Former South African opposition leader Mmusi Maimane.
The debate arose after DA parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane called President Jacob Zuma a thief during a debate on a motion of no confidence in the president.
Addressing MPs, Maimane said: “It is on a day like this that I wish we were not constrained by the straight-jacket of our party system. Because I know that many of you on this side of the house will vote against your conscience today.
“You will vote to keep a man in office who is doing everything possible to evade 783 counts of fraud, corruption, and racketeering. You will vote for a thief. A man who stole the people’s money to build his R246-million home, while millions of South Africans go to bed hungry every night.
“And, yes, I can say that. Because the Constitutional Court says I can,” he said, referring to a Constitutional Court judgment, which ruled that calling Zuma a “thief” in an SMS — sent by the DA to 1.5-million Gauteng voters before the 2014 elections — was fair comment.
ANC chief whip Stone Sizani objected to the remark and said Zuma had never been convicted by a court of being a “thief” and asked Maimane to withdraw his comment. DA chief whip John Steenhuisen said the Constitutional Court had ruled that calling Zuma a “thief” was fair comment.
‘Unparliamentary’
National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete said: “It is unparliamentary to call a member who is not even in this house a thief.” She asked Maimane to either bring a substantive motion on the issue or to withdraw the remark.
Maimane asked why, if the Constitutional Court had said the remark was fair comment, it could not be said in the House.
Mbete said the Contitutional Court ruling did not apply to Parliament as no one had written to Parliament to alert it to the judgment.
“I’ve not seen anything from the Constitutional Court addressed to this house. We need the matter as a substantive motion. This house has not been addressed by the Constitutional Court,” Mbete said.
Consistency
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) MP, Mbuyiseni Ndlozi, said Mbete could postpone her ruling on the matter to consider the Constitutional Court ruling, “as you can’t be seen in this house to undermine the Constitutional Court”.
Mbete replied: “We are not run by any court. We are not by another arm [of government]. We are run by our own rules.” EFF leader, Julius Malema, said Mbete was wrong. He said that members of the EFF were suspended from Parliament and a court had lifted their suspension.
“Consistency is very important. The legislature here is not above the Constitutional Court. The rules must be consistent with the Constitution,” Malema said. But Mbete said that ruling was an interim one and that the main application had yet to be addressed. “This house has rules and it follows those rules and it follows those rules.”
Maimane withdrew the statement “for now”.
“It is a sad day when your rights are in force outside this house but not inside this house,” Maimane said.