Hon members, before we proceed with the business of the day, I would like to make a ruling.
Hon members, during the debate on the President's state of the nation address on 14 February 2012, hon Masutha rose on a point of order, objecting to the inappropriateness of remarks made by hon J H Steenhuisen about Mr Cassel Mathale, the Premier of Limpopo.
I undertook to study the Hansard and return with a ruling. Having studied the Hansard, I wish to rule as follows.
During the debate, the hon Mr Steenhuisen said, amongst other things, that the Limpopo province had:
... dished out a tender of R14 million for photocopiers to an ANC benefactor and connected crony of Premier Cassel Mathale. The price was a full R10 million higher than the next tenderer.
Premier Mathale has run his province into the ground and despite presiding over the greatest crisis of governance in South Africa, the man and his team remain in power.
The hon member's remarks about the premier's running of the province are political opinion, which he is well within his rights to express.
However, just before that, the hon Mr Steenhuisen spoke about a tender that had been awarded to Premier Mathale's "crony", which was R10 million more than the next tender. Politically the word "crony" is always derogatory, and in this case infers inappropriate behaviour on the part of the premier, as it implies that he would allow tenders to be awarded to friends, regardless of their suitability. This is a reflection on the premier's integrity.
Hon members, the Rules of this House protect only its members, judges or holders of an office whose removal from such office is dependent upon a decision of this House. In this context, the premier is not protected by the Rules of the House.
That being said, I would like to caution that, in the interests of co- operation and cordial relations within the legislative sector generally, hon members should be measured in their references to premiers and members of other legislatures. Criticism of governance and other political matters is allowed, but reflection on the personal integrity of members of other legislatures should be approached circumspectly.
In a Joint Sitting, however, the situation will be different, as premiers are members of those proceedings as leaders of the provincial delegations in the NCOP. There, from the outset, the premiers are protected in terms of the Rules.
During the same debate, the hon Mrs S V Kalyan also rose on a point of order, asking whether it was parliamentary for the hon Minister in The Presidency: National Planning Commission to shout, and I quote, "Shut up!" while hon Steenhuisen was at the podium. I indicated then that if such words had been spoken, they would indeed have been unparliamentary. I also indicated that, not having heard the words personally, I would study the Hansard and return with a ruling. I have studied the Hansard and found that the Minister's interjection, if it was made, has not been recorded. As I said before, the words are unparliamentary and, had the hon Minister been found to have uttered them, he would have been requested to withdraw them. Thank you.