Toothless parliament watchdog lets rowdy MPs off
There has been no real consequences for misbehaviour by members since 2014
Parliament's powers and privileges committee, as its name suggests, is supposed to be one of the most powerful legislative structures when it comes to disciplining MPs for behaving badly. But if the events of the past four years are anything to go by, the committee that derives its mandate from the authoritative Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament Act is simply a lame duck. Under chair Lemias Mashile of the ANC, the committee has proven to be a place where disciplinary cases referred to it by Speaker Baleka Mbete go to be buried. In terms of the rules of parliament, Mbete is allowed to send MPs to the committee to be disciplined for bad behaviour such as disobeying her rulings, using foul language and violence. But the exercise has proven futile. No MP has suffered real consequences for misbehaving in the house, at least since 2014. Between October 2014 and June this year, Mbete referred 11 cases of bad behaviour to the committee, ranging from contempt of parliament and ...
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