Hon Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House -
1) notes that -
i. on Tuesday, 23 October 2012, the hon M G P Lekota, during members' statements stated that, "On Friday last week the President's Office defied an order by the Supreme Court of Appeal to hand over the abbreviated transcripts of the terms that permitted criminal charges to be dropped or withdrawn against him";
ii. the Supreme Court of Appeal did not make such an order or any other order to produce any record or documents against the President ...
Hon Chief Whip, there is a point of order.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like clarity on what aspect of the Order Paper we are on now.
It is Notices of Motion.
But it would appear that the Chief Whip is making a statement. A notice of motion is normally two or three lines for debate.
Continue, Chief Whip.
(a) the Supreme Court of Appeal did not make such an order or any other order to produce any record or documents against the President of the Republic or the Office of the President; and
iii. in the case of the Democratic Alliance and others v the Acting National Director of Public Prosecutions and others (288/11 [2012] ZASCA), the court directed that the Acting National Director of Public Prosecutions ...
[Interjections.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, may I address you on a point of order, please? I submit that this is not a notice of motion. It is a member's statement. I would ask you to rule on that. [Interjections.]
Hon Kalyan, look at your Rules. On many occasions we have allowed members from both sides of the House to give a notice of motion that is almost like a resolution. Just look at your Rules on motions. They can ... [Interjections.] Check your book.
Hon Deputy Speaker, the House has a presiding officer who is enjoined by the Constitution to make rulings. So, I am not going to allow anybody else to do so. I am going to repeat this.
a) the Supreme Court of Appeal did not make such an order or any other order to produce any record or documents against the President of the Republic or the Office of the President; and
b) in the case of the Democratic Alliance and others v the Acting National Director of Public Prosecutions and others (288/11 [2012] ZASCA), the court directed that the Acting National Director of Public Prosecutions produce and lodge with the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Appeal the record of the National Prosecuting Authority's decision to discontinue its prosecution of Mr J G Zuma, the President, and that there was no order by the Supreme Court of Appeal against ...
[Interjections.]
Hon Chief Whip ... [Interjections.] There is another point of order. After that, could you please conclude?
Deputy Speaker, you asked me to look at the Rule and I am looking at it now. It says that a member may propose a subject for discussion. The Chief Whip has made a long statement about a court ruling, and I submit that he has made a statement and not given a notice of motion. Madam Speaker, I would ask you to please relook at this and rule on it.
Hon Deputy Speaker, maybe I should mention that this ... [Interjections.]
No. I will attend to that later. Could you conclude?
Thank you, hon Deputy Speaker. I am concluding as follows:
... that there was no order by the Supreme Court of Appeal ...
[Interjections.]
Deputy Speaker, on a point of order: Honestly, this cannot be allowed in this House. [Interjections.] Members must allow the Chief Whip to speak. They must give him space. If they read the Rules, there are motions, there are substantive motions and there are proposals of motions for censure.
If they allow the Chief Whip to finish, they will understand the nature of the motion he is proposing. They must read the Rules. I suppose that they were going to do that. We can't have members of this House using the Rules when it suits them. When it doesn't suit them, they throw them out of the House. That is completely out of order. [Interjections.]
Thank you, hon Deputy Speaker, for allowing me to conclude.
... there was no order by the Supreme Court of Appeal against the President or his Office to produce any record or documents;
2) believes that -
a) hon Lekota has misled the House by making a statement that is factually incorrect; and
b) hon Lekota's statement undermines the dignity of the Office of the President; and 3) resolves to -
a) condemn the actions of hon Lekota;
b) censure hon Lekota for misleading the House; and
c) call upon hon Lekota to withdraw his statement and to apologise unreservedly to the President and the people of South Africa for his actions.
[Interjections.] The message has gone through. Thank you very much, Deputy Speaker. [Applause.]
Is there any other notice of motion? [Interjections.] No, I was still asking. I didn't ask anybody to speak. I am hoping that what happened on this side of the House - the banging of chairs - is not a precedent to what this House will be like. It would be ... [Interjections.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, on the strength of your wise ruling and precedent, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move with pride on behalf of the IFP:
That the House -
1) debates the necessary measures which need to be taken to re- establish freedom of speech in this House which has been so grossly, so outrageously and so unashamedly curtailed on this, as on previous occasions, so that we may fulfil our constitutional duty and obligation to have the same freedom of speech in this House that people have outside this House, and so that we can fulfil our duty to voice the concern, the disappointment and the anger of the people of South Africa, rather than being censored every time we dare criticise the executive;
2) deletes from our Rules the obsolete, misinterpreted and misunderstood notion of the need for a substantive motion every time the opposition holds the executive accountable;
3) adopts the original interpretation of the Rules of this Parliament, for that requirement was merely a notice requirement and was never in the constitutional history of South Africa held as a form of censorship as it is now applied in this House ...
[Interjections.]
There's a point of order, hon Ambrosini. What's your point of order?
The point of order is that there is an intention for the House to debate. There is no debate now. Thank you. [Interjections.]
Continue, hon Ambrosini.
