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The Democratic Alliance has noted a Sunday report which states that Parliament’s Presiding Officers have issued a directive to parliamentary staff working in the communications unit to put a good spin on the bad press that Parliament has received since the commencement of the Fifth Parliament.
   

   
I will be writing to the Speaker of Parliament, Baleka Mbete, for her to place on record whether she authorised the Deputy Speaker, Lechesa Tsenoli, to put political pressure on parliamentary communications staff to engage in propaganda. The reality is that Parliament is in disarray on Mbete’s watch, and no amount of propaganda can spin that away.
   

   
South Africans cannot be led, through propaganda, to believe that the state of Parliament and the conduct of Presiding Officers is good, when in reality their hopelessly partisan approach is bringing Parliament to its knees. If they acted in the best interests of Parliament and South Africa, they would have scheduled oral questions to the President as the rules require them to do – yet they have failed to do so.
   

   
The chaos of the Fifth Parliament has been a direct outcome of the deplorable conduct of Presiding Officers, who have sought to disregard the Rules of Parliament in favour of a political ruling, which pleases the Lord of Luthuli House, ANC Secretary-General Gwede Mantashe.
   

   
If the politicisation of Parliament and its operations continues, this will hamper its work, and the motto of Parliament “We, The People” will fall away and become “We, The ANC”.
   

   
This will not happen on the watch of the DA, and we will therefore pursue this inquiry to the Speaker until we receive answers as to why Parliament staff should be made to act in the interest of the ANC, rather than in the interest of telling the truth.

Issued by DA