2022 budget vote chaos: Thuli Madonsela wants EFF hecklers fined

Madonsela implored the Speaker to restore decorum in Parliament by fining MPs.

By / / Viral / 3 minutes of reading

Former public protector Thuli Madonsela was left gob-smacked by the antics that unfolded at Parliament’s 2022 budget vote, on Thursday.

EFF hecklers ramp up chaos in Parliament

EFF leader Julius Malema held true to the warning he issued on Tuesday’s media briefing and brought chaos to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s first appearance in Parliament since the Phala Phala saga.

The budget vote was expected to kick off at 14:00, but an hour later, National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa- Nqakula was held hostage by delay tactics masterminded by Malema and his Red Berets.

In a moment of embarrassment, the watching world bore first-hand witness to the uncouth conduct of South Africa’s public representatives. Strong language was used to condemn Ramaphosa’s status as head of state, and Malema, in a moment that sent shockwaves across the National Assembly, lambasted the president as a money launderer and criminal.

The vile conduct, Madonsela reacted in a series of tweets, was enough to convince her “that a lot of public representatives have no clue what a point of order is.”

Madonsela added that perhaps kicking Parliamentary members out of sittings is not an effective measure to ensure decorum is upheld.

“The rules should be enforced with fines not just kicking people out. In ordinary clubs people are fined when they speak out of turn. Why is Parliament not doing the same. Being hit in the pocket could make people give Parliament the decorum it deserves,” she wrote.

The president, delayed by more than an hour, was still delivering his 2022 budget vote speech at the time this article was published.

Here are some of the video clips showing the chaos that erupted in Parliament, on Thursday.