Hon members, during members' statements on Tuesday, 20 August 2013, the hon Deputy Minister of the Department of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs raised a point of order about certain remarks made by the hon D A Kganare during his member's statement. I undertook to look at the Hansard and return to the House with a considered ruling.
Having had the opportunity to study the Unrevised Hansard, I wish to rule as follows. In the course of his member's statement, hon Kganare said, amongst other things, "It was a day in which the democratic government of the ANC decided that those who threaten the monopoly of their alliance should be ruthlessly annihilated." Also, "It was a sad day when the democratic government of the ANC decided that those who honestly demanded a living wage were enemies of the revolution and therefore had to be executed." Lastly, he asked a question, "Will the ANC do the same to Numsa members who are now on strike?"
From the context of hon Kganare's speech, it is quite clear that his reference to the "democratic government of the ANC" is to members of the executive as a collective since they, in terms of the Constitution, comprise the government at national level. In the Assembly, members of the executive enjoy the same protection under the Rules as other members of the House. It is a firmly established practice that a member who wishes to impute improper motives to another member of the House, including members of the executive, must do so by way of a substantive motion, supported by prima facie evidence. To suggest that the Cabinet, either individually or as a collective, callously and deliberately decided to annihilate or execute citizens of South Africa not only imputes improper motives to those members of the Cabinet, it goes even further by implying that they are in dereliction of their constitutional duty, which is to be loyal to and secure the wellbeing of the people of South Africa as they undertake in their oath of office.
The first two remarks by hon Kganare, namely that the government had decided to ruthlessly annihilate and execute people, are therefore clearly unparliamentary. On the other hand, hon Kganare's question, namely whether the ANC intended to do the same to Numsa workers who are on strike, did not refer to the government, but to the ANC as a political party. As we have ruled on numerous occasions in this House, reflections on the actions of a political party, as perceived by an opposing party's member, are not out of order as long as aspersions are not cast on the character of members of the House. So, this particular remark by hon Kganare is therefore not unparliamentary.
As I have said earlier, the point of order in respect to the first two remarks is upheld, and I now ask the hon Kganare to withdraw his statement that the government had decided to "annihilate and execute workers at Marikana". Hon member, will you withdraw that.
Speaker, I withdraw that statement! [Applause.]