Zille's WCape address delayed

African National Congress chief whip Pierre Uys stood up before premier Helen Zille was due to speak and addressed speaker Sharna Fernandez.

 

He criticised the legislature for apparently changing its mind on how to deal with an alleged racist comment made by Zille in December.

 

Initially, the matter was to be referred to a judge president for review, but it was then decided to refer it to the legislature's rules committee.

 

"A rules committee makes rules, not a ruling. We were horrified to hear and you didn't inform us," Uys said, to jeers from Democratic Alliance members.

 

He said the decision to block the implementation of a ruling referring the matter to court was illegal and in bad faith.

 

Fernandez responded that she had severe reservations about referring an internal dispute to a court before all internal remedies had been considered.

 

"As speaker, it is incumbent on me to ensure procedures are fair. Any person or party is free to make an application to court."

 

Proceedings were suspended while Uys and DA chief whip Mark Wiley entered the speaker's chambers.

 

The house resumed after half-an-hour.

 

Fernandez said she was not going to entertain any more comments and the matter could be debated at a later stage.

 

Provincial ANC chairman Marius Fransman then jumped up to say he had just received a complaint that the live television feed had been cut.

 

The speaker had it checked out and said that was definitely not the case.

 

"So it's been reactivated?" Fransman asked.

 

Fernandez said nothing had been reactivated and that the feed had been live at all times.

 

Zille sat and watched while the confrontation played out. She was to have started her speech at 10.30am.