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Incoming ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu is threatening to crack down on truant ANC MPs whose absenteeism from Parliament has repeatedly embarrassed the governing party.
Speaking to City Press after his appointment by the national executive committee (NEC) last weekend, Mthembu said he would not waste time with threats or fines against truant MPs, but would recommend that the party disciplines them with the view to remove them from Parliament.
According to NEC sources, Mthembu, who is said to be close to ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, prevailed after some NEC members tried to push for MP Richard Mdakane to become the chief whip.
Mdakane did not get enough support from the NEC.
The National Assembly has on some occasions struggled to pass laws that require a simple majority (201 MPs), something that the ANC has on its own if all its members are present, but after staged walkouts by opposition MPs, there ended up not being enough MPs present to pass the bills.
Will Mthembu succeed where his predecessors have failed?
“Our view is that comrades should indeed concentrate on what they do better. If what they do better is going to shopping malls or watching games, perhaps we must give them the latitude to do so,” he said.
Mthembu said he would not have discussions with undisciplined MPs, but would send them to the ANC’s disciplinary committee because those who bunk Parliament bring the party into disrepute.
Mthembu is not only focusing on fixing his caucus – he plans to improve relations across the floor by being more inclusive and getting more cooperation from other parties in the running of things in Parliament.
Recently, the National Assembly had to withdraw approval for the appointment of the inspector-general of intelligence from its agenda because the ANC did not have the required two-thirds majority to vote in its choice of Cecil Burgess.
For the ANC, whose majority has been dwindling, this means reaching out to the opposition to support its positions. But horse trading behind the scenes, led by outgoing chief whip Stone Sizani, failed to secure 18 more MPs from the opposition to back its preferred candidate.
Mthembu is also hoping that cooperation between opposition parties will extend to changing “the narrative that says Parliament is a soapie”.
“To me, that is the main concern – to change this narrative that we are a circus,” he said.
On Thursday night, Mthembu told a radio station that the manner in which Parliament dealt with the controversial Nkandla matter was unfortunate, adding that the ANC should account for the manner in which it dealt with Nkandla after the Constitutional Court makes its judgment on the matter.
“We should not have been blinded by politics. From where I am seated, indeed, we should have dealt with that matter differently,” he said.
“The ANC at some point, probably after the judgment is made, should make a statement on this matter because we did lose face. Our actions did not get our people to have confidence in our institution called Parliament.”
Mthembu rose to national prominence in 2009 when he became the national spokesperson of the ANC.
He was arrested for drunk driving in Cape Town in March 2010 and was found to be more than three times over the legal limit. He admitted his guilt and was fined R12 000. He publicly apologised for the saga and later announced on Twitter that he had quit drinking.
