‘Parliament is not a playground for thugs.’ MPs slam committee disruption

Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete on Thursday called disruptions during a joint meeting of the portfolio committees on finance and trade and industry “unacceptable”.

And her views were echoed by ANC and Democratic Alliance chief whips, Jackson Mthembu and John Steenhuisen.

The joint meeting descended into chaos on Wednesday during the Black First Land First’s (BLF) presentation on economic transformation, after guest speaker and BLF leader Andile Mngxitama was kicked out for calling veteran ANC MP Joanmariae Fubbs a fascist.

Steenhuisen asked Mbete to apply her mind to the situation.

“Obviously it’s a tight balance. This is a people’s Parliament and we want people to participate.

"But we can’t have our public hearings descending into the scenes we saw yesterday,” Steenhuisen said during Parliament’s programming committee this morning.

He wanted invited guests to committee meetings to be made aware of the rules on their arrival in the National Assembly.

Mbete agreed.

“It’s a valid matter of great concern. From what I saw yesterday, it is completely unacceptable, and cannot be associated with Parliament and its culture,” she said.

Mthembu said he fully agreed with Mbete and Steenhuisen.

He said the BLF had acted in a manner that was terrible, and that Parliament should take action.

“Within our laws, let’s find a way of sending a very clear signal that this Parliament is not a playground for thugs and criminals,” Mthembu said.

“We can’t have people come here and call our members of Parliament names, or being racist against our members. It’s unacceptable.”

Economic Freedom Fighters MP Ntombovuyo Mente said they should caution against being too restrictive of the public, but agreed the matter should be investigated.

Mbete told reporters afterward that finance committee chair Yunus Carrim should also not have got up to engage with Mngxitama.

Carrim took exception to Mngxitama’s remarks about Fubbs and insisted that the BLF leave. A confrontation ensued.

Outside the committee room, after Mngxitama had been kicked out, he called Carrim a stooge for “white monopoly capital” and said they had been kicked out because Carrim was doing his “white master’s bidding”.

Mthembu said he would ask Mbete to institute an urgent investigation into the matter and to ensure that the responsible individuals were banned from Parliament in future.

The ANC would ask Parliament to look at the possibility of laying criminal charges.