After three years of finding creative ways to bully and patronise the opposition Members, after countless blatantly biased rulings against the interest of the opposition parties and after endless occasions when parliamentary rules have been twisted beyond recognition to suit the ruling party, the IFP has at last run out of patience with the Speaker of the KwaZulu Natal Provincial Parliament whom we hold squarely responsible.

We simply do not believe that Willies Mchunu, who is also the provincial chairperson of the South African Communist Party, is fit to run Parliament in the spirit of multi-party democracy, tolerance and impartiality.

Anyone who has witnessed a single sitting of the provincial House will conclude that the Speaker perceives the opposition as a necessary evil. Every expression of constructive criticism directed at the Executive, crucial to the role of the opposition, is therefore treated by him like a mutiny against a higher order of the government.

Indeed, the KwaZulu Natal Provincial Parliament is not a happy place. The tenure of the incumbent Speaker, ever assuming more sweeping powers, has seen a systematic erosion of multi-party democracy on the provincial political scene.

This is in stark contrast to the period of 1994-2004 when Parliament, managed jointly by the multi-party Executive Board and led by a largely ceremonial Speaker, enjoyed the reputation of an institution committed to impartiality, tolerance and political pluralism.

Aware of the growing frustration with the Speaker’s conduct even in the ranks of his own party, the IFP exhorts the ANC to reflect on the concerns raised by the political opposition in an open letter to the Speaker and suggest ways to improve the unbearable atmosphere in the House for the benefit of future multi-party co-operation in the KwaZulu Natal Provincial Parliament and outside of it.

Dr Lionel Mtshali MPP
Leader of the Official Opposition

Contact: Dr Lionel Mtshali, 083 256 4902