Parliament could hit the EFF right in the pockets

The chaos caused by the Economic Freedom  Fighters (EFF) in parliament yesterday was a deliberate marketing ploy.

But it may have backfired as  the MPs who disrupted President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation address (Sona) could find themselves in hot water for breaking parliamentary rules and etiquette … and could be hit in their own pockets through having their salaries docked.

The EFF’s grandstanding – first by attacking former president FW de Klerk and then turning their attention to Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan (whom they want fired from Cabinet) – saw Sona turned into a farce by forcing an unprecedented suspension of business by National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise.

Members of all the political parties in the House who remained after the EFF walked out singing – having won a moral victory by forcing the suspension – spoke in support of recommendations that the conduct of the EFF be raised before parliament’s powers and privileges committee.

Freedom Front Plus MP Corne Mulder said the indiscipline should not be tolerated and that it was “time to touch the pockets” of those who misbehaved.

Congress of the People leader Mosiuoa Lekota said “these youngsters” (referring to the EFF) needed “critical basic education about parliament”. He said they took an oath to obey the law and he singled out the refusal of the EFF to stand during the singing of the national anthem.

Public Works Minister Patricia de Lille told Modise she had set a “bad precedent by allowing people to ignore your rulings”. Modise accepted the criticism and agreed that parliament should look at the suggestion “of touching the pockets of members”.

Political analyst Xolani Dube said the EFF was a monster that the ANC created and “it is now beginning to eat them”. He said there was no need for the EFF to demand that De Klerk leave the joint sitting of the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces because he had attended House sittings before and they never raised any objection to his presence.

“If they said De Klerk murdered people during his time, how many people have been killed under the new dispensation? For them to have such free airtime for an hour is good marketing for the party,” Dube said.

Dube said the EFF targeted De Klerk  and Gordhan because it had run out of scapegoats after former president Jacob Zuma’s disappearance.

“Because there is no enemy, they are creating a scapegoat. South Africa is in a crisis which is not related to the past that was led by De Klerk, but a crisis caused by the ANC after 1994.

“The EFF is trying to attract attention because they have no more scapegoats with Jacob Zuma not there anymore,” Dube said.

He said the EFF asked that Ramaphosa fire Gordhan, although they knew that this wouldn’t happen. “They knew that Gordhan was deployed by the ANC and everybody there was deployed by a political party. They knew that Ramaphosa wouldn’t fire Gordhan. They were just causing a spectacle as a way of marketing themselves,” he said.

Dube said the brief postponement of the sitting was a victory for the EFF, at the same time displaying how the members did not understand the rules of the  House.

The analyst said it was high time that voters debated the question of the electoral system reform, because the events of yesterday left voters powerless as they could do nothing about the MPs and the chaos they caused.
“As voters, we can’t call those we voted for to account for their failure. We can’t summon them and this shows how disempowered we are. We end up being docile spectators in this game. Our electoral system is disempowering and that is wrong. We need to ask ourselves who guards the guardians, who are our MPs,” Dube said.

He said the short break was a victory for the EFF because it forced Ramaphosa to deliver his Sona under the shadow of chaos. He said the ANC came to the event unprepared, despite the fact that they were warned by the EFF that it planned to disrupt the proceedings.

Modise summed up the evening when she remarked: “South Africa is not very proud of us tonight.”

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