Zuma debate destroys parliamentary truce

A Business Day report notes the ANC adopted the tactic of opposition parties last Thursday and led a multitude of notices of motion that went on for hours. Last week's filibuster raised tensions that led to riot police entering the chamber to remove an EFF MP who refused to leave when told to do so. Developments yesterday, particularly at the DA's insistence that the house debate a motion of censure for Zuma, has left Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa's deal brokered on Tuesday with all parties - to work together and restore the dignity of Parliament - in tatters. The DA's motion charged that Zuma be censured for failing to observe the rules of Parliament by answering questions four times a year. This they argued was a betrayal of his oath of office and a breach of the Constitution he vowed to uphold. Introducing the motion, the DA's parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane said the meeting with Ramaphosa was positive and promised to participate in his forum. 'But let me be absolutely clear what happened here last week is not a parliamentary crisis, it is an ANC crisis. If the rules had been applied fairly, it would not have happened,' he said. 'And most importantly, if the President obeyed the rules of Parliament and came here to answer oral questions, it would not have happened. That is what is at the heart of all of this - our President is absent without leave,' he is quoted as saying. Full Business Day report (subscription needed)

The vote was finally taken shortly after 10.30pm, notes a report in The Times. Only the DA, Freedom Front Plus and Agang supported it. The NFP abstained, the EFF did not vote at all and the other opposition parties voted with the ANC. Earlier, Maimane and ANC Chief Whip Stone Sizani clashed over the motion - a day after striking a deal to work together in seeking political solutions to problems plaguing Parliament. Maimane claimed Sizani had asked that the DA withdraw its motion entirely. 'We will not do so,' Maimane said. 'We will (remain) in Parliament all night if needs be.' The report notes the President has avoided Parliament since the EFF disrupted a question and answer session on 21 August, demanding that he pay back the money spent on his private Nkandla residence. Yesterday, Sizani blasted Maimane, accusing him of misleading Ramaphosa and leaders of other parties by proceeding with a motion to censure Zuma. 'The DA's conduct clearly illustrates that it cannot be trusted as a reliable and mature negotiating partner. Its action will only fuel mistrust, hostility and tension in Parliament,' said Sizani. Full report in The Times

The losers in the stand-off appear to be the EFF leaders, with the ANC saying it has decided to revoke Ramaphosa's promise to hand them a reprieve in exchange for their co-operation on the restoration of parliament's dignity. 'We will put the Powers and Privileges Committee's report on the EFF back on the order paper tomorrow (today),' a well-placed source in the ruling party is quoted as saying in a report on the IoL site. The move, in retaliation for the DA's refusal to scrap its motion calling on the chamber to censure Zuma, came despite an apparently conciliatory gesture by EFF MP Sipho Mbatha, who said his party supported the agreement reached with Ramaphosa, adding that the EFF was not there to be disruptive but to be recognised. The decision is likely to see EFF MPs, including party Julius Malema, suspended from Parliament for up to 30 days for contempt of Parliament. The charges stemmed from their heckling of Zuma over the Nkandla saga in August. Full report on the IoL site

The sitting kicked off yesterday with the Deputy President answering MPs' questions, but Ramaphosa soon became exasperated at constant interjections referring to Zuma's reluctance to account to MPs on the cost of his Nkandla home. Ramaphosa said the opposition's conduct filled him 'with great regret' as it undermined the accord reached with party leaders, notes a City Press report. 'What it means is that what we struck yesterday, does not hold. It doesn't hold. If I was engaged in a debate, I could understand heckling and interjections. I have been asked to come here and answer questions. If I am impeded... to answer those questions... then what is the point of having me here?' He warned that the agreement struck with opposition leaders was 'in my view, about to lie in tatters'. Full City Press report

Insults and obscene gestures accompanied the filibuster. Deputy Speaker Lechesa Tsenoli had pleaded with members to refrain from making obscene hand gestures when DA Chief Whip John Steenhuisen accused Human Settlements Minister Lindiwe Sisulu of 'flipping a Floyd', notes a report on the News24 site. DA MP David Maynier was moving a motion when several ANC MPs started making gestures with their hands and bodies, says a City Press report. That's when Steenhuisen rose on a point of order, telling the Speaker Sisulu had 'flipped a Floyd'. This was in apparent reference to the September sitting of the House in which Economic Freedom Fighters Chief Whip Floyd Shivambu did the same at Ramaphosa. 'It's unparliamentary. She must withdraw,' Steenhuisen said. Sisulu then stood, admitting she had used the gesture. 'I have seen them (opposition party members) using the middle finger. I am just following them,' said Sisulu. Tsenoli said he did not see Sisulu do this, but warned: 'Honourable members can we be careful when using gestures.' Full report on the News24 site Full City Press report