ANC wants new rule to protect president

ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu wants to change parliament's rules to create new measures to defend President Jacob Zuma against "abusive" MPs - before his next visit to the National Assembly.

ANC chief whip Jackson Mthembu wants to change parliament's rules to create new measures to defend President Jacob Zuma against "abusive" MPs - before his next visit to the National Assembly.

In an interview this week, Mthembu disclosed that he had written to the house's rules committee, asking it to find ways of addressing Zuma's complaint two weeks ago that he was abused by opposition MPs each time he appeared before them.

Mthembu and his caucus are under pressure to tame the opposition and drown the noise that has made Zuma uncomfortable every time he has visited parliament during his second term.

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Mthembu said the opposition's behaviour at Zuma's last appearance - when EFF leader Julius Malema called Zuma a "criminal" and "thief" - was the final straw. "Arising out of what happened, I've written to the rules committee as the chief whip of the majority party, and I've said they must consider this matter.

"They must consider how we deal with circumstances where people ... do things in defiance and outside of our rules.

"If you need people to be removed, let them be removed immediately so that we are able to proceed with matters that are before the house.

"I've put that matter before the rules committee so that they can deal with that matter," he said.

Should Mthembu's approach to the rules committee result in the committee crafting a new rule to prevent MPs from hurling insults at Zuma, the opposition would not take it lying down.

Such a rule could effectively override parliamentary privilege as enshrined in the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliaments and Provincial Legislatures Act and could trigger a Constitutional Court challenge by opposition parties.

DA chief whip John Steenhuisen said his party would not support Mthembu's proposal.

"We are already well covered for disruptions by the new rules of parliament. The chance for the chief whip to do this sort of thing is now gone," he said.

EFF spokesman Fana Mokoena warned that Mthembu's proposal could "cost the ANC dearly".

"But they must do what they need to do. We will look at it from a legal and a constitutional perspective. We have never disrupted parliament, we have always acted well within our rights and within the rules," said Mokoena.

Zuma suggested that parliament should not invite him to take questions from MPs unless mechanisms were found to prevent MPs from insulting him in the chamber.

Mthembu said he "definitely" agreed with Zuma's complaint that opposition MPs abused the president.

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The ANC chief whip said even if opposition MPs hated Zuma "with a passion", they still had to treat him with the level of respect generally afforded a head of state.

"Before we bring him back we must be clear in our heads as parliament: how do we defend him?" said Mthembu.

"You can hate him with a passion, I don't care, but shouldn't you at least, when you are in that house, use that house in the best interest of the people? And that's where I think we're losing."

Mthembu also said he was not happy that the viewership of DStv's parliamentary channel 408 had grown since the arrival of the EFF.

He said political theatrics by members of the opposition, rather than qualitative policy debates, had led to the growth of the parliamentary TV channel's popularity.

Mthembu also blamed the media and some sections of civil society for the deteriorating conduct of MPs in the National Assembly, and the way they treated Zuma.