ANC
*Office of the ANC Chief Whip, 11 December 2012*** *Western Cape High Court Dismisses Lekota Case*The Office of the ANC Chief Whip welcomes the judgement of the Western Cape High Court to dismiss an application by Cope leader Mosioua Lekota to reverse the decision of the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, Nomaindia Mfeketo, to expel him from the House following his un-parliamentary statements on 29 May 2012.
Lekota alleged during the sitting of the National Assembly that President Jacob Zuma had violated his oath of office - a serious claim that cannot be made lightly or for cheap politicking in the House. In terms of the established practices and procedures in Parliament, a Member of Parliament who wishes to bring allegations of improper conduct against another MP or President should do so by way of a substantive motion. This is a procedure that was violated by Lekota, and the Court correctly agreed with Parliament in this regard.
As we stressed in our assessment of the 2012 parliamentary year earlier today, disagreements within Parliament must be resolved within the structures of Parliament without the involvement of the judiciary.
Expecting the judiciary to adjudicate on matters that are Parliament's competence not only undermines the doctrine of separation of powers, but also sends out an unsettling message that Parliament is incapable of managing its own affairs. It is not the responsibility of the courts to babysit or micromanage Parliament.
Today's court judgement will send a strong message to Lekota and his fellow travellers that Parliamentary business is governed by rules, which should be respected. Section 57 of the Constitution affords the National Assembly the right to determine and control its internal arrangements, proceedings and procedures as well as making rules and orders concerning its business.
The Lekota judgement today is the third court judgement in a space of a month affirming the doctrine of separation of powers. The increasing tendency by some opposition parties to run to court at the slightest provocation is deplorable. This tendency also raises serious questions regarding how such costly legal cases are bankrolled.
We are hopeful that funds Parliament allocates to parties in parliament, which are strictly for constituency and parliamentary programmes, are not illegally used for these court cases. Such would amount to irregular expenditure and blatant abuse of taxpayers' money, and would call for severe legal sanctions against those involved.
*Issued by the Office of the ANC Chief Whip**** **** **_Enquiries_**:**** **Moloto Mothapo 082 370 6930* -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
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