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National Council of Provinces (NCOP) chair Thandi Modise was involved in “a minor protocol misunderstanding” during her visit to Jaipur, India last weekend.
Parliament on Friday categorically denied there was any slapping in what sources described to City Press as a standoff with Indian police, involving pushing and shoving.
Parliament spokesperson Luzuko Jacobs dismissed this saying: “There was indeed a minor protocol misunderstanding involving junior Indian police. There was no altercation and no one was slapped. The matter was resolved amicably and the South African delegation led by the chairperson of the NCOP was able to proceed with its planned programme in India.”
But Parliament sources, including an MP who witnessed the incident, claimed Modise got into an altercation with Indian police that ended up with her slugging one of the officers.
An MP who was part of the delegation says the incident took place on Sunday as the South African delegation and those from other BRICS countries were leaving a cultural event in Jaipur where they were attending a two-day BRICS Women Parliamentarians’ Forum.
The MP said things became a little chaotic as dignitaries were leaving for dinner at another venue at the end of the cultural event; a crowd of people surged forward towards a celebrity entertainer who had performed at the event.
One of the police officers pushed Modise who was leaving the venue to allow the Russian delegation to go first.
Even when the Russians pointed out that Modise was a senior delegate and should be allowed to proceed ahead of them, the police wouldn’t budge.
“But I think there was an issue of language; here you have a Russian speaking to an Indian saying Modise should go first,” said the MP.
It was a third police officer who joined the other two in shoving that Modise allegedly “slapped very hard on the back shoulder.”
This happened in full view of everyone in the venue, the source said. The South African delegation pulled Modise out of the commotion and got her to her car.
She then decided she was going back to her hotel and wouldn’t attend the other event.
“It was a very embarrassing situation,” said the source.
In a separate response, Modise’s spokesperson Tsepiso Shuenyane rejected as “lies” claims that Modise slapped an Indian police officer.
Shuenyane said an Indian military officer, assigned to the Russian delegation, pushed Modise at the end of a cultural show, organised by the Indian parliament. “At no point did the Honourable Modise slap the said officer”.
She said the secretary to the National Assembly, Masibulele Xaso; Zarena Kroese, head of protocol for Parliament; and Florence Ramosana, Modise’s personal assistant, witnessed the alleged incident and “refute the claims that Modise slapped the police as lies”.
“Instead, Mr Xaso and Ms Kroese raised their unhappiness with the secretary-general of the Lok Sabha (Indian parliament) on the manner in which the chairperson was treated by the said officer. This resulted in the secretary-general, along with the said military officer, apologising to Modise for pushing her,” said Shuenyane.
Sources confirmed that when the hosts heard about the incident, they sent out a group of security officers to collect Modise from her hotel to be part of the evening. She complied and her security was beefed up.
South African parliamentarians’ visits to India have proven unfortunate in the past. In July 2012, Dirk Feldman, a Congress of the People MP from Gauteng, was arrested on board a flight to Mumbai after he apparently had a few drinks too many and fumbled with the emergency door, trying to open it mid-flight.
He was part of a parliamentary delegation and was briefly detained by India’s security authorities before being sent back home by Parliament’s presiding officers.
