Parliament TV policy 'a minor' interference – Speaker

Parliament’s policy not to allow the broadcast of disruptions in Parliament is to protect its dignity and is only a ‘minor’ interference with the right to freedom of expression, Speaker Baleka Mbete says in supplementary papers filed with the Western Cape High Court. A Business Day report notes Mbete’s affidavit was in response to an application brought by media organisations on the constitutionality of the policy on filming and broadcasting of Parliament, which holds that during incidents of ‘unparliamentary conduct’ and ‘grave disturbances’ the camera should remain on the Speaker. Mbete said if the media bodies got what they wanted – wide-angle shots of the chamber during disruptions – it would ‘only encourage the worst behaviour in Parliament’. The policy was balanced in the sense that disruptive incidents were ‘not ignored’, but the consequences – the encouragement of ill-discipline – were mitigated. Mbete noted there was no obligation to broadcast disruptive conduct as it was not ‘legitimate parliamentary business’.