I am acting on the same strength as the Chief Whip did, and therefore on that strength, I further move that the House -
4) adopts a resolution that considers such grounds a gross constitutional violation of the practices of this House; and
5) re-establishes for the sake of South Africa and the freedom and liberties of all the Members of this House the freedom of speech which we must enjoy.
[Applause.]
Thank you. Are there any other notices of motion?
Madam Deputy Speaker?
Hon Kalyan?
I was on my feet before the hon Ambrosini spoke and I wish to address you on the so-called motion that the Chief Whip of the Majority Party put forward.
Firstly, Madam, it is my considered opinion that it was not a notice of motion. Secondly, it was not a substantive notice of motion, and the DA objects to this. May I respectfully ask you to please look at the Hansard and revert to this House with a ruling as to what exactly the Chief Whip proposed this afternoon? Thank you.
Thank you, hon Kalyan. Hon Nzimande?
Madam Deputy Speaker, I respect the comments we have made, but I don't think it's strong enough. Maybe you need to make a ruling on the behaviour of members banging chairs in Parliament. It's completely unacceptable. I think we need to have a formal ruling from your side that it is unacceptable, because if we allow this to happen, then this House shall have no proper meetings. Thank you very much. [Interjections.]
Thank you, Hon Nzimande. Hon member?
Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That the House debates paying respect to former President Thabo Mbeki, who served the African National Congress from 1997 to 2007.
Thank you, hon member. Can we now come ... Hon member?
Hon Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the IFP:
That the House debates the importance to our economy of developing business co-operatives and SMMEs in rural areas and the processes in place to simplify their access to funding.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I trust that this motion does not get constipated in the corridors of Parliament.
Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the DA:
That the House -
1) debates, as a matter of urgency, the abuse of Rules in this House; and
2) comes up with the means to hold the Chief Whip of the Majority Party to account and return to the House the decorum and respect that is its due.
[Applause.]
Deputy Speaker, on a point of order with regard to that issue: I think an accusation levelled against the Chief Whip that he is abusing the Rules of the House ... [Interjections.] ... is inappropriate in respect of a fellow member of the House, and I urge that the relevant member withdraw that comment. [Interjections.]
Hon Deputy Speaker, may I address you on that point of order?
No, no, no. Wait.
Deputy Speaker, the rules are quite clear. In terms of Rule 94, Nature of Motions:
A member may propose a subject for discussion ...
Which is what the DA seems to think everybody should be doing.
... or a draft resolution for approval as a resolution. That is what the Chief Whip of the Majority Party was doing.
No, he did not.
In terms of Rule 98, Notice of Motion:
When giving notice of a motion, a member should read it aloud and deliver at the table a signed copy of the notice.
That is what the Chief Whip did.
No, he did not.
I would appeal that the hon members of the opposition read the Rules, and when they talk about decorum, they maybe think about banging their desks as not being part of the decorum of the House. [Applause.]
Okay.
May I address you on that point of order, Madam?
No, no, no. Hon member, are you fine? Okay. [Interjections.]
Madam, with regard to the comments made by the hon Jeffery, a draft resolution has to be approved by this House. You did not put the question to this House and this House did not agree to the resolution. So, that is my interpretation of what the hon ...
Hon Deputy Speaker, I think Mrs Kalyan does not know what she is talking about. She is talking about a motion without notice that the House agrees to. Could she kindly spend some time and read the Rules and save us all wasting a lot of time. [Interjections.]
Will the hon Jeffery also stop wasting my time? I am reading from the Rule Book - and I can read. [Interjections.]
Okay. Hon member?
Hon Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the IFP:
That this House debates the problem of counterfeit products entering via our ports and how to enforce stringent legislative measures to curb it.
Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the DA:
That this House debates the state of children in South Africa.
Hon Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the DA:
That this House debates the current living conditions of the residents of Lindelani, including a lack of access to basic services and no scholar transport and solutions to improve the situation.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That this House debates assessing the Setas' role in ensuring implementation of commitments made on the National Skills Accord by all stakeholders.
Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the DA:
That this House debates illegal mining and solutions to stop it, or where feasible, formalise it under a revised Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act.
Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC: That this House debates supporting and strengthening local government in the areas of air quality and waste management.
Voorsitter, ek gee hiermee kennis dat ek op die volgende sittingsdag van die Raad namens die DA sal voorstel:
Dat die Huis 'n debat voer oor of die gebruik van hul moedertaal Lede van die Parlement in staat sal stel om hul taak as Parlementslede met groter selfvertroue en doeltreffendheid uit te voer. (Translation of Afrikaans notice of motion follows.)
[Dr H C VAN SCHALKWYK: Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf on the DA:
That this House debates whether the use by Members of Parliament of their mother language enables them to carry out their duties as Parliamentarians with more confidence and efficiency.]
Madam Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the DA:
That this House debates government proposals to reduce the number of catchment management agencies and measures to ensure the effective function of these bodies.
Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That this House debates opening up regional markets for South African goods and services and for imports from the region.
Madam Deputy Speaker, I hereby give notice that on the next sitting day of the House I shall move on behalf of the ANC:
That this House debates strengthening and supporting local sport and recreation councils.