, DA Parliamentary Leader, June 6 2013
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