COURT'S DISMISSAL OF EFF'S FRIVOLOUS CASE

30 September 2014

The Office of the ANC Chief Whip welcomes the decision of the Western Cape High Court last night to dismiss an urgent interdict launched by the EFF to halt parliament's disciplinary process into its MPs' disruptive and unruly conduct.

The EFF has been on a desperate and relentless drive to undermine and quash the legitimate and lawful process in parliament's powers and privileges committee where 20 of its MPs are facing various misconduct charges. This campaign included the recent frivolous motion by the EFF and few other opposition parties alleging that the speaker is biased in her management of the business of Parliament. The EFF's argument that the parliamentary disciplinary process would be biased was found to be unfounded by the Court.

When the EFF threatened to legally challenge the disciplinary hearing, we urged them to go ahead as we believed the court would provide them with the necessary lessons on parliamentary rules and procedures. We are therefore pleased that the Court has educated them that Parliament, as an independent institution, is empowered by the Constitution to determine and control its internal arrangements, proceedings and procedures and to make rules and orders concerning its business.

The rules of the Assembly thus empower the institution to haul MPs before a disciplinary committee for violation of the rules and laws that govern MPs' conduct. The judiciary may not be used to unnecessarily meddle into or halt a legitimate internal process of the other independent arm of government, Parliament.

Now that the court has affirmed Parliament's powers to institute such a process, the EFF must desist from its shenanigans and return to the powers and privileges committee to answer to disciplinary charges.

We hope the Court's decision will also serve as a lesson to the opposition parties who walked out of the parliamentary ad hoc committee last week that courts cannot be used to fight their narrow political battles in Parliament.

Statement issued by the Office of the ANC Chief Whip, September 30 2014

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