Parliament needs independent speaker, fair use of rules: Maimane

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Build One South Africa (BOSA) leader, Mmusi Maimane says what Parliament needs is an independent speaker and a fair use of its rules to avoid interruptions during the State of the Nation Address (SONA).

He was reacting to the new Parliamentary joint rules which the National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula announced on Tuesday.

She said they are aimed at maintaining order in the chamber.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) recently failed in a court bid to interdict Parliament from implementing the rules.

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Maimane says Parliament needs to address the root causes of the disruptions.

“Because what has happened previously is that we’ve created speakers that are impartial, we’ve stopped accountability. And so, all it ends up becoming is moments of protests that can occur inside the chambers of Parliament. I think that to deal with whether you disrupt the President or not is starting at the end of the issue. We’ve got to begin with why Parliament is such an important institution for accountability. And insist more than anything that it exercises its duty to do so.”

Maimane also says the President needs to reflect on the fact that more young people are battling to find jobs. He says the issue of youth unemployment requires an urgent solution.

“We need to be able to create jobs and justice fund, that is able to stimulate micro-enterprise that fund more businesses that are developing. We need to be able to create a micro-economic climate upon which shops can be created. That’s about keeping the lights on and fixing the logistics.”