Parliament floored

A second attempt to get an increasingly dysfunctional parliament back on track collapsed yesterday when opposition parties walked out of a meeting with Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Economic Freedom Fighters leader Julius Malema and Mmusi Maimane, the DA parliamentary leader, said after meeting Ramaphosa that the opposition would not be bullied by the ANC and would now focus on ensuring that President Jacob Zuma accounted to parliament.

The president has not appeared in the House since the EFF disrupted a question and answer session on August 21, demanding that he pay back some of the R246-million of public money spent on "security upgrades" to his private Nkandla home.

Since then debates have been marred by walkouts, scuffles and intervention by riot police as the ANC used its majority to exonerate Zuma of any wrongdoing in the Nkandla debacle - despite Public Protector Thuli Madonsela having found that the president benefited unduly from the "upgrades" and recommending that he pay back a portion of the money spent.

Malema, who scuffled with security guards before entering the venue of the meeting in northern Johannesburg yesterday, said: "We tried to persuade the ANC [to opt] for a political solution but they insisted on powers and privileges.

"If they cannot bring President Zuma to answer questions, I will rise during the State of the Nation address and ask him when is he going to bring back the money. I will ask him before he even opens his mouth ." Malema said.

Maimane said the meeting had served no purpose other than to protect Zuma from appearing in parliament before the end of the year to answer questions.

Order would be restored should Zuma be made accountable for the Nkandla expenditure, he said.

United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa, who was also at the meeting, said: "He is No1, he must come and give an account. There is going to be no more siesta period in parliament."

Holomisa said it was important to investigate the summoning of the police into the House to eject an EFF MP on November 13.

After the police action, Ramaphosa intervened, as the leader of government business. But a peace deal he brokered with the ANC and opposition parties fell apart in just 24 hours last week.

Ramaphosa confirmed last night that the peace deal was "off", saying this was largely due to a DA motion of censure against the president, which "departed from the spirit in which the deal was struck".

The agreement last week included restoring the dignity of parliament and reaffirming the principle of "executive accountability - and ensuring a favourable climate for these.

Before the meeting yesterday Malema ended up on the floor.

"One officer stopped me and wanted to search me," the EFF leader said. "I was taken aback because other leaders were allowed to go through without being searched. When I raised that [the guard] said I think I am the king and he pushed me and I slipped and fell on the ground."

ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe, speaking after a meeting of the party's top brass, said the national executive committee urged Ramaphosa to continue talks with opposition parties, but cautioned against them being used to undermine "legitimate" parliamentary processes.

Constitutional law expert Pierre de Vos said he was not surprised the deal had fallen through. He said the deputy president did not have the authority to broker such a deal; it should fall under the Speaker.

"I don't know how it is going to turn out. What we see here is a breakdown of basic trust among the parties. Unless we find some solution parliament is going to stop representing the interests of the people."