Things get personal in parliament

DA boss Helen Zille has jumped to the defence of her parliamentary leader, Lindiwe Mazi-buko, saying she should be judged on her ideas and debating skills, instead of being mocked for her fashion taste, accent or weight.

This follows a week in parliament in which Mazibuko was taunted by two ANC MPs about her weight and fashion sense.

ANC MP John Jeffery fired the first salvo on Tuesday, saying: "The leader of the official opposition is meant to be a leader of a party. It's meant to be a person of some stature. Now the honourable Mazibuko may be a person of some weight, but is she of some stature?"

The following day another ANC MP, Buti Manamela, poked fun at Mazibuko, saying some people blamed President Jacob Zuma for everything that went wrong in South Africa: "Flights get delayed, blame Zuma. The weather is bad, blame Zuma. The rand is too weak, blame Zuma. There's a cloud on Table Mountain, blame Zuma. The honourable Mazibuko has bad fashion taste and has been arrested by the fashion police, blame Zuma."

Mazibuko declined to comment. However, she tweeted on Friday: "Can't believe how many falling for ANC circus & 'analysing' my dress. My body is now a site of struggle. Zuma's failed presidency continues."

On Thursday she tweeted: "So my body is trending in parliament. Last year it was my hair. When will ANC just come out & say, 'You disgust us because you're a woman?'"

Zille said she was "appalled at the extent of the racism and sexism this reveals, not to mention the double standards".

This sort of abuse would not be tolerated if it were directed at a man, she said. "And can you imagine the outcry if the DA said such things about anyone in the ANC?"

Zille said many South Africans spoke with the same accent as Mazibuko, but "no one comments on it".

"Lindiwe's critics only comment on her accent because she is black. They imply that if you are a 'real black', you should have a different accent. That is racist."

The DA has asked parliamentary Deputy Speaker Nomaindia Mfeketo, who was presiding on Tuesday, to make a ruling on what it considers Jeffery's "unparliamentary language".

The ANC chief whip's office announced that Jeffery would withdraw the statement and apologise in the house because he had realised after reflection that his comments may have been understood "to refer to Mazibuko's physical outlook".

The spokesman for the ANC chief whip's office, Moloto Mothapo, denied that Manamela's reference to Mazibuko's dress style was sexist.

"We have no desire to play fashion police in this institution. However, the inappropriate manner in which Mazibuko was dressed [on Wednesday] showed total lack of respect to the debate and the decorum of the house," he said.

Zille said: "Lindiwe should be judged on the quality of her ideas and her debating skills. Few can equal her in either of these departments. I think the ANC's crude racist and sexist invective shows the fact that they have no other arguments left."

DA deputy chief whip Sandy Kalyan said: "I think making a personal attack on the way a person looks and dresses is unparliamentary ...

"Do they pick on the men because they are overweight? Do they pick on the ANC chief whip because he comes here without a tie? They don't do that.

"We are here to debate issues of relevance and not to reflect on each other's persons," she said.

Kalyan said she spoke to Mazibuko after Tuesday's sitting and she had shrugged off Jeffery's jibe.

"I had a chat with her about it and asked how she feels. She said, 'Look, I have broad shoulders. If they choose to take the debate to a personal level, so be it.' She doesn't take it to heart